Chicago Deep Dish Pizza in LA?

[SecretAsianMan]

Anyone know of a great place in LA? I found a superb place in Hayes Valley in SF, but for us down south....?

There's the Chicago theme restaurant in Burbank....anyone know of another place? Or have thoughts on the Burbank restaurant?

Thanks!

SAM

[suegab]

I ended up buying pizza from Chicago. I got one from Lou Malnati's and one from Gino's East( well actually two from Gino's you have to buy them in groups of 2). we did our own'taste test. I was going to get one from Giordano's but they charge 54 bucks to ship it to L A. uhhh..no thanks. I wrote them asking why the high cost..they didnt even respond. anyway. we felt Malnati's was better. They came packed on dry ice. I might try Edwardos at some point. Malnati's or actually taste of chicago has a bunch of things you can get. I might splurge and get the chicago hot dogs, malnati pizza and eli's cheesecake combo for another get together. my fiance's family is from chicago, so it is a special treat for them.

[wienermobile]

We order Lou Malnati's maybe twice a year. It's expensive but a real treat. Really really good for frozen pizza, but not as good as having it made to order in Chicago. The sausage pizza is the best.
http://www.loumalnatis.com/?gclid=CNe...

[suegab]

another link here talks about oakfire grill in sherman oaks or there is on in los angeles that has a chicago pizza. i am going to try it

[epop]

We ordered several from Malnati's and the pizza was a disaster. Not good at all. Sweetish dough, cheese just piled in there with no subtlety of taste. I'll take one of the other pizzas (like Giordano's) any day.

[burratabelly]

I have never been to Chicago but I had a great sausage deep dish pizza - the kind with a lot of sausage under the cheese. Check it out.

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Fresh Brothers Pizza
2008 N Sepulveda Blvd, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266

[laytonj1]

My husband is a Chicago transplant and searched far and wide for authentic deep dish in SoCal.... Well, just last week we found it at Tony's Little Italy in Placentia. It's the real deal.

It is in Orange County but definitely worth the trip.

Tony's Little Italy
1808 N Placentia Ave-Unit B
Placentia, CA 92870
[phone]
www.tonyslittleitaly.com

[OCSteve]

2nd Tony's. It's a drive from LA, but worth it.

[TravelPath]

I really don't get the comparison to authentic Chicago Deep Dish...Don't get me wrong, I like Tony's Little Italy and I have consumed many a slice there and through take out...and I also live in Los Angeles...but it does not resemble any pizza I have ever had in Chicago, and believe me when I say I have had dozens, if not hundreds of pies in Chicagoland! I still believe that Chicago Pasta House in Moreno Valley comes the closest...and when they are on, as they often are...they are as good and even better that some Chicago institutions!

Now if we could just get a decent pie in Los Angeles...While not Chicago style, I miss La Barbaras terribly! Sigh!

[RSMBob]

TP, I'd be intrested in hearing your thoughts on comparing (or contrasting) Tony's with "authentic Chicago Deep Dish". I see the stuffed crust pizza at Tony's as being very similar to Giordano's, as is that at Chicago Pasta House.

I was just at Tony's last night and it was great as usual. Probably a good thing it's not closer to my house!

[epop]

I haven't been yet to Tony's (b/c I prefer Chicago thin crust) but
I thought Banducci in Lakewood was quite good.

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Banducci's
2706 Del Amo Boulevard, Lakewood, CA

[hnsbmg]

That location has been closed for several months. I don't know if they've gone out of business or just moved elsewhere.

[stuffed]

As a fellow veteran of Chicago pizzas I would say just the opposite. Tony's is about as close as you're going to get to a neighborhood pizza place in Chicago. I agree with RSMBob about the similarity to Giordano's. "it does not resemble any pizza" you've had in Chicago? Hell, it resembles pizzas I've had all over the world-- it's round and has cheese and tomatoes on it. I think Tony's resembles many Chcago style pizzas even more---the crust has the right amount of cornmeal crunch, the tomato topping has good acid balance and is the right consistency, and the sausage chunks are out of the casing with good fennel accent. Also, Tony's cooks the pizzas well done, which is a characteristic of a lot of Chicago pizzas. The consistency of the cheese is about right, though I've had some afficianados complain that Tony's is a little over-cheesed (not to my taste or in comparison to Chicago pizzas I've had). On a more esoteric level, I find Tony's pizzas to be very well-balanced across the taste spectrum, and that's their great appeal to me. I guess one could argue some of these finer points, but Tony's is undoubtedly a fine example of a Chicago-style pizza.

[TravelPath]

We will have to agree to disagree here...about Chicago Pizza...for me Tony's crust lacks the proper "bite" and the sauce is just too sweet...sweeter than anything I have had in Chicago! Don't get me wrong, I like Tony's...it is among the best that SoCal has...but for Chicago style stuffed pizza...or thin crust for that matter, at least for me and a whole bunch of my friends and family, Chicago Pasta House is the go to place! (even if it requires a 90 minute drive!!)

As for the the resemblance to pizza worldwide...as an Italian, who lived in Italy the better part of 20 years, I can confidently state that it bears no resemblance to the pies I found in Roma or Napoli...unless you are frequenting Pizza Hut or the like in Italy! (sadly, these do exist there!) I remember as a young man going with my family to a well known pizzeria in New York...when the Italian owner discovered that we were from the "old" country, he immediately took the partially eaten pie off of our table and returned 10 minutes later with a proper Margherita...even the venerable NY pizza is different enough that the owner was worried that an Italian would not like it!!

De gustibus non est disputandum!

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Chicago Pasta House
24667 Sunnymead Blvd, Moreno Valley, CA 92553

[stuffed]

Yes we are on different wavelengths about Tony's. I just got some to reexamine the crust and sauce. The crust was crisp and I couldn't find the sweetness in the sauce. I even asked for some sauce on the side so that I could taste it separately. I remain convinced that it stacks up very well against Chicago pies.

Anyway, as your post shows there are worldwide variants on what used to be a Neapolitan dish. I too have been fortunate enough to travel widely. Even within Italy there is great regional variation. I completely agree with your final sentence, and I think pizza, like barbecue, bagels, pastrami, and other foods with regional variants can't necessarily be evaluated based on one objective standard..

[ipsedixit]

I go to Masa in Echo Park.

There will be die-hard Chicagoans who will decry that Masa is a pizza emperor with no clothes, but for SoCal it's good enough, at least good enough for me.

http://www.masaofechopark.com/

(And if you really wan to be a heathen about it, try Zelo in Arcadia for a true faux-style Chicago pizza ... http://www.zelo.us/

)

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Masa Restaurant
2063 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107

[Hypnotic23]

I second MASA, its my favorite so far in the Los Angeles area.

I live in the Valley and this is a tough call.

I've tried "Georgio's" Pizza which is deep dish on Ventura Blvd & Laurel Canyon in that little shopping center, nothing great.

Hands down, MASA, in the loving words of Mario, a mighty fine PIE!

[J.L.]

And again, ipse lays down the law.

Gotta agree (yet again) with his choice of Masa.

[xoxohh]

Went last night to Masa's for the first time. In a word....Wow! Really loved this pie. We had the Traditional. Homemade sausage and mushrooms. We asked for it to be slightly more cooked and it was crispy and wonderful.

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Masa Restaurant
2063 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107

[J.L.]

Glad you enjoyed it - Thanks for reporting back!

[SecretAsianMan]

Agreed, Zelo is massively great. Thanks for the rec re: Masa!

SAM

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Masa Restaurant
2063 E Colorado Blvd, Pasadena, CA 91107

[mdpilam]

I thought the Chicago pizza at NY & C in SaMo was solid.

[cls]

How literal? I was just in Chicago a week ago and decided to test the "there's no real Chicago pizza in LA" theory. After my visit I agree that while it's probably true that our "Chicago" pizza is different, it may also be better in LA.

[Arthur]

This was posted a few weeks ago, but nobody here has reviewed its deep-dish pizza yet:

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/694281