Wildcraft [culver city]

 

Wildcraft 

9725 Culver Blvd

Culver City, 90232

Andrew and I had planned again on going to Mother Dough, but Los Feliz just seemed too far away. In my yelp search, I came across Wildcraft which was close by in Culver City. The first photo I saw of the OG pizza looked amazing, and it had splotches of delicious looking pulled mozzarella. Some of the other photos did not look as good, so I didn't get my hopes up too much. We decided to drive down to Culver City and check the place out. We sat outside on the patio that was nicely lit with lots of string lights. The whole vibe of the restaurant and the surrounding restaurants made it feel like a hip little area, different from the rest of the city. 

We decided to get different pizzas, I stuck to the most reminiscent of a margherita, "red" "OG" pizza, and Andrew ordered the "red" bacon topped. I tried to keep my expectations low about the pizza, but it still disappointed. The crust was sourdough, which was not made clear in the menu, and the sauce and tomatoes were also very acidic. The cheese may have combatted the acidity of both the crust and the sauce, but there was just too little of it and it didn't have much of its own flavor. Andrew's bacon pizza was much better because the sweetness from the bacon did quiet the acidity of the sauce, tomatoes, and crust. All in all the pizza was just not the kind of neapolitan style that we are used to, but that was sort of to be expected. The most important point to takeaway is that the pizza at Wildcraft was that of an Italian restaurant, and not an actual pizzeria. Expect pizza a la CPK - although I would rather get a pizza there. 

 

Cherry cider and Ballast Point "Sculpin" before pizza

Patrons on the patio

front: "o.g." oven cured tomato, fior di latte mozzarella, garlic, basil 

back:  bacon fontina, apple wood bacon, treviso, fontina, oven cured tomato

One slice left standing, never a good sign

Crust: sourdough, not made clear from menu - good texture and flavor

Sauce: very acidic, not a great combination with the sourdough crust

Cheese: minimal, not very fresh tasting

Recommend: maybe a white pizza or the fried chicken

Best part: chill patio seating

Olio Wood Fired Pizzeria [beverly grove]

Olio Wood Fired Pizzeria

8075 W 3rd St, Ste 100

Los Angeles, 90048

Olio was the first pizza place Andrew and I ever tried in LA back when Polish Bar was Polish Bar. We decided to go to change up the pace because Beverly Grove isn't too far from Westwood. I also was really looking forward to getting some Fonuts, but they were closed as they always seem to be any time I am within a 20 foot radius of the building. The pizza wasn't too memorable for me the first time we ate there, probably because we also went to Mozza during that same trip. We ordered the same two pizzas this time, I got the basic margherita while Andrew got the margherita plus. 

The margherita plus apparently is their specialty, which Andrew knew but I did not, and it was miles better than my pizza. Andrew was so generous and traded me two slices of his pizza to enjoy! The difference between the basic margherita and the margherita plus is basically that the plus uses burrata cheese instead of plain mozzarella. Looking at the menu again, it also uses basil infused olive oil instead of plain ol' Italian olive oil. I am not usually a fan of burrata, so I opted for the regular margherita. My pizza was lacking in cheese (for my taste) and my crust was pretty burnt/charred and flaky. I had pizza dust all over my hands and finished pretty much all the cheese in one bite. Andrew's margherita plus had a generous amount of tasty burrata that was present in almost every bite of the pizza. The crust on the margherita plus was also way better, it was not burnt and was much more fluffy, and it felt like the dough was all around thicker and softer for the entire pizza. We also decided to sit outside on the patio which was nice and heated, but slower service being away from the main kitchen.

Patio and view of traffic on 3rd as well as a closed Fonut shop

Comparison between the basic margherita (close) and the margherita plus (far)

Margherita 

Margherita plus with burrata 

Snapchats of pizza or it didnt happen

Crust: good on the margherita plus, too crispy on my regular margherita

Cheese: plentiful and tasty on the margherita plus, too little on regular margherita

Sauce: too much for ratio of cheese

Recommend: margherita plus

Best part: proximity to Fonuts

800 degrees: takeout [westwood]

800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria

10889 Lindbrook Dr

Los Angeles, CA 90024

There is nothing like picking up pizza to go and eating it at home. Enter 800 degrees once more- after a very long day of class I was too tired to venture out anywhere else or even try to find parking, so Andrew and I called in our favorite pizzas and by the time we got there they were ready to go! 800 in Westwood has a special takeout section around the Peet's coffee next door, that is open most nights starting at 4pm for those people who don't want to wait in their line and are looking for cheap and tasty pizza to go. It really does not get much better than this!

 

 Had to resort of a snapchat of the meal because I'm a ~relatable girl~ and couldn't wait to stuff my face into my pizza.

2 artisan pizzas to go topped with both broccolini and mushrooms for under $20 is why 800 degrees ranks so highly in my book

Wood: Handcrafted Pizza [silverlake]

Wood: Handcrafted Pizza

2861 Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90026

Wood is one of the newer pizza spots in LA, and will probably soon be named the best. The pizza is amazing and it is set up in an old drive-thru mexican fast food restaurant. The ambiance is now casual with cool lighting and reflective table tops, and a view of the pizza oven from most tables. It's located pretty close to Sunset Junction in Silverlake, with a small parking lot (~7 cars) behind the restaurant, visible as if you were driving around the old drive thru. The old drive thru window is still in tact, and makes me smile every time I see it.


This was our second time at Wood. I think this is also the pizza place Ellen had pizza delivered from when she hosted the Oscars. It is fairly new, opening around Oscars time last year. This time when we went, the menu was noticeably more expansive. The first time we went there were around 8 total pizzas on the menu, and this time there were about 16, separated by white sauce and red sauce, each boasting around 8 different pizzas. I ordered the same pizza as last time, the basic margherita. I thought that the pizza was pretty good the first time, but this second pizza stood out to me as even better. The amount of (and quality of) cheese on a pizza is probably the most important factor to me in determining the quality of the pizza. This second Wood pizza was covered in thick cheese and it was maybe the best pizza I've ever had. I also really enjoyed that the pizza was sliced into fours, instead of the usual six slices. The wider slices made it much easier to fold the pizza and eat without all of the ingredients sliding off on the first bite. I finished the whole pizza easily and maybe even before Andrew! Just looking at the pizza now makes me wish we were having it for dinner tonight. My one complaint about this place is that it is located in Silverlake which takes about an hour to get to from the west side, on a good day.

Cute outdoor patio and old drive thru sign

Some dinner party taking over half of the restaurant

So much cheese, and a glass of pinot grigio

Perfect fold

Crust: thick but fluffy

Cheese: more than expected, very plentiful

Sauce: average

Recommend: basic margherita

Best part: CHEESE

800 degrees [westwood village]

800 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria

10889 Lindbrook Dr

Los Angeles, CA 90024

After experiencing what I thought was the greatest build-your-own pizza place at the aptly named "Build" in Berkeley, I didn't think chipotle-style pizza could be better. Enter the original, the socal chain 800 degrees. Named for what I assume is the temperature their pizza ovens are set to, I had only heard about this pizza from some friends that had gone to UCLA. This past night, Andrew and I had set out around 10:30pm after a show taping to eat at Mother Dough in Los Feliz. Unfortunately Mother Dough decided to close at 10pm that night, although they are supposed to be open until 11. So instead, we drove back to the west side and stopped by the 800 degrees in Westwood Village before heading home. This 800 degrees location is in the heart of Westwood Village and would be my undergrad dream of a late night pizza place. It's open until 2am most nights, and the pizzas are fairly reasonably priced. A base pizza (margherita or white) runs around $6, with every extra topping coming in at $1 each. At Build in Berkeley, each base is around $11 on its own, with each additional topping ranging in price from $1.50-3. To be fair, most neapolitan pizzas cost around $12 for a plain margherita, so 800 degrees is especially cheap. The quality of 800's ingredients are also pretty fresh, although I would avoid ordering the chicken as a topping, as it always looks like it has been sitting out for a few days.

Andrew ignoring his pizza and probably snapchatting.

This time I got the usual chopped broccolini and mushrooms, and decided to try the sweet corn. The corn was definitely not worth the extra $1, added zero flavor.

Crust is pretty dense, not flaky, but still soft on the inside. 

UCLA students, probably.

Crust: a little bit chewy, slightly charred

Cheese: average amount, but offset by toppings

Sauce: average

Recommended toppings: mushrooms, chopped broccolini, bacon

Avoid: grilled chicken

Best part: price and late night hours

Norcal Girl meets Socal Pizza

This is a blog about the pizza wasteland that is the LA-area. Coming from the Bay Area and eating in San Francisco pizza restaurants almost every weekend, finding pizza at the same standard has been a journey. I'm starting this blog to try to document the pizza I've been braving traffic to taste and hoping that LA can finally live up to its foodie hype in terms of my favorite food, pizza.