Best PIZZA in LA? Pleeeze! (Santa Monica: neighborhood, living in, assessment)

[yogaroots]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

I've lived on the east coast(NY and Boston). The pizza in L.A. is 100x better. NY pizza sucks. Boston pizza is decent. The only people in LA who complain about the pizza are people from NY.
If you want truly bad NY pizza then try "Rays". It is a chain of pizza in NY that makes Straw Hat taste gourmet. For some reason New yorkers think it's great.
Frankly I'm sick and tired of all the new yorkers bashing LA. If NY is so great then go back.
LA isn't perfect, but for a big city it is IMO the best in the USA.

LA pizza better than NY..that's a first, but we are entitled to opinions.

[BennyPhoenix]

Most New Yorkers scream about how great Ray's Pizza is.
I'm living there so I figure I'll go try it. First thing I notice is that it is not made to order. They are already baked, you choose what you want and they give it to you warm or if you want they will warm it up. This reminds me of high school. Even Shakey's makes pizza to order.
Second thing I notice is that some of the toppings come out of a can; such as mushrooms. Canned mushrooms on a pizza? Blecccchh!

After living in NY I noticed that New Yorkers are so insular and full of themselves that they think everything in NY is better. They are blind and oblivious to what is around them.
I am not a californian, but I'll say this for them: They know what is good here and what is bad, they appreciate what is good in other places. New yorkers go to other places and complain that it is not NY.

[JTGJR]

Originally Posted by the one

interesting...

coincidence?

L.A. area's new pizza revolution - Los Angeles Times

Yesterday's food section was all about pizza, but "the one" didn't post the one that was more pertinent to the OP's question. It was titled:
The real New York style on Page 3. I believe some have been mentioned on this thread.

[cmw2133]

Originally Posted by AnUnidentifiedMale

Then go back to the East Coast.

I find it interesting that so many East Coasters move to California and then complain that they can't find pizza that they like. I guess a very particular style of pizza must be a huge part of the culture in the Northeast.

I'm happy with whatever frozen pizza is on sale at Vons.

I'm not willing to go the frozen pizza route but having lived on the East Coast his whole life, the east coast/"New York style" pizza thing is overrated. 9 out of 10 pizzerias you go to in NYC give you a big greasy chewy mess that you have to soak up with a paper towel. Anyone can make that. Making a nice, flavorful, brick-oven pizza that isn't slop isn't anything peculiar to New York. You just have to know and care about what you're doing.

[nickdahammer]

Great article in the L.A. Times. Nice to see our Highland Park fave, Follieros get some cred for a change. We've been going here for years. NY style? New Haven? I'm kinda sick of the comparisons. It's a good tasting pie, period. Thanks for linking, one.

[antialphabet]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

Most New Yorkers scream about how great Ray's Pizza is.
I'm living there so I figure I'll go try it. First thing I notice is that it is not made to order. They are already baked, you choose what you want and they give it to you warm or if you want they will warm it up. This reminds me of high school. Even Shakey's makes pizza to order.
Second thing I notice is that some of the toppings come out of a can; such as mushrooms. Canned mushrooms on a pizza? Blecccchh!

After living in NY I noticed that New Yorkers are so insular and full of themselves that they think everything in NY is better. They are blind and oblivious to what is around them.
I am not a californian, but I'll say this for them: They know what is good here and what is bad, they appreciate what is good in other places. New yorkers go to other places and complain that it is not NY.

Funny, and I bet a lot of the time it's coming from transplants to New York.
http://www.prestonandsteve.com/pictures/12323.jpg

[cowman809]

Victor Jr's in Culver City

[BennyPhoenix]

Originally Posted by antialphabet

Funny, and I bet a lot of the time it's coming from transplants to New York.
http://www.prestonandsteve.com/pictures/12323.jpg

IME it's a mix of both.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by cowman809

Victor Jr's in Culver City

or even better and not far away: the Coop in Palms.

Also Damiano's on Fairfax across from Canters, Nicky D's on Rowena in Silver Lake, and Casa Bianca in Eagle Rock.

[majoun]

Originally Posted by BennyPhoenix

I've lived on the east coast(NY and Boston). The pizza in L.A. is 100x better. NY pizza sucks. Boston pizza is decent. The only people in LA who complain about the pizza are people from NY.
If you want truly bad NY pizza then try "Rays". It is a chain of pizza in NY that makes Straw Hat taste gourmet. For some reason New yorkers think it's great.
Frankly I'm sick and tired of all the new yorkers bashing LA. If NY is so great then go back.
LA isn't perfect, but for a big city it is IMO the best in the USA.

Ray's isn't really a chain. The original Ray's is in the West Village, and people started copying the name and opening up pizzerias across NY. Some of the Ray's knock offs might be chains, but the real thing isn't. And I beg to differ about it being like Straw Hat. Most of the Ray's I've been to have been better than almost anything in L.A.

Someone should open up a Ray's Pizza in L.A., it would do great business.

L.A. doesn't have the best pizza in California, much less the USA. If you really think L.A. has the best pizza in the US you're delusional....