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"I am always down for Jones. For me it has it all: it's dark, not too loud, but the music is good, the food is always ultra tasty, and the…" read more »
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"Molto Bene!"
[First impression]
It's Mario Batali!
Hey.. when in LA right? With so many restaurants to choose from, I figured we might as well start from the top somewhere. Craving for pizza, this seem like the right place. You can't go wrong with a food network star! We filled up on salad and antipasti which were delicious. The pizza was good. Great if you wash it down with wine. Great location and ambiance.
[Suggestion]
*Fried squash blossoms with ricotta-- how often do you get to order something like that?!
[Tip(s)]
*Don't valet. We parked along Melrose and walked.
Dont you hate pizza that takes the fun out of pizza?
Long wait cause it's trendy for inexplicable reasons. Boring "gourmet" pizzas without any balls (don't like balls on your pizza? suit yourself...).
If you have a special request for your pizza, the waiter has to run it by the chef, because he won't make it if the "flavors don't go together".
Guess what the definition of the worst thing a restaurant can do is?- serve people something to eat they didn't want.
Ridiculous place for people who celebrity-worship overrated chefs.
My second visit to a Mario Batali restaurant, my second average experience. (read my Lupa review here: http://www.yelp.com/bi...)
Once again, I called one month to the day to get a reservation yet we still had to wait 30+ minutes for our table. Our server was pretty disinterested in us from the start while the bussers were at the complete opposite end of the spectrum, totally overzealous in clearing plates that weren't quite finished. We tried a couple of different pizzas and while they were good, they paled in comparison to the pizza we had the night before at Gjelina.
Final verdict? Pizzeria Mozza serves some pretty good food but it's not quite worth the effort and middling service.
Like this place needs any more stellar reviews-but I wanted to mention that the eggplant capponata and the caprese appetizers are still on my mind...and it's been almost a year since we ate there. Hey-times are tough and, although I would LOVE nothing more than eating that salty caramel pudding stuff every day or my life, I simply can't afford it.
Pizzeria Mozza.....you will always have a special place in my heart and stomach.
Yum!!! Great Pizza and worth the month I waited to get in. FYI, call for a reservation. You're wasting your time doing the online thing.
Love love love this place! If yelp had decimals I would give this place 4.5 stars. The pizza is just amazing. Staff is super friendly. I ordered a glass of wine while waiting for a table to open up and the staff let me try different kinds until I was satisfied with one. The only thing that sucks about this place is that you have to make reservations in advance. If not, you can sit at the bar. If your really lucky, someone else will cancel their reservation and you can take their spot.
Definitely get the sausage pizza. Also got the egg and bacon pizza, Prosciutto, and other ones I can't quite remember the names of. All were delicious.
There isn't much to say about Pizzeria Mozza that hasn't already been said ...
You know you love a restaurant when:
1) You show up on time for your reservation but have to wait an additional 30 minutes because the wine-buzzed folks before you refuse to leave the table that now rightfully belongs to you ... but you don't care because its Mozza and you'll wait all night
2) Walking around Sea World for 8 hours straight still won't burn enough calories that are in a Butterscotch Budino but none of it matters and you'd lick the Budino cup if there weren't other people around you
3) You and 2 other friends (one who is actually recovering from a stomach virus!) order two pizzas, two salads, three desserts and still order a pizza "to go" for later
4) Having to call the restaurant 3 weeks in advance for a reservation doesn't even bother you
5) In fact, you have them on speed dial
Pizzeria Mozza, I love you and I don't even like pizza!!!!!
Hype is a finicky mistress. Too much of her company and no one can live up to the expectations, to little and especially in the circles of Hollywood you won't last a day. From it's inception, Pizzeria Mozza has been a staple on the lists of top restaurants in the city. For three years or so, it's been on the lips of every foodie I know and so finally and desperately late to the party we arrive. After all the time and all the platitudes poured upon the food here, I truly expected to be wildly disappointed and yet as we sat at the counter in front of the pizza ovens watching the staff prepare the dishes, the aromas of each plate filled the air as it arrived to the seats around us and I knew I wouldn't be.
There are some plates that look, smell and sound truly remarkable here, including the Mussels al Forno and the Bone Marrow but it's all about the pizza. Every once in a while, something happens in life that puts a giant smile on your face and you just can't stop smiling. One bite of the pizza here, and I heard angels sing. This pizza is joyous, a true culinary wonder and easily the best pizza I've ever had on a list where second place isn't even on the radar.
There is an extensive list of unique and beguiling combinations for pizza toppings but after much hemming and hawing we settled on a Funghi Misti (mushroom for the hoi polloi) because it's my favorite and a Coach farm goat cheese and bacon that was recommended by the host. I could literally write a book on the joys of each of them, but to keep it short and sweet, they're as close to perfect as a plate can get and it's all about the perfect thin crust. My wife and I kept looking at each other, making sure we weren't imagining it, but the reality is that the food here is staggeringly good. There are a handful of reviews here on Yelp that say otherwise, but they're wrong, wrong, wrong. This is as good as food gets, especially Italian food that is easy to do but almost impossible to create perfectly because it's such a simple cuisine.
There are very few places I can eat at repeatedly in a short period of time, but I could truly have eaten again here a few hours later. Happily. In fact, I could eat here every day for every meal until I ate my way through the menu, which is unheard of for me. We ended up taking leftovers home, and I ate every last crumb the next day.
We topped the meal off with a wonderful Butterscotch Budino dessert. The perfect end to a perfect meal.
There are a few things to consider here all the same. Parking is difficult on a good day, and nearly impossible on a bad one. After years, it's still crazy busy but mid afternoon is perfect. There's still a crowd but the wait is quite short. 3pm-4pm is just about right. The room is nice, open and if you sit at the counter you can watch the whole experience happen which is nice but it's not quite as comfortable as a table. There's a nice wine list that's actually moderately priced for the area. Service was great, the host was most accommodating and they took good care of us. Finally, the soundtrack to the place is great but only if you like hip alternative and rock in the background. Any place that's got Radiohead on is okay with me, but certainly there is a segment of diners that won't appreciate the gesture.
Overall, one of my favorite meals ever at any price (and the prices here are very reasonable). It's been almost a month since the meal, and here I am drooling just thinking about it.
Best Plates: Funghi Misti pizza, Coach Farm Goat Cheese and Bacon pizza, Fennel sausage pizza, Butterscotch Budino pudding.
Food - A+
Ambience - A-
Service - A
Value - A
Oh My!
Butterscotch pudding dessert with caramel, sea salt and whip cream!!!!!
And, no creepy waiter this time!
Still in love! Me heart Mozza forever!
Do NOT like tall, creepy waiter that I have now has twice…
Read more »
It's as good as all the 5 star raters says it is. :)
We had the squash blossom pizza and the fennel sausage pizza.
- Delicious
While there's little that hasn't been written about Pizzeria Mozza, the previous reviewers miss one essential fact: the gorgonzola dolce pizza with fingerling potatoes is perhaps the best combination of flavors ever imagined!
It's literally an epiphany, far superior to more conventional offerings on the menu. Yes, the fennel sausage is made in-house, but any decent German delicatessen could claim the same. And yes, it's lovely having eggs on your pizza, but save it for breakfast. Gorgonzola is the way to go! Combine that with the crispy goat cheese antipasti and a bottle of nebbiolo and you're golden.
If there's anything worth criticizing here, I'd suggest you make your reservation before 10PM on a Sunday. Several of the most desirable items on the menu--clams, speck and squash flowers--were sold out. Some of the niceties, like dessert and coffee menus, were completely overlooked. Also, for some reason, kitchen machinery mysteriously seems to "break" at later hours. I was hoping to try the olive oil gelato, but apparently there was a "problem" with the freezer. Hmmm...
Regardless, this isn't fine dining and Pizzeria Mozza isn't aiming for three Michelin stars. I'm willing to tolerate a bit of hustle for such a divine pizza. I only ask one thing--that I not be subjected to "Lump" by the Presidents of the United States ever, ever again, especially while eating!
A great place for some decent pizza and a chance to take in some of the finest in shallow LA living. The menu is good but the "too cool for school" ambiance is stiffing. I've had better pizza in Phoenix and there I get treated like a human and not like a means to an end.
I have almost the same review here as I have for the Osteria. The food was very good. But, it is such a PAIN that everything has to be translated. For example, the tricolore salad is a Caesar salad. The description on the menu would not give you that info. You have to ask the waiter. If a pizza has the word tomato is does not mean that there are tomatoes on the pizza, it means the is red sauce. If the word tomato isn't there, it means no sauce. Why?!
This makes for such a frustrating experience because you either need the waiter to go through everything on the menu for you or you just pick and you are very likely to either not get what you like or get something that you don't like. I just don't get it.
Everything we had was really good. The small dishes on the antipasti menu were super. We had the stuffed blossoms (sooo good), the eggplant (sooo good), and something else that I can't remember, but remember liking. Their garlic bread (I think called white bread on the menu) was also really great. Really nice to go with the apps. The pizzas were all excellent. One of the cheeses is a truffle cheese (again, this is not at all clear -- you need to ask). I didn't think it tasted like truffle.
One of my all-time faves in LA. Each time I come here, I'm pleasantly satisfied after we finish our meal. I've never had problems getting reservations for this place, most likely because we tend to eat at later hours. If you make reservations far enough in advance, you'll be fine.
In addition to TWO pizzas, here's a list of menu items that we always order for the two of us to feast on:
- Meatballs al forno (makes me drool just thinking about them!)
- Tricolore with Parmigiano Reggiano with anchovy dressing (bold dressing but blends well with the salad)
Other ones we've ordered that were delicious:
- Bone Marrow al forno (a build-your-own dish with bread to spread the bone marrow on, salt, and cilantro...absolutely delicious)
- Fried squash blossoms with ricotta (light and fluffy, with just the right amount of cheese stuffed into each blossom)
For dessert:
- Butterscotch Budino (heavenly and one of our faves!)
- Caramel Copetta with marshmallow sauce & Spanish salted peanuts (I don't even like marshmallows and I thoroughly enjoy this each time)
Did I mention the above list is ordered in addition to TWO pizzas? Yes, we're piggies. But I DO love myself some Pizzeria Mozza from time to time...there's even a super sweet waitress that recognized me each time I dined there too.
Each time we come here, towards the end of the night, we'll see Nancy Silverton come in and chat a bit with her staff and maybe have a glass of wine. She's a genius for making the pizza crust at Pizzeria Mozza so delightful!!
Right next to the infamous Osteria Mozza - I say - Pizzeria Mozza is BETTER than OM and easier on your wallet too. You can't go wrong with any of their antipasti, insalate or the pizza. Favs/Must haves: mozza caprese, fennel sausage pizza and caramel budino. Also popular was the squash blossoms pizza. No resi needed for the bar seating and much more fun too watching the open kitchen.
( I should wonder why I should be writing a review to a place that has 800+ reviews...I do think they have one of the best gourmet pizza in LA using the freshest ingredients).
Ambiance - classy, fun and cozy. Much more casual than Osteria Mozza next door. Came 10min b4 12 for lunch and there were already several people ready to eat. The doors to the place is quite tall and pretty opaque-looking that you can't help but do double-take that you're in the wrong place. Trust your instinct - open that big yellow/orange door, that is - unless they're locked it until opening at exactly 12pm.
Food -
Antipasti - Bone marrow (2-3) served with roasted garlic, parsley/celery leaves salad, salt flakes & crostini. You'll like this if you like mushy decadent goodness. The butter on the crostini was bit much and overpowered the bone marrow but nonetheless prepared well and much flavorful. Meatballs as well as fried squash blossoms with ricotta seemed popular as well.
Insalate - Mozza caprese is udder perfectness that has me reminiscing about Italy. Fresh, gooey, milky, cloud-like burrata over brilliant green basil pesto and roasted-on-the-vine baby tomatoes. I could just eat the whole thing in one bite/swallow. Heaven~
Pizza - Fennel sausage, panna, red onion and scallions. Perfectly light and earthy crust brushed with olive oil, house made fennel sausage, red onion/scallions that are julienned in slivers and sprinkled with fennel seeds powder. A waitstaff's tip - mash up the fennel sausage so that all the savory goodness oozes out throughout the pizza and you get the awesome sausage in every bite. Not too heavy and one pizza's enough to share between two.
Dessert - Per everyone's recommendation including our waiter - had the butterscotch budino (a pudding). Served layered in a clear "shot glass" over whipped cream and flakey/crunchy Maldon sea salt - a wonderful way to end the meal.
Thumbs up and will def recommend for repeat visits. Can't wait to try more dishes on the menu. Also have daily specials thruout the week.
Maybe it's because I was expecting something much more from all the hype and critical reviews. Maybe this is as good as pizza gets in LA. Not that the pizza here was bad, it just wasn't impressive. The appetizers were good but not exciting. Many of the pizzas were weighed down by toppings, many of which were too salty. The flavors were also muddled on the pizzas with too many toppings. The pizza crust was good but not not impressive by any stretch. Wait staff was not particularly attentive but not unfriendly either.
All in all, an underwhelming experience.
Mario Batali, this restaurant lives up to your name. The prosciutto pizza was salty, but my friend's asparagus, bacon, onion pizza was BOMB DIGGITY! Oh how I love Mario! These pizzas are inventive, unique, and delicious! I believe everyone should try a slice. MAKE RESERVATIONS bc you won't get seated at a regular table if you just stop by and the wait is long. save yourself some time and make a phone call. It'll be worth it.
Save room for the butterscotch budino!!!
When I called to make a reservation, for one month ahead. The snooty hostess informed me that they do not have any reservations available except at 9.45. Which is okay, if the information is given in a pleasant way, rather than we don't really care if you come or not, because we are the most popular restaurant in Los Angeles, kind of voice.
No gracious apology, or to suggest she hopes I might call at another time. No manners. They may be one of the most popular restaurants in Los Angeles. But seriously, you don't get "attitude" when you call Thomas Keller's French Laundry in Napa or Alice Water's Chez Penisse in Berkeley. Both of which need reservations up
to a month ahead. They are accommodating and helpful.
Perhaps the Mozza Management should get out of the kitchen and work on the front of the house to match the quality of the Pizzas!
The salad, pizza, wine and entire presentation were fantastic. The wasteful paper bags your napkin and silverware are presented are pretty bad. I'd rather have a cloth napkin with my silverware rolled up inside than know I'm wasting paper. That aside the food is incredible, the parking is easy (valet before 5 is $8.50 and after 5 is only $10). The valet system needs some revamping but if it means I don't have to hunt an open space down... I'm sold!
The manager was wonderful and accommodating even after we arrived 19 minutes late (thank you manager =)), the wait staff was knowledgeable, friendly and had fantastic suggestions that all turned out to be delicious.
I'm from Northern California and I would definitely make it a point to visit Mozza again. The closest they come is Arinell's Pizza and that's no easy thing to accomplish. PERIOD
The best gourmet pizza award goes to PIZZERIA MOZZA!
I finally got to try Pizzeria Mozza :) and WOW I've been missing out! The food was amazing! I love pizza, but when you eat too much of it, the tomato sauce kinda gets to me and i feel overloaded with carbs. But at Pizzeria Mozza, I can eat pizza until I explode!
Honestly, I don't remember what kind of pizzas we got. But we got a whole bunch of pizzas between the 8 of us. They were ALL good!
Here are some of the pizzas I remember
I believe this was the meat lovers pizza: http://www.yelp.com/bi...
Mushroom, prosciutto and meat lover?: http://www.yelp.com/bi...
And I would say this was Bianca with fontina, mozzarella, sottocenere & sage: http://www.yelp.com/bi...
To top it off I saw PAUL MACCARTNEY and DAVE GROHL dining together and I got to talk to them! :D I was so star strucked... I think I blacked out for a moment lol.
Anyway, Pizzeria Mozza also have delivery and take out! Make sure you make your reservations in advanced because this place is ALWAYS booked! The restaurant is pretty small, so it feels a bit cramped, but the food tops everything so I give this place 5 stars!
AMAZING!
came here for an anniversary dinner. had reso's but they still made us wait... but worth it. the coke light was yummmm.... has the fennel sausage pizza, and another one that that had whole cloves of garlic on it. will def come back and try another pizza.
BUT- try the white bean brusscheta (sp?)
I want to give 4.5 stars because 1. Its always super crowded and I am very impatient and 2. $17 dollars for chicken leg and thigh,....come on. Dont get me wrong, it was served a la cacciatore, which is one of my favorites and it actually tasted like my moms, but as a chef, I know chicken leg and thigh is the cheapest product around. Plus, it is probably by-product from the Osteria.
However, I am not messing around though when I say the pizza is spectacular. Actually nothing fancy but dead on. I was in Italy a few years ago and it is definitely the closest in quality but is also the most expensive. (see review on Bollini's below)
they also have a decent beer list, I found Telelgraph in the 750ml size.
Chicken liver was awesome, meat lovers pizza was awesome, cacciatore was awesome.
Ive yet to try desserts but I will. My girlfriend just moved into the area so I think Ill visit more often.
I've had hospital cafetaria food all week. No worries, not as a patient. I work there. And it's UCLA's Ronald Reagan cafetaria, which is spanking new and fraught with yummies, so again, not the worst thing to happen to a gal. But, it's still a cafetaria, hence gets boring. Pizzeria Mozza sounded like the perfect antidote with its unique play of toppings and cheeses.
First of all, they need to do something about that clusterf*ck at the door. After putting down my name for a party of two at the bar, I spied an empty bar stool and asked the front gal if I could please have a seat and enjoy a glass of wine while I waited for my friend. She said no due to their policy of seating only when all the members of the party arrived. Fair enough. I went outside and perused the menu nailed by the door. Then I squeezed into a spot on the bench. A little uncomfy so I went back inside and just stood by the doorway. It got increasingly crowded and a little gentleman at about 4 feet saved my life by opening the door. Air!
After a 30 minute wait, they called my name. Hurrah! Good seats at the end of the bar, we met Bartender 1. Humorless fella who discouraged us from ordering the margherita.
Thus, we ended up selecting the squash blossoms and burrata as well as the fennel sausage and scallions. The squash blossoms pizza was the ultimate disappointment. First, it was cold. What the hell, who serves cold pizza? Take a pointer from Pitfire, burn that sucker if you have to. Pizza only tastes good cold in the morning after a hangover. The burrata was nice, though not the best I've had. The kicker was that the squash blossoms were literally squashed against the top layer. Ridiculo. No comprendo. Scratch that, nosotros no comprendemos.
The fennel sausage was better. That sausage was mighty tasty and nicely seasoned, breaking apart with the ease of a fork. It, too, wasn't hot, though. What's going on? Heat lamp? =/
On a brighter note, the salad with parmesan and anchovy dressing was delicious. And those thick chunks of bread buttered and toasted oh-so-intelligently did the marvelous trick of coming at just the right time, right before I accidentally ate the silverware housed in paperbags, mistaking it for breadsticks.
The wines were a'ite. I'm not a big fan of Italian vino unless it's uber expensive, as I find that with Italian wines, there's a huge differential with price point. For example, an expensive amarone or barolo is divinity! But, the tempranillo, barbera, and amarone you find at, say, Trader Joe's, suck donkey balls in comparison.
Now for the service. The people here are not the friendliest bunch. Bartender 1, as said, was a humorless, smug chap. The front girl replied to all questions with textbook sincerity. This, my friends, is irony. They all kind of have their nose vaguely in the air, conveying no personality... except Fernando, Bartender 2. He was a peach. Offered us several tastings until we were happy and made our experience as best as it could be.
Last but not least, let's talk money. Our bill came to about $95 before tip. Two cold pizzas, a salad, some bread, and 3 glasses of wine. An arrogant fleecing is what that is. And the valet is a screeching-halt $10. Gotta hand it to them, it takes balls to charge $10 for a pizza place. Providence is $8 if memory serves. No, my car did not return freshly hand washed, waxed with blindingly shiny rims.
Note to Pizzeria Mozza: Get over yourself! You'll find me at Vito's and Mulberry's until my pizza cravings can bear it no more and I move back to New York, or god-help-me, New Haven.
I hate LA. There I said it. I know I'm from Norcal and we profess to be the Mecca for all things food related - and we are. I was ready to come down to LA to poo-poo all the over hyped restaurants.
Reilly, the dreamy bartender, ordered for my friend and me and told me to bring it . Perhaps it was his charming smile, sparkly eyes, or perky bottom, but I couldn't find anything to rant about. Hm mm, definitely that pert bottom.
Frankly, I was quietly munching for most of my meal. We started with the caprese with fire roasted baby tomatoes still on the vine, creamy mozzarella, and pesto. It was clean and flavorful. Next we tried the white bean crostini with balsamic marinated radicchio. The sweetness of the balsamic was perfect with the bitter radicchio and the white bean held everything together nicely.
Next we had what had to be the best salad of the meal: shrimp, melon, mint and chiles. The essence of summer in a cup.
We shared the fungi pizza and I had to admit the mushrooms were perfectly caramelized. The crust was not overly bready but was actually thin and nicely blistered.
We finished with the meal with the infamous butterscotch budino. I can't say anything that hasn't already been said about it other than, I downloaded the recipe as soon as I got in front of my computer.
We were stuffed but my friend and I managed to carve out some room for a child scoop (thank you Reilly for the tip) olive oil gelato.
Reilly, call me.
It has been far too long since I've visited Mozza. I'm not sure if it's still tough to get reservations, but we typically like to go early-ish for dinner and sit at the bar, where they save seats for walk-ins. While this is a pretty good strategy, it's hard to get all the way over there for early dinner from Santa Monica, making this a special occasion place.
I can confidently say that this is the best pizza I've had in my life. Mozza made me realize that pizza is really 90% about the crust. And Mozza's crust is absolutely perfect: bubbly, fluffy, crusty and chewy all at once.
My faves include the pizza that has cheese (forget what kind) and sage, and the sausage and fennel pizza. The squash blossoms are also awesome on a pizza or by themselves as an appetizer. For dessert be sure to try to butterscotch pudding dish.
The service is amazing, and it's a treat to watch the pizza artists at work when you eat at the bar facing the oven. The decor is really simple but warm, and reminds me a lot of my favorite places in San Francisco, where great eateries tend to me more low-key and less sceney.
Mozza has a firm spot on my all time fave list and it's not going anywhere soon!
Hate to burst your bubble sweetie but this place is all hype. Maybe because my expectations were a bit on the higher end I was doomed for disappointment. I must admit tho... Fernando, the sweetest lil barkeep, was the highlight of my evening. He gave us 3 different wine tastings without us even asking. My favorite being the '08 Colosi Ner D' Avola Sicilia. Reminds of a nice light Beaujolais.
Food:
Damn... I forgot the name of this buttery crispy bread... yah... ANYWAY... buttery garlicky grilled fluffy bread.... Tasty....
Tricolore salad. Radicchio with anchovy dressing.. A good start.
Fennel sausage pizza. Sausage was nice. Has a bit of an anise flavor, which I enjoyed. Crust has a nice crispy texture.
Squash blossom pizza with Burrata .... PASS... Loved the burata but the the pizza itself was mehhh.. whatever....
For 50 bucks per person I wish I could have thrown up my food and given it back. So not worth it.... at all.
If it wasn't for Fernando, I'd give it 2.5 stars. Won't make the effort to go back again.
In LA...?? This is probably the best we can do. But certainly not "THE BEST." and, certainly not for the cost.
Valet was $10. "Sir, can you please remove your shoe out of my ass? Thanks..."
Did I mention Fernando? =) Gracias.... You were the most memorable part of my experience at Mozza.
Correction: The most memorable part of this evening was meeting 2 drunk cougars celebrating a birthday. Funniest kitties I've ever met. They give me hope.
Next stop.... Jones....
2.5
I SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO wanted to like this place. I was so excited! I looked at the menu online, everything sounded good, my friend was a huge fan.
But even if my expectations hadn't been so high, I would have still been disappointed.
Leaving aside the fact that you can't get in and out of your table if you have to pee, and that it's impossible to have a conversation because everyone is on top of everyone else, I get that this is a hot spot, and that people are there to be there, not to languish and chat.
Fine.
But the food has to live up the cramped quarters, then.
Didn't happen.
My friend and I split the little gems salad, a Stracchino with chaved artichokes, lemon & olives pizza and the budino for dessert.
The little gems salad sounded terrific in theory, but in practice it arrived DROWNED in gorgonzola dressing. It was seriously a pot of dressing, structured with some lettuce quarters underneath. I barely saw any green. And the dates weren't the best. I love dates, but when I buy them I make sure I pick the juciest most flavorful dates. These were dry, mealy and hard. No big thrills there.
The pizza looked good, and I love all the things listed as ingredients. I even love them together! But when you saute your artichokes in lemon, and then douse the top in lemon zest, and then toss the bitter leaves on top in lemon dressing, well....I was expecting a neat balance of earthy, and sharp vinegar, cut with the bitter lettuce. What I got was a lemony vinegar mess. The pizza was good. Crust was ok. A nice balance of crispy/chewy. But that pizza was just NOT working. I wanted to send it back but my friend was ok with it. I split my piece with her. I'd already taken my insulin so I had to eat, but figured I'd save the calories for dessert instead of that pizza. Especially since I'd already had a cheese bomb for a "salad".
Budino, as expected was yummy. Could've used a tad more of the sea salt because those "perfect bites" were, indeed, quite perfect, but it was a little tricky finding the few grains of salt in the cup. But quite nice. I should've had coffee with it, in hindsight.
Pretty cheap. Splitting the meal we each paid #25 with tax and tip included. So that was nice.
Will I be back? Maybe to give one of the other pizzas a try, but I won't be in a hurry.
We had a reservation for 10 pm on a Saturday night. But, we had to wait until about 10:45 to get our table anyway. The place was packed, the music loud and people shouting to talk to one another over it. We sat down, ready to become closer buddies with the person to our immediate left or right... not those across the table. I began by admiring the red walls and dim lighting... Aside from the noise, I thought it was a cool ambiance.
The table was covered with paper place mats and the silverware came packaged in paper packets. The first of a few servers came over and asked us if we wanted any water: bottled or tap. I answered "tap", and he walked away; I didn't know I was answering for the entire table. Odd, but fine. He then came back and talked to a few at the table about wine choices, a mini course in what goes best with what.
We finally ordered. Everyone got their own pizza. I got the $13 margherita pizza, figuring it'd be large enough to fill me up and also give me a fair appraisal of the pizza... though this is more of a gourmet pizza place, not satisfy-your-craving type of joint. We started with a complimentary bowl of mozzarella balls bolognese, which were good.
A long time and many glasses of tap water later, we finally got our pizzas. Mine arrived much like the picture on the website: burnt crust. I thought that was a mistake, but it seems it's the way they do it. Mine was an EXTREMELY thin crust, reminiscent of a pizza I once had in Rome. It had sauce (not tomato as the menu stated, though perhaps that's what they meant, since the menu is sort of only in half-English), mozzarella of course, and fresh oregano. It was about a 9" diameter pie, but was so thin, I'd rate portion size only a 2.5, though here you're really paying for ambiance and popularity.
Of other gourmet pizza places I've tried, however, aside from the gross burnt crust, the pizza itself was good. It had very little sauce, but rather than hating that, I actually didn't mind--the sauce it did have had quite a bit of flavor that carried on through and through. It had a bit of a spicy and wine-flavored kick, and was actually very good. Assuming the pizza had a properly cooked crust and was of a bigger portion size, I would probably give the dish a 3.5-4 for flavor.
But, a restaurant is more than just its food, particularly these days with costs going up. Part of the experience is hospitality, and even though our first server, the water/wine man, was good, the rest fell short of great. We waited so long for our food that we quickly devoured our free mozza balls and tap water; this was finally refilled later in the night after another server intruded in our space removing our paper place mats (which I guess was the norm, but seemed rather rude, particularly without giving any warning). Our table looked empty, and our water was finally replaced. (We had bottles on the table.)
Then again, it was after midnight by now, I'm sure, and they supposedly close at midnight. Then again, we were seated 45 minutes late.
A few of the others ordered dessert. I tried the pear and chocolate sorbet. I suppose if you're a fan of both sorbet and pear and dark chocolate, it would be good. The pear sorbet really tasted almost like a frozen pear. The chocolate was a bit like frozen water chocolate with bits of actual chocolate. I'm more a fat + sugar kinda gal, hence more the gelato type, but that aside, I would give the sorbet a 3-4 assuming you like sorbet. But, no one who ordered this dessert actually finished it...
We tried to close our night out, spending a bit of time figuring out the check math. One of the servers asked us if we needed his help. This comes off nice, but actually seemed somewhat condescending at the time. With a "no", we seemed to be consequently punished by him letting 20 minutes lapse as we stared at him with the bill and credit card in hand. Not the best way to end a delayed night. And, somewhat disconcerting to see the other employees sitting at the bar watching as we waited. Hmm, teamwork anyone?
Recommendations: Try this place out on a slower night. And, don't hesitate to use those feedback forms.
Maybe I'm just not a transplanted east coaster. Maybe I just grew up with the (superior) Italian food made by my Italian mom and her community of Italian friends. Maybe it was my mom's words echoing in my head, "I'd rather go to the little corner pizzeria than that place. Mario Batali has enough money, he doesn't need ours."
But alas, it was a special occasion and the boss was ordering, so I ordered the speck and bufala mozzarella pizza.
Was it tasty? Sure.
Was it worth it? Not a chance.
Would I go back? Probably never, at least not on my dime. What a price to pay for such tiny, tiny portions.
Don't believe the hype.
The setting was perfect. I was on a date with someone special ready to enjoy each other's company delightfully accented by wonderful authentic food and wine.
My date and I sat at the bar, ordered a bottle of wine and asked our server for food recommendations. Lucky for him, we both were on a journey to surprise the pallet with new flavors. We ordered the Caprese salad and the Prosciutto di Parma to start. Both outstanding and on a level unexpected. The Prosciutto melted in our mouths! Such a treat. Unfortunately I do not recall what we had for our main course or what we had for dessert, all I can say is that it was one adventure I would like to relive any day!!
Tip to the wise.... make a reservation!
"The Emperor's New Clothes?"
Hate to break it to you all, but this really is an over-hyped, overpriced average restaurant. While the food is good (chicken liver bruschetta is a highlight), it is simply not worth the headache. The night we were there (Saturday) we were basically surrounded by tourists and Westsiders with their kids, who were more than happy to pay for overpriced pizza while dealing with the overly smug waitstaff. Lots of tables in the interior make for a slightly uncomfortable experience and is definitely not for those suffering from claustrophobia. If you like this kind of scene, then you will be happy...I would prefer to go somewhere else.
(Actually a 4.5)
Great restaurant....
I still have yet to try the other side, Osteria Mozza. We went sort of late afternoon so Osteria wasn't open yet for dinner, but I'm glad now because i don't think we would've had gotten a chance to try the amazing pizza here.
Basically, the ingredients are great and of high quality. The thin crust pizza is amazingly crispy and chewy. You have to experience the pizza right out of the oven, so don't be afraid to eat it fast while it's hot!
Now, i haven't experienced a ton of the staple pizza establishments, although it is one of my favorite foods, but i have experienced the supposed 'Holy Grail' of pizza at New York's Lombardi's Pizza.
Now, Lombardis is amazing, and claims to be the best and most original pizza around. How Mozza's pizza compares, it's tough to say since they have their different advantages. Lombardis is definitely a more original, authentic pizza. Mozza's can also be traditional, but it's very much so 'Californian' in the wide range of toppings they utilize.
If i had to answer, the texture of the pizza at Mozza's is better than Lombardis. Just very light and airy....chewy....crispy....
so...yea, Mozza's is better in my opinion (but just slightly)
We ordered the fennel sausage pizza which is apparently the favorite here. My gf who isn't even a big pizza fan loved this pizza -- it was truly delicious. We also ordered the pizza with the Fresno chilies....couldn't resist. This pizza was great also, nice and spicy, but the fennel sausage was still the highlight of this late lunch.
The atmosphere is nice and vibrant. Loud music, small spaces, high ceilings....it's definitely a great place for groups to congregate and socialize -- it just has a lot of energy and vibrancy which is nice if that's what you are looking for. If you are looking for an intimate, quiet and dark, romantic restaurant -- this is not it....but that's not a bad thing. You come here for mainly two things I feel......amazing food (pizza)....and vibrant atmosphere.
...and this restaurant greatly excels in both.
It's easily a must try when in town and should be towards the top portion of every foodie's list for the LA restaurant scene (below Providence of course).
Next time it's Osteria Mozza (and a pizza to go from next door!)
I know I should talk about the pizza first, but I've got to talk about dessert.
Butterscotch Budino, you're beautiful. Those luscious spoonfuls of creamy, salty and sweet. It never gets old, that tantalizing combination.
OK, back to the pizza. Solid. Margherita is my go-to, I love a simple pie. Perfectly charred with a crispy crackly crust that shatters in your mouth with each bite. Dang. They were a bit slow with bringing out my pie since I asked for a well-done crust so they brought out a complimentary little dish of eggplant tapenade that was rather tasty, and very nice.
The chopped salad packed a lot of tang & saltiness (sodium-phobes need not apply). Something else that hasn't gotten old for me is prosciutto di Parma. Those paper-thin slices of salty cured meat with the texture of velvet, sigh. The platter was a generous serving for $12, great for sharing.
Service was excellent. But for some reason, I enjoyed the pies we got from Mozza-2-Go better. I want to come back to try the Sunday Lasagna dinners, since we heard from a chef friend that it was a must-try!
We took the kids here, little ones. I was kind of nervous b/c you never know what you're gonna get with our two little ones. All in all, though, they were well-behaved and the waitstaff were very kind to them.
We started with the insalata mista and the bruschette with chicken livers, capers and guanciale. The salad was saturated with dressing. It was definitely tasty, but very, very strong-flavored. The bruschette was overloaded with chicken liver topping. Although delicious, I could've used 5 more toast points to spread the liver filling around. The 3:1 liver/bread ratio is not really my thing.. 1:1 is more my style. The pizzas were delicious and we all enjoyed the tasty crust. It was thin, crunchy when first bitten into, then chewy as you take your time to taste the toppings as well. The kids enjoyed the pizza, which is a definite bonus in my book. We ordered the margherita pizza with mozzarella, tomato and basil, as well as the salumi, mozzarella, tomato and fresno chiles pizza. We ended with banana sorbet pie - refreshing, banana-y and delicious.
And mucho thanks to the waitstaff for cleaning up after us... I'm sure they found some cheerios underneath our table that were definitely not a part of the menu. :)
The pizza here is very good. Go ahead and eat it w/ your hands. The crust is difficult to work w/ a fork and knife. Screw being civilized. I'll risk burning my fingertips.
This place is also vegetarian friendly (with no sacrifices made on taste).
The 2 guys at the table next to ours had four plates of caprese salad between them and when our caprese salad arrived, we understood why. The tomatoes were bursting with sweet juiciness; the mozarella was super creamy and topped with a delectable basil/pesto sauce. It was so good I had to google the recipe when I got home. Mine came nowhere close but I am too lazy to slow-bake tomatoes for 2 hours only to finish them in 2 minutes.
Everything was super fresh and flavorful and if we hadn't planned to order 3 pizzas between the 2 of us and save room for dessert, we would've ordered another and another. BEST CAPRESE SALAD EVER.
As for the pizzas - thin, light crispy crust. Like paper.
- SQUASH BLOSSOMS: Loved it. Flavorful.
- MAGHERITA: The tomato sauce packs a punch. Powerful and sweet.
- IPSWICH CLAMS: Uber garlicky and salty. My least favorite - clams seemed dry and rubbery, but overall, still great.
I am not a huge pizza fan in general (I can take it or leave it) but Pizzeria Mozza gets 5 stars from me for their Caprese Salad and the totally to die for Butterscotch Budino - which I had to order after reading Yelp raves. One Yelper wrote that this could be the handiwork of Satan. YEP. AGREED.
Can't wait to get back here.
As I pulled into this Pizza joint with a valet service I came here with an optimistic and open mind. I wanted to love it, because I had driven so far out from Diamond Bar to enjoy what I had believed to be one of the best Pizza establishments in Los Angeles.
Honestly this felt like a hot shot restaurant for people with names. My friends and I came here and were seated very nonchalantly in an extremely crowded Saturday night. The waiters mildly treated us with a form of subtle neglect as if we were just fodder to serve off until some more expensive customers came in. Our waiter ended up being a Tom Cruise look alike from Mission Impossible 2 who ended up being pretty cool; and helped me renovate my rating a slight for the better.
You come to this fancy place for the pizza and when our Pizza's arrived I was blown by how fantastic they looked. They tasted amazing as well but if I'm honest; out of the 4 different pizzas that my group had sampled it was very delicious but something did not set it apart from some of the "Holy Shit' pizza's that I've had at places such as Wolfgang Puck. A bit of a warning though if you do want to order a drink, make sure it is worth it to you because Honestly my jaw hit the floor when I realized that when I had bought a diet coke it was actually a 12oz glass bottle for FIVE DOLLARS. Unbelievable.
I thought the night was a fun experience and I definitely think it's a good place to bring a date but as for bringing your friends to grub down on some bomb pizza this place isn't the right choice. This place is more of a showboat for your date and maayyybe a place for celebrity sighting if you're lucky. I enjoyed it but I won't be coming back; mainly because I was expecting such a fantastic restaurant, but what I got in return was an over priced better than average pizza place that looked the part of something it's not.
I can't comment on the food since after 1 hour of waiting we finally gave up. If the waiter had let us know about the "slow dough" problem we would have ordered something to hold us until the pizza came. We ended up with 3 breadsticks, 2 beers...and blah Thai food from across the street. I'll have to take your word on the pizza and budino...oh well.
I've worked in restaurants for 20 years and was amazed at the poor service and attitude. Must come from the top because it was echoed by the manager and by whomever responded to my complaint letter. Poor guy at the table across from us was on what looked like a first date....he tried to keep it together but eventually he looked like a cartoon character with steam coming out of his ears...especially when the table next to us got it's food after 15 minutes wait and they had come in after us...hahahaha. Never again!
Favorite restaurant in all of Los Angels.
The food is AMAZING. I highly recommend eating your way through the menu. Between the perfect arrangement of flavors for the Pizza's the entire menu is something that should be tried by many.
To name a few of my personal favorite:
fried squash blossoms stiffed with ricotta ~ ***lentils w/crispy goat cheese ~ ***Arancini alla bolognese ~ Green beans, mustard & hazelnuts ~ ***ricolore with Parmigiano Reggiano & anchovy dressing~ Nancys chopped salad ~ White beans alla Toscana with extra virgin olive oil & saba~ Bufala mozzarella & prosciutto di Parma~Salumi salame ~*** Bianca with fontina, mozzarella, sottocenere & sage ~Speck, bufala mozzarella, olive tapanade & oregano~Fennel sausage, panna, red onion & scallions ~ ***Butterscotch budino~ ***Caramel coppetta with marshmallow sauce & Spanish salted peanuts
Besides the food - The wine list is educational. I recently went to a wine tasting there. The class was lead by the wine director Chris Miller. He is full of GREAT information. Beyond helpful. His assistant Adrian is just as wonderful. The wines I normally drink are normally all under $50 and are amazing!
Dinning room is casual, laid back music always playing ( almost feels like it''s always the Beatles)
Occasionally the serves doesn't shone BUT everyone there is very helpful.
Make Reservations or be ready to practice patience... The wine bar is first come first serve. I also recommend calling to see if anyone has canceled their reservations... sometimes that works out better.
Like I said this is my favorite place in LA maybe on the entire planet .
Sunday: Our reservation was at 2:45pm and we got there around 2:30pm. Parked on the street because valet is $$. Although it was super crowded with many more people waiting for their reservations to be honored (as well as many walk-ins), we were seated by 2:45pm exactly. Nice.
On to the food:
I read in one of the reviews that a couple was seated next to the window and there were flies. I have to agree! We sat towards the back where the booths are, right next to the window. I noticed a few fruit flies and one big one buzzing around. I was half-inclined to just catch it, throw it into the food, JUST to get their attention! (Yes, the waiter forgot about us a few times.)
Insalate: Mozza Caprese ($12) - though popular (and what people talked about over and over again on http://Yelp.com), left more to be desired. I liked the fact that the baby tomatoes were so juicy (they were exploding in my mouth!) and the cheese was outstanding but was it worth $12? NOT REALLY.
Bruchette: Pane bianco with olio nuovo ($3) - The waiter suggested the garlic bread to complement the caprese but uh, it was slightly burnt and it tasted too oily. DON'T LET THEM TRICK YOU INTO ADDING ANOTHER $3 TO YOUR TAB WITH THIS DISH! I can seriously make so much better. Come over and I'll show you. Be sure to make a reservation first, though. :P
Meat Lover's Pizza: Tomato, mozzarella, sausage, salami, bacon & guanciale ($18) - I wanted to order this pizza but didn't because my fool date wanted to order it but I'm glad I didn't because I got to order something better! It was good but it didn't stand out. For the price, I would've expected a cow to come out and serve it to me directly.
Coach farm goat cheese, leeks, scallions & bacon ($15) - I liked my pizza so much more. Mmmmm... totally worth it. I was only able to eat 3/8 of it because I was saving my appetite for...
May I mention that the crust is delicious? So thin... so perfectly shaped... just like my waistline. ;) Ha!
Butterscotch budino ($9) - Now everyone was ravinggggg about this dessert and although we were full, I decided to order it so we can at least try what everyone is hyping up. Creamy and smooth in texture, sweet and salty in flavor. I have to say, though, that they sprinkled a little too much of the sea salt because the salty taste was a bit overpowering. DISAPPOINTING. Make sure you specify how much salt you want because you can actually tell them to put a little less or put in a good amount... if you know your butterscotch pudding. :)
Total bill: $73 + $12 tip = $85.00
Was it worth it? No. (Am I a cheapskate? Definitely not.) Would I go back again? Sure, but I wouldn't order the overpriced drinks (unless it's wine), the mozza caprese, garlic bread (I didn't order that, my fool date did), or the meat lover's pizza. Maybe my goat cheese pizza and the budino (sans so much salt).
More pics, go to http://akikokim.wordpr...
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