Best Pizza in SoCal?

sasukekun

sasukekun

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Since I moved from NJ to CA a few years ago, I havent been able to find a good pizza place. I know it has to do with the minerals in the water. Is there any place in SoCal (Preferably near Riverside area) that has similar pizza to NYC/NJ?
 
What the hell does minerals in water have to do with pizza??

Never been out near riverside, but there is a pizza place That i litterally grew up in...Ive been going there to eat since i was 5 months old,...It was the best Italian Pizza made by mexicans you could ever taste. recently the owener's daughter took over and fucked with the Pizza recipe and took out the tomato sauce to save money...(YOU DONT TAKE TOMATOE SAUCE OUT OF A PIZZA!) and fucked with the Homeade italian dressing they use on the salads...which won many many food critic awards...is now bland and sour. so i dont go there anymore.

I am forced to order thin crust pies from Papa Johns, or the the local Bar and Pizza shack. only place i can reccomend is NY Pizza in pasadena...But im not sure its still there.
 
Best pizza in town
hot-n-ready-pizza.jpg
 
[quote name='joe2187']What the hell does minerals in water have to do with pizza??[/QUOTE]
Crust mostly. In Cali, it's all soft and mushy.

You probably wouldnt understand unless you have eaten NYC/NJ pizza before.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']Crust mostly. In Cali, it's all soft and mushy.

You probably wouldnt understand unless you have eaten NYC/NJ pizza before.[/quote]

Indeed. You need to get out to LA to get any decent NY style pies. There's one on Fairfax that's good (place is a shithole though) near Canter's Deli, forgot the name.

Mulberry Street pizza is really good, Johnnie's NY Pizza is really good, and there's an awesome place in Santa Monica, forgot the name, which uses NY tap water (or claims to). Their pizza is good though.

And for deep dish/Chicago style, unfortunately nothing I've had in LA is good enough. In the Bay Area though, Zachary's aka Zack's Pizza on College in Berkeley/Oakland border is just amazing. Or at least it was, haven't been there in 10 years.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']Crust mostly. In Cali, it's all soft and mushy.

You probably wouldnt understand unless you have eaten NYC/NJ pizza before.[/QUOTE]

IMO the best pizza is at california pizza kitchen.. but thats just me..

i don't know what you are complaining about.. i'd probably go to in and out burger more often then i would eat pizza.. but just keep trying places eventually you'll find one you really really like..
 
hmm didn't know water made that much of a difference. i saw this discussion on Entourage but i thought the writers were just making shit up
 
i agree with california pizza kitchen. it's expensive, but definitely worth it, and they have a wide variety of gourmet selections as well.

sbarro pizza, located in malls usually, has pretty good pizza.

not too familiar with ny style pizza, unless if all there is to it is just being very large, flat and thin.

bj's brewery and restaurant has pretty good chicago style pizzas (thick pizza and crust), as well as numero uno.

if u just want fast and cheap delivery pizza, cant go wrong with papa john's and dominos (dont hate, i love dominos).
 
papa john's is the best of the "cheap chain" places IMO..

i'll admit that california pizza kitchen is pretty expensive (me and the girl eat there for around 28 bucks with bread appetizers sodas and 2 pizzas) to me its not *that* big of deal.. i'm not rich but i consider it "decent" for the price...

go to the supermarket and get a couple california pizza kitchen frozen pizzas.. they are about 5 bucks here but they are the best frozen pizza out there.
 
Having grown up in SoCal and lived in NYC for a couple of years, I can definitely attest to the superiority of the NY pie. There's a couple of places in LA that do decent pizza (Mulberry St. in Beverly Hills and Z Pizza), but these are the two best spots IMO:

Sicilian Style - Villa Italian in Culver City. It's about the closest thing you can get to an actual slice in Italy.

Regular - Joe's in Santa Monica. That's right, the greatest pizza in NYC has opened a location in LA! Rumor has it that they fly in water from NY to make the dough and from personal experience, I can attest to the fact that it tastes 99% like the original thing. Seriously, you owe it to yourself to head out there.
 
Dude, I don't know about NY style pizza, but Papa Joe's on Alessandro in Moreno Valley has the best pizza I've ever had. Plus their zucchini fries are amazing.

Check it out, and tell Hector (the owner) that Matt Young sent you.
 
[quote name='Matt Young']Dude, I don't know about NY style pizza, but Papa Joe's on Alessandro in Moreno Valley has the best pizza I've ever had. Plus their zucchini fries are amazing.

Check it out, and tell Hector (the owner) that Matt Young sent you.[/QUOTE]
Is that the Original Joe's across from that Giant Warehouse? Kinda near Graham St?
 
Frankie & Johnnie's in Brentwood has wonderful pizza. This is a big compliment coming from me because I've never liked pizza. Except this stuff. Mmmm.
 
California is one of the best places to eat food PERIOD

but I've tried pizza in NY before...

the entire state of california pizza aint got shyt on NY...

I can still recommend some good places, Pizza di Marco in Santa Clarita and Pizzasaurus Rex in Northridge, but that's way too far from riverside
 
welll im over here in Norwalkand whats good over here is:

Pizzamania (in santa fe springs)
Bj's (in cerritos)
Alondra Hot Wings (its in rosemead, very good, very close to NYC)
California Pizza Kitchen
 
[quote name='JEKKI']Pizzasaurus Rex in Northridge[/QUOTE]

I remember Pizzasaurus Rex got shut down after the Northridge quake. I died a little on the inside. I remember it was like $8 delivered for a large!

If you are in northern California(no SoCal locations) you should try Pizza My Heart, they specialize in thin crust pizza. I like their clam & garlic pizza. It's exceptional but it comes with generous toppings so you stink later but it's worth it.

http://www.pizzamyheart.com/
 
Mama's & Papa's in Fullerton is pretty good. Monday through Thursday it's BOGO on mediums too. They claim to do pizza NY style, but I've never had NY pizza to compare.
 
Do you have Me-n-Ed's in the area? I don't know all the locations but they have some good pizza, try to find a coupon becuase they are quite expensive.
 
There's this one pizza plase down on Melrose in Hollywood that makes some legit style NY pizza. I forgot the name but it freakin rocks.
 
[quote name='PocariSweat']I remember Pizzasaurus Rex got shut down after the Northridge quake. I died a little on the inside. I remember it was like $8 delivered for a large![/QUOTE]I jus lived in Northridge for 6 months... I donno about the history of the store but rite now it's open for business;

http://www.urbanspoon.com/r/5/73522/Northridge/Northridge/Pizzasaurus-Rex.html

also up in NorCal (Concord) there's this place called Papa Murphy's I think...

u take the pizza and bake it at home yourself, but it's straight delicious!

it's a layered pizza so there's hella toppings and stuff
 
Temecula Pizza Co. in Temecula (dur!), damn tasty Pizza from a non-chain. They've won some awards, and they give you the best damn jalepenos on the side. We always order the White Tiger Pizza, it's loaded with shrimp, and mix it up on the second pizza.

It's right off the 79 exit, and not terribly far from Riverside. How does it compare to NY? Couldn't tell you, but it's damn good pie.
 
You guys who suggested California Pizza Kitchen are nuts. No way near anything I'd consider a contender for best pizza. Yea they're good, but for the $12 it costs for a tiny "gourmet" pizza its totally not worth it. I'd rather go to any pizza joint and get a few slices of real pizza. Most have the so called California style toppings now anyway.

I saw BJ's was mentioned too. They're good but they're also a chain. The only pizza I've tried down in SoCal is Pizza Port in/near La Jolla. Pretty good stuff. I'll second the NorCal suggestion of Pizza My Heart, its like $5 for a slice and a T-shirt. I'll also add Blondie's to the NorCal suggestions.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']Crust mostly. In Cali, it's all soft and mushy.

You probably wouldnt understand unless you have eaten NYC/NJ pizza before.[/quote]

Ahem... Do not compare NJ pizza to NYC Pizza...

Nor bagels for that matter...
 
[quote name='linkpwns']Ahem... Do not compare NJ pizza to NYC Pizza...

Nor bagels for that matter...[/QUOTE]
I'll admit NYC pizza is better than NJ. They are similar, but CA pizza still sucks imo.
 
[quote name='sasukekun']I'll admit NYC pizza is better than NJ. They are similar, but CA pizza still sucks imo.[/quote]

Mm, that's the way it was when I spent some time in Florida.
I think you should to to Pizzasaurus Rex, or whatever was the name of the Pizza place that Jekki rekkomended
 
[quote name='CouRageouS']You guys who suggested California Pizza Kitchen are nuts. No way near anything I'd consider a contender for best pizza. Yea they're good, but for the $12 it costs for a tiny "gourmet" pizza its totally not worth it.
[/QUOTE]
Couldn't agree more, not only is it overrated but it's ridiculously priced.

I think the best chain pizza in SoCal would have to be from Ameci's. I can only speak for my local place, I don't know how it would hold up at other locations but it's worth a shot. Plus, their calzones are very good.

If you have a local Whole Foods store, you have to check out their pizza. It's not NY style but it's so damn good. It's also surprisingly affordable given that everything else in that store is overpriced for the health nut snobs who shop there.
 
So here's your best bet, as far as I can tell. Go to the best pizzaria around you, get 10 pies, uncooked, and freeze them...
 
[quote name='Fuzi0n']Do you have Me-n-Ed's in the area? I don't know all the locations but they have some good pizza, try to find a coupon becuase they are quite expensive.[/QUOTE]I hate to say it, but Me-n-Ed's is at the top of my list as well. Definitely not NY-style, but exquisite nonetheless.

BJ's gets bonus points for their beer sampler, but I've never tried their pizza. Mainly, this is because their chili burger is the best damn thing around and I can't bring myself to order anything else when I go there. I've had other people order the pizza, though, and it doesn't look like anything special.

Also, if you're really feeling adventurous, John's Incredible Pizza Co. in Fresno has peanut butter pizza. It's literally a cheese pizza complete with tomato sauce, but it also has peanut butter under the cheese. It was... interesting, to say the least.
 
I am in Whittier, CA. One of the few areas that has a higher amount of italian places to eat over Mexican food.

I go out to eat way to much so if you are ever in the 562 I like that's amore pizza has decent pizza. Shakey's Pizza is a bit more of a fastfood pizza much cheaper and better in my oppion compaied to CA pizza kitchen (any east coast person would likely be highly disgusted).
 
My pizza's just from Papa John's.

On my trip driving to San Francisco, we went into a Pizza Kitchen on Sunset Blvd and geez, the prices are expensive. Now, I never goto really fancy places to eat so it was really awkward sitting there staring at the ridiculous prices. We decided to leave because we're just not classy enough for Pizza Kitchen and went into the Japanese place across the street, which wasn't even all that great.
 
You know San Francisco has tons of pizza joints open till the wee hours of the morning. I honestly can't recall if they had NY style, Chicago style, or the names of the places haha. I've been to at least 3 or 4 different pizza places after a night of drinking/clubbing and at 2AM its the most delicious thing I've ever tasted each time. :D Literally wherever the club might be, theres always a pizza place "right there". I'd imagine the NY scene would be even better.
 
Im in san diego. and theres a place here in socal. that does indeed ship water from new york out here for their pizzas. i thought it was ridiculous, until a friend of mine explained that it was the water that made the pizzas different (hes from ny)
anyway, not much help as i cant remember the name but ill ask next time i see him and report back here.
 
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