The best pizza in Los Angeles, slice by slice

Inside this sparse Pico Boulevard pizzeria with limited seating, husband-and-wife duo William Joo and Jennifer So have one larger, quite lofty goal in mind: making the best pizza in Los Angeles. According to Joo, a veteran of Ronan and Pizzana, among others, a Tokyo-style Neapolitan is the only best-in-town contender there is: a circle of thin, blistered dough with highly pinched crusts, which results in an almost mochi-like consistency. The final product is simple, delicious and light. While on the pricier side, Pizzeria Sei’s pies typically sell out early—reflecting the fact that Angelenos will often pay for quality when they see it.

How do we love thee, Quarter Sheets? Let us count the ways: This Echo Park shop serving Detroit-style–leaning pizza offers square slices with pillowy, flawless-hydration dough that practically springs back after every bite. The ratio of toppings to dough is always spot on, and so are the flavors—they range from the classics and expecteds (pepperoni with red sauce, basil and cheese) to weekly specials that always have us checking for entirely new creations, and some of our favorites, which we greet like an old friend whenever it’s their turn in the rotation again. Chef Aaron Lindell’s wild creations include options like the pierogi-inspired Polish Yacht Club, which scatters potato, lemon cream, caramelized onion, green onions and bacon over the cheese-crusted dough. Not to be missed are desserts by Lindell’s partner, Hannah Ziskin, whose spectacular cakes, pies and cookies are worth ordering all on their own.

Now open for lunch and dinner, this perpetually packed trailblazer from Phoenix is probably one of the least casual pizza experiences you'll find in Los Angeles, but it's also one of the very best. Housed at the ROW DTLA, Pizzeria Bianco is the namesake spot from James Beard Award-winning pizzaiolo Chris Bianco, who can also be seen on Chef's Table: Pizza on Netflix. These days, you can find the signature New York-Neopolitan hybrids all day, which has helped the restaurant meet demand, but we still recommend booking a table if you're looking to come for dinner. Once sat, a full wine and beer menu accompany an elegant menu of pizzas, salads and antipasti that stands up to the Arizona original.

Nancy Silverton’s Pizzeria Mozza is such a force in L.A.'s food culture that nearly every other pie in town is compared to it—even if the comparisons aren’t apt. After all, Pizzeria Mozza is in a class of its own: Silverton's California-style pizzas are unabashedly doughy and chewy, full of airy bubbles and topped with ingredients that wouldn’t be out of place in the kitchen in the Osteria next door: burrata and squash blossoms, fennel sausage, or wonderfully toothy long-cooked broccolini with caciocavallo cheese. Beyond the pizza are other showstoppers: hefty meatballs made with no fewer than three rich meats (veal, pork, pancetta) and served in a passata di pomodoro sauce; and a creamy, buttery, rich butterscotch budino that, no matter how many times you have it, is bound to be one of the best desserts you’ll have all year, and just as memorable as the pizza.

One of New York City's most beloved pizza joints, Roberta's serves the Brooklyn pizzeria's famous wood-fired sourdough pies from the yuppie-chic confines of Culver City's Platform outdoor mall, plus the Shops at Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City. Of course that's not all Roberta's has brought to the table: In addition to their cult-classic pizza rossa and margherita, the Westside pizzeria offers punnily named seasonals like the Olive Laugh Love—a white pie topped with olive tapenade, garlic, arugula and lemon. Plus, the Culver outpost boasts a spacious outdoor patio, a tiny-but-mighty pasta list and the convenience of Platform’s adjacent paid parking lot.

Hidden inside the sunny atrium of a Downtown office building, this daytime-only counter offers New York-style slices, Sicilian-style squares and absolutely phenomenal garlic knots. Run by Daniel Holzman, cofounder of NYC’s Meatball Shop, the no-flop triangles here cater to the lunchtime office workers crowd, but the fresh ingredients and delicious, perfectly textured crust have drawn Angelenos from outside the area searching for L.A.’s best gourmet imitation of a dollar slice. Though parking in the area might appear daunting, Danny Boy’s actually offers customers ticket validation in the typically pricey underground structure: $5 for the first two hours before 4pm on weekdays and three hours free afterwards, with the latter deal offered all day on Saturday (the shop is closed on Sundays).

A Westside brewery is an odd place to land, but the built-in Santa Monica Brew Works clientele has done wonders for Emmy Squared. The NYC-based, Detroit-inspired pizza chain offers a mash-up between Long Island grandma pies and Detroit-style squares that would make even the staunchest local pizza partisan break into a smile. Made with fluffy, focaccia-like dough laced with a crispy baked cheese “frico crust,” the pies here easily beat out any of L.A.’s other Detroit-style pizza operations. Available for dine-in, takeout and delivery, these mouthwatering rectangles of cheese, sauce and toppings are the reason to order from Emmy’s, but other delicious menu items like cheesy garlic sticks, baked ziti and pretzel bun burgers make sure every meal is an absolute blast.

Former Mozza chef Matt Molina teamed up with Mozzaplex magnate Nancy Silverton and the Silverlake Wine crew for this Roman-style pizzeria, slinging scissors-sliced pies you pay for by the ounce. You can only find four or five varieties per night, but don’t let that worry you—they're all great, so order a little slice of each. (There's even a vegan option.) Don't skip the foccacia, though, which is great in every flavor; we're partial to the O.G., slick with olive oil and flecked with nothing but rosemary and sea salt. If you're at the Highland Park location, enjoy your slices on the cute patio; if you're in Echo Park, take a seat on the wood blocks out front and take in the traffic along Sunset.

Whenever we’re craving a hefty, classic pizza, this New York-inspired slice shop with locations across the city is here to, quite literally, deliver. Unlike many of the more upmarket pizzerias on this list, Prime Pizza offers both takeout and delivery across much of Los Angeles, with a fairly consistent, unfussy pizza that’s more than a cut above your standard chains. Dough that ferments for 24 hours, housemade sausage and extra options like thick Sicilian-style squares make Prime Pizza stand out—especially if you’re not the type of person to wait in line at a pop-up or chase down the latest hot new pizza. Plus, they offer pizza both whole and by the slice, even if it’s coming straight to your door.

Like the name says, this no-frills Valley pizza shop is straight from New York City, where owner Anthony Zingaro’s family first opened up shop in 1966. Using the same exact recipes, Pizza Wagon of Brooklyn offers one of L.A.’s best New York-style slices with the kind of pizza pedigree that even the pickiest East Coast transplant can’t object to. Stepping into the small shop (with a hidden back parking area accessible from the alley off Van Nuys), the affordable slices of pizza served by employees straight out of a stoner comedy sport a thin, crispy crust dressed with marinara sauce and cheese that plenty of Sherman Oaks locals simply can’t enough of.

Since 2014, this Neapolitan-style national chain has brought a taste of Italy to a casual industral space in East Hollywood perfect for children, large groups and everyday meals. Originally from Nashville (with all other locations in the South), DeSano’s pies here will upend your pre-existing notion of "chain" pizza with imported ingredients including Italian flour and cheese, plus Mediterranean sea salt. Cooked in massive wood-burning ovens, the affordable, high-quality product remains a sleeper hit among the city’s many Neapolitan-style pizzerias. For those who love sweets, the ricotta-stuffed crust dessert pizza topped with Nutella and broken cannolis is a must-order. Note: Unlike most eateries in the surrounding area, DeSano has an enormous free parking lot.

One of the oldest pizza operations in the world, L’Antica (known in Italy simply as “da Michele”) has brought its traditional recipe dating back to 1870 right to the congested, tourist-laden streets of Hollywood. With a much larger menu than the original in Naples, plus nicer sit-down digs, this pizzeria made famous stateside by Eat, Pray, Love is now a staple among Angelenos searching for an “authentic” (what is authenticity, anyway?) Neapolitan pizza that’s gooey in the center, blistered around the edges and best eaten right on the spot. The brick-lined outdoor patio, expanded during the pandemic, is the perfect backdrop for one of these wood-fired pies. Don’t get distracted by the rest of the menu, though: Most of the small plates and pastas tread quickly into tourist-pleasing territory—and we wouldn’t recommend ordering those, to be quite frank.

Hang on the patio or at one of the new indoor booths, or grab a pizza to-go—whichever way you slice it, Long Beach’s Little Coyote has you covered with New York-style pizzas in options that come brimming with creativity (pro tip: Always look out for the special). With a crust that’s perfectly foldable and just the right amount of chewy, it’s become the platonic ideal of L.A. County's take on NYC pizza—and after several visits to Little Coyote, we’re partial to saying our coast’s is superior (sorry, Time Out New York). As good as the pizza and the subs and the salads are, this spot is also about vibes and service: Ask for wine pairings and the staff will more than have you covered with fun and funky labels, and the merch, especially the line of tie-dyed goods, is just as fun as the food itself.

The single-serving focaccia pies at this Arts District indoor-outdoor eatery deserve a class of their own; topped with fresh, locally sourced produce, each pie provides maximal surface area for crust, while the plush interior zone retains the warm softness of De La Nonna’s wood-fired pizza oven. Paired with a glass of natural wine on the pizzeria’s string-lit patio, the craggy rectangles here feel fancy almost without even trying, and the ever-changing market pizza is a constant source of delight. For all the fancier meals in the Downtown neighborhood, we’d choose a pizza here first on any given day of the week.

Though Masa of Echo Park first began captivating locals pining for Chicago-style deep dish pizza back in 2004, this newer Melrose pizzeria is more likely to win over actual transplants from the Midwest. With a better crust-to-filling ratio than its better known competitor, Blackbird offers the real deal beyond just checking every box on what a deep dish pizza should have. Though the pies, of course, are baked in a two-inch-deep pan and feature a fresh cornmeal crust, the chunky fillings and copious amounts of cheese aren’t forced to compete with breading for your stomach space. Available in small, large and even personal-sized versions, one forkful will be enough to make you a convert. 

The South Asian-inspired pies at this Indian pizza parlor in Silver Lake are a razor-sharp distillation of everything great about dining in Los Angeles: fun, not too expensive and, best of all, gloriously unfussy. Rich in spice, though not necessarily spicy, the green chutney pijja (Hindi slang for “pizza”) is a glorious exercise in maximalism ideal for a stylish but unfussy night out. Top your slice with a shake of masala spice for extra kick, and don’t miss the restaurant’s excellent cookies and cardamom soft serve.

It’s hard to imagine a fluffier-but-still-crispy, more textural pizza than Apollonia’s square slices, which look almost like fine art. The cheese gets baked along the edges until it’s standing up straight into the air; it provides a perfect foil to the gooey burrata plopped in the center; call the shop or check Instagram for square slices before you head in, as they’re not always available, and when they are, they go quickly. Of course, Apollonia’s also makes fantastic round pies, too, which arrive covered in everything from locally-made chorizo verde to duck-and-bacon sausage. If it’s your first visit, we believe it’s just about mandatory that you drizzle the spicy honey over whatever you pick.

In a sea of wood-fired Neapolitan pies and craggy Detroit-style squares, this West Third Street restaurant dares to be different by serving pinsa, a lesser known Roman-style flatbread. While our hands-down favorite version of the dish comes from GG Kitchen (a West L.A. ghost kitchen that's not on this list due to its limited delivery range and on-site seating), we’d be remiss not to mention Oste’s excellent, more widely available single-serving pies, which diners can enjoy on the restaurant’s charming outdoor patio or order to go. Order yours topped with creamy stracciatella and buttery slices of mortadella, or keep things classic with the margherita—either way, you can’t go wrong.

This cult-favorite pizza van pop-up now has a permanent home in Long Beach’s Belmont Heights, where heavenly circles of naturally leavened sourdough float out of the oven with astonishing speed. Relative to other red-hot pizzas around town, the bubbly, well-charred slices here have more definitive heft, with a menu that mixes conventional pies like margherita and pepperoni with more unique options, including the Hawaii Pie Oh, made with koji-infused tomatoes, charred pineapple, fermented jalapeños, among other market-driven toppings. Hovering around the $20 mark—dairy-free and cheese varieties aside—these pies don’t exactly come cheap, but discerning pizza fans will find plenty in the way of quality and flavor to justify the cost and effort involved.

Cosa Buona is chef Zach Pollack’s hearty, no-frills Italian pizzeria and the casual sibling to Silver Lake’s Alimento. The shop’s name is spot-on: Plenty of good things abound here, including a range of antipasti, salads and some of the best mozzarella sticks in town, but a must is the pizza, with a fermented, chewy, airy, bubble-pocketed crust that denies typical pie categorization. (And yes, it's better than Pizza Buona—the original old-school pizzeria that occupied the address.) Stick with familiar favorites like margherita, or the biancoverde—a white pie with mozzarella, spinach, garlic, basil and ricotta—or veer into fun, gourmet takes on American classics like BBQ chicken. Just be sure to grab a plate of saucy hot wings—it's a definitive all-time favorite.

Once a mobile wood-fired pizza pop-up, now a permanent wood-fired pizza operation in Silver Lake, La Sorted’s pies pile fluffy, chewy, beautifully bubbled dough with everything from the classics (margheritas and pepps abound) to Italian sausage with kale and razor-thin garlic. (Owner Tommy Brockert has even run a Dodger-dog–inspired pie as a special, if you're really in the mood to get weird.) The centers are thin but steady, and perfectly light and just-crispy. Follow along on Instagram for future mobile dates and specials, but know this, above all: La Sorted’s shares its new Silver Lake space with Gemini Bakehouse—which is run by Brockert’s sister and brother-in-law—which means phenomenal loaves of bread and pastries are also available for whenever you stop by.

The crisp-bottomed crusts with chewy edges at this Atwater Village shop are made from wild yeasts and organic grains, and come complete with everything from raclette to spicy-sweet house-made sausage. Most salads and sides swap out regularly, due to seasonality, and the desserts are not to be missed—especially the Basque cake, served with a dab of tart yogurt. A renaissance chef of a man, owner David Wilcox also dabbles in sandwiches, stews, a terrific house-made hot sauce and eggy brunch plates, but the star here is undeniably the pizza: Crunchy, piping hot from the oven, and always topped with something local and delicious. Pair with the neighborhood spot's expertly curated list of fun, funky and independent natural wines, and you’ve got yourself a perfect night.