A Tutta Pizza! LA's Pizza Fest

An overdue review for last year's event which took place on May 19, 2019.

It was a gloomy day it either slightly drizzled that morning or rain the night before. My wife and I arrived at the waiting line earlier than the opening time as with these types of event there are always more early birds with the same mindset we were also waiting for our friends to arrive as well. The privileges of VIP tickets holders were early access to the event, VIP area, and "VIP" bags which were not given out to us.

The VIP area provided free cold water ($$$ outside the VIP Area), free prosciutto samples, and limited seating.

The event started with a bad footing as there was a 30 min technician delay we weren't able to sample until another 10 min when they started allowing guest to enter.

As we passed through the gates into the parking lot of Hollywood Palladium we were given an empty small pizza box to use, pizza redemption tickets, and a scoring card.

First few of the pizzas were okay and unless you have heard of or ate at the pizza places then each one is a new experience. Each pizza stalls each had their own methods and style but a few definitely stood at the top above all others which we found out after trying all of the stalls.

My top 5 pizza picks not in any particular order were The Urban Oven, Apollonia's, Chi Pie, Dagwoods, and Olive Wood Pizza.

Lines at the event started out like elementary children line up behind the teacher, but as the event carried on with more guest it became hectic as no physical lines or post were visible.

A majority of vendors were not prepared for the amount of guest to showing up to this event. By 3 pm most of the vendors ran out of pizza samples to dish out which is very unfortunate when the "Last slice" of pizza posted on their flyer ends at 7:15 pm. We left shortly after 5 pm.

I got two tickets for this event that was advertised as an unlimited pizza event to be held in Hollywood palladium. First of all, it's held in the parking lot and not inside the building where attendees had to endure long lines getting in and longer lines getting teeny, tiny slice of pizza.

Secondly, it wasn't unlimited as advertised but instead, we were handed 12 tickets to redeem pizza slices. We tried going to different lines wanting to redeem two slices at a time but they allow only one slice per person.

Event was so disorganized that lines were very confusing. It's all intertwined so it's hard to determine which vendor the line was for. I also agree also with what others had mentioned,, that most vendors ran out early. One vendor didn't show up at all.

I was fuming mad and almost walked out. However, lines became manageable by 4pm. I think this was the time when most people just gave up and left. At this time, we were able to score tons of pizza that we took home.

Kudos to these vendors who stayed and served pizza until we left by 6pm: Eataly, Forno Pama, Provami, Dagwoods, Apolonia's, Delicious, and Chi Pie. To the organizers, I didn't see a soul out there.

I can see why the previous 6 reviewers only gave it a one star rating. I had a VIP ticket and would give this event like 3.14 max star rating.

I arrived and waited in the VIP line to get in about 15 minutes early. However, the start of the festival was delayed and we were allowed start entering a half hour late, they said it was due to the rain.

Being one of the first people to enter the event, we did have a chance to try 3, maybe 4 stalls before the general admission people came in. Ideally, we would have gotten around to more if we had been allowed to enter on time.

My friend & I went to go look for the VIP bags, but were told we didn't qualify for them. I just don't understand that, but I feel like we were entitled to one. Oh well.

Besides "early entry", the other advantages of having a VIP ticket was being able to get free bottles of cold water, sample Prosciutto from Carpegnato, as well as sit in the VIP area! The same water was being sold for $5 at the vendors.

As for the pizzas... my favorites were from The Urban Pizza, Apollonia's Pizzeria, Eataly and Olive Wood Pizza (I think). I really enjoyed most all the pizzas I ate! There were just a couple that didn't impress me at all.

In the end, our group was able to eat as much pizza as we wanted and even had some "To Go" for later. We did endure waiting in the extremely long lines for 4+ hours! The lines for the stalls in the far back were super long. You had to ask people in line which pizza stand they were waiting for. For those of you who were not happy with not getting pizzas or the lines, please don't send me impolite messages! We left at about 5PM and some of the pizza vendors had run out and closed up while waiting for their re-supply and then reopened. I was glad to be here for the opening rather than near closing time.

The way this event turned out was ok. I do think it could and should have been organized a bit better. I really don't know if I would go again next year, but if I get an invite or get free tickets, I wouldn't say "No"!

P.S. What was the tabbed card with Pizza (12), Peroni Beer (1), and Gelato(1) really for? I understand for the single beer & gelato. But why for Pizza when it was supposed to be unlimited pizza?? Some vendors requested the tab before issuing you a slice... thankfully, most did not!

I am definitely going to be updating this again if and when I actually experience the festival. I have currently been waiting in the GA line since 1:08pm. The line hasn't moved once. Staff did come to update us and tell us doors would open at 1:30- they were supposed to open at 1:00. Not a great start but I am trying to remain optimistic. At 1:34 we moved about two feet forward.

We finally got into the festival around 1:45. The lines for each vendor were already insanely long. It's worth noting that two of the vendors who were listed in the line-up (Dagwoods and L'Antica Pizzeria Da Michele) weren't even there.

We went over to Apollonia's because we really wanted to try their square pizza. Well. We waited in line from about 1:55ish until 2:15. During that time, about five slices of pizza were served. But the employees had plenty of time to give pizza to people behind their booth (who I assume were press or social media influencers) and take photos with them. I actually saw an entire pizza sitting there that no one was bothering to cut or serve.

We quickly decided waiting in line for 30 minutes 10 times (since there were 10 vendors) for tiny slices of pizza did not sound like a good use of our afternoon. We were there for almost 2 hours and didn't eat a single slice of pizza.

We went to the box office and were told we could request a refund through Ticketmaster since that's where we bought our tickets. I'll update if we end up receiving that refund. $80 ($30 for 2 GA tickets plus fees) was an exorbitant amount of money for this awful experience.

The event employee at the box office told us some of the issues and delays were due to the rain earlier. Seems like an excuse to me. The rain is why two vendors didn't show? The festival is in a pretty small space and I think they need to consider a new location if they're going to sell this many tickets. The lines were so long they were intertwining and it was difficult to even walk around.

I would never return to this event and am probably not going to go to any other Food Bowl events this year either. Such a disappointment. I purchased tickets to surprise my pizza-loving husband and it was such a let-down. We went home and grabbed a New York style pie from Joe Peep's for $20. Much better use of my time and money.

I went here for my birthday and feel awful for all the people who spent money to come celebrate with me. Like I should reimburse them for it. What was this even? What was this supposed to be? Was it successful? Are the people in charge happy with it? They can't be, right?

It doesn't even deserve the time it took me to write this and CERTAINLY not with the time it would take to come up with a good pun comparing it to Fyre Festival.

Horrible event!!! Do not go next year. Event was running out of pizza at 3pm. The event was suppose to run till 8pm. Lines were an hour long for tiny slices of cold pizza. DO NOT ATTEND. The fyre fest of pizza.

What a joke. Every booth had a line of 100 people for a tiny sample of pizza. Never had a bite!

Total ripoff!!!!!
Very few vendors.
Outrageously long lines and twenty plus minute waits for tiny tastes.
Overpriced drinks.
Advertised as unlimited tasting ,but limited to 12 tastes ,which translated into hours of waiting.
A class action suit would be appropriate.
Live Nation should be ashamed.

Not so great. Huge lines, $17 beer, places running out of pizza. Apparently this goes til 8pm and if things keep going the way they are you might wanna bring some dominoes if you actually plan on eating.

What could have been an amazing event was destroyed by terrible organization and planning. First off, after waiting in line for an hour to get in, the line divided into two lines. I went to the line on the right since it was shorter. When I finally got to the front of the line, I learned it was the VIP line. There was no indication prior saying that this was VIP only. So I got sent all the way to the back of the line which at this point was down the block. The event was supposed to start at noon. But turns out that was just if you had a VIP ticket. General admission had to wait outside in line until 1:30 before we were even let in. So after getting inside 2 hours later there were more lines for every pizza booth. It was advertised that it was unlimited pizza; but they gave you a little ticket sheet that allowed you one tiny slice per ticket. That was besides the point because by the time you got through the hour wait per line you would only have time to get maybe 3 slices. 2 hours into the event which was supposed to last till 8pm almost half the venders started running out of pizza and just shut down. By 4pm I was frustrated and still hungry. Left the event and ordered a pizza at a local shop. Save your money and time and just go to your favorite pie shop.