Cheesy, Savory, Delicious! Meat Lovers, Vegetarian and Vegan! A Pizza Journey - Superfine, Il Romanista, DeSano, Pizza Wagon of Brooklyn, Pizzeria Mozza, South End, L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele, Prime, Lupetti, Triple Beam and More! [Thoughts + Pics]

Yes. I went to the Michael’s Downtown near the Promenade area. Very good pie. Good leopard spots. The dough had a good amount of salt which I know you had some complaints about at other joints. Neopolitan style but not too soupy in the middle. They don’t have pepperoni. They use soppresata instead and we loved it.

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Hi @Bookwich,

Thanks! For a traditional Neapolitan pizza with soupy center? I will have to admit it’s not my favorite style. The only 2 places we’ve been to locally that are serving Neapolitan with soupy center would be Settebello and L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele. It’s been a few years since we last went to Settebello, but I think we liked it more. If we go back in the near future, I’ll report back and let you know. :slight_smile:

DeSano calls its pies Napoletana as well, and says they follow Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (VPN)'s strick guidelines.

But their pies aren’t the liquid blob that @PorkyBelly and I had.

If you consider DeSano’s pies to be OK to consider what you’re looking for as well, then I’d choose DeSano easily. :slight_smile:

I hope you like Il Romanista! Please report back. :slight_smile:

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Thanks @Gr8pimpin. I think you’d really enjoy Superfine and Il Romanista, but definitely, as you said, if you don’t like driving too far, and if both of those places are super far away, like with Langer’s (that you were asking about), I think all 3 are culinary standouts, excellent, but maybe only drive that distance if you have other errands / reasons to visit L.A.

I think the amount of added expectation from you driving a massive distance (and you don’t enjoy schlepping) would probably detract from your ultimate enjoyment of those places. :frowning:

We tell our friends in Orange County all the time that we’re glad to hang out and show them some tasty places here in L.A. But for them to fight traffic and spend, say, 2 hours one way on the road (during prime traffic) to make a dinner reservation with us is too much added pressure / annoyance / inconvenience that would color their feelings for dinner.

How many restaurants in L.A. can you tell your friends it’s worth it for them to fight traffic and spend 2 hours just to get there to eat at? :sweat_smile: :cry:

You really appreciate great food, so I hope one day you can make it out to L.A. and enjoy Langer’s, Il Romanista, Superfine, etc., but only when you’re up to making the drive (maybe for other errands or visiting other places around L.A. as well). :wink:

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Hi @Happybaker,

That’s great you made it to Triple Beam when Chef Nancy Silverton was there (during their early opening period)! I think that certainly made a difference.

I had no idea they were opening a Prime Pizza in Burbank! My friends in the area are going to be so happy. :slight_smile: If their quality is like the OG Fairfax location, then we’d be glad to visit that spot whenever we’re passing through / hanging out with our friends there.

I’m 100% sure I will love il Romanista. I love REAL Roman pizza, especially the potato. I have fond memories of my time in Rome. Potato pizza was the best of all.

I need to do a Romanista / Grimaldi’s bang bang.

And it’s not that I’m not willing to drive somewhere, there are just certain foods I typically do not feel a value to drive for. I won’t drive for a hamburger or hotdog and it’s a pretty hard sell for me to drive to go get pizza, for whatever reason. Langers I feel like I have A good representative of an old school deli in Brent’s close by. But I would drive for Mexican or to the SGV for Chinese. Go figure.

You my friend are a warrior.

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It’s no more traditional that half a dozen others such as margherita and mushroom. I did not find their stuff very similar to Roman pizza a taglio.

Hi @Gr8pimpin,

Sorry you fell off the No Carb wagon! :smile: But it was thanks to you and your early reports on Pizza Wagon of Brooklyn that made us want to try it. Everyone in our group was glad that we did!

Yes, I forgot to add that as a place as well: Pizza Wagon of Brooklyn was another place on this Pizza Journey that we’d be glad to return to. And I know I’d take my vegan friends who might be craving a pizza as well.

Thanks for the tip on their Sicilian! I had no idea they would make any of their pies with Sicilian crust instead. :slight_smile:

How could I not come here for lunch today? Il Romanista never disappoints. The slices were piping hot. The crust was crunchy. Great all around.

The Amatriciana is my favorite. Love the tomato, sauce and pancetta combo.

Also had a crostino americano - sausage, parmesan and mushroom. Great earthy mushrooms. Scant few pieces of sausage but good flavor.

My only problem is deciding between 2 or 3 slices.

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My experience with Roman pizza is that it’s often not piping hot. But it should at least be pretty warm. I was just at pizzerium bonci last month; I think it’s generally considered one of the best places in the world for this kind of pizza. Half the pieces were luke warm; they heated them but none were piping hot. Place was still great though.

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bang bang Lou’s x Prime Pizza

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In Rome, pizza a taglio is usually not hot (unless by chance it just come out of the oven) and some places won’t heat it up for you.

Some of Bonci’s have raw toppings and are cooked to order, like the sausage. Bonci is great but in many ways not traditional.

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+1. This is quite correct. Personally I prefer my pizza not-hot. Warm is perfect.

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I’m always the idiot who burns the roof of his mouth putting pizza right out of oven into my mouth. But it hurts so good.

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So lucky @js76wisco! If I worked near Il Romanista, it would definitely be in my regular rotation. :smile:

We were debating on the Amatriciana on both of our visits! I’ll definitely have to try that next time then. Thanks.

And yes, we loved the Crostino Americano, great blend of flavors with the Mushrooms & Sausage. And that crust! :slight_smile:

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I’m like you, I have never learned my lesson but it doesnt matter because it tastes the best piping hot.

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When I first started my job I was going to Il Romanista like twice a week. I had to curtail my visits. So much so I’m only going like once a month. Today’s visit reminded me that there aren’t many better places where you can eat lunch for under $10.

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Hi @js76wisco,

Great point. The QPR is fantastic at Il Romanista! :slight_smile: (Considering you can easily spend $20 on a bowl of Ramen, this is fantastic.)

Funny. I thought il Romanista was really good but felt pricey for what I got.

How many slices? Each slice is about $3.50 to $4. A plain slice at Vito’s, Superfine and Prime is $3 to $3.50. Most of the slices at Il Romanista have toppings so I think the pricing is right even though the Il Romanista slices may be a touch smaller.

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I just remember paying ~$9 for two slices thinking it was a bit on the pricey side considering the size of the slices.