Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana
13455 Maxella Ave
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292
After spending an afternoon in Venice, I thought that we might be able to eat at Gjelina without a reservation. However, once we finally got to the restaurant, it was an hour wait which was not going to happen. Since we were already in the area, we decided to visit Settebello which has been at the top of my list of pizza places to try, but just a little farther south than I would normally drive.
Settebello is in this weird pseudo shopping center that basically has an Ulta, Pier 1, a Ruth's Chris and Yard House. It seemed pretty commercial, especially since I was pretty sure that there was another Settebello in Pasadena, so I was a bit hesitant that it would be Italian restaurant type pizza again. A lot of Yelp reviews about the place seem to all be about "soggy pizza" where everything falls off in the first bite - clearly written by people that are expecting something like CPK or even Domino's - so we didn't let that cloud our expectations.
Our waitress did a great job of explaining the pizzas to us, that they are cooked quickly in their 1000 degree oven (straight from Naples) so that they are still a little soft when they come out. She also explained to us what "DOC" stood for, but we basically forgot right away. It's something like "domestic origin control." Anyway, she explained that the DOC marker meant that it was up to Italian standards, and the bufala was authentic Italian.
I decided to go for the Margherita DOC over the regular margherita, mostly because of my mistake at Olio when the regular margherita paled in comparison to the one with buffalo mozzarella. Andrew ordered the pizza carbonara.
The pizza was great. Cheese is probably the most important factor to me in judging how good a pizza is, and Settebello's did not disappoint. The crust/dough of the pizza was also soft and a little bit sweet, which was a welcome change after the pizza we had at Wildcraft. Andrew also compared the dough to that of our favorite pizza place in San Francisco (il casaro in North Beach), so it must have been great. The pancetta on Andrew's carbonara was also very nice and crispy. Usually when pizzas come with several toppings, there is less cheese throughout, but not at Settebello! Overall the pizzas were both really great, both had more than enough tasty cheese and sauce to leave us both happy at the end.
Naples oven and extra bar seating
Interior bar
front: Margherita DOC / back: Pizza Carbonara
Pizza Carbonara: crushed tomatoes, pancetta, egg, cracked pepper, EVOO
Margherita DOC: crushed tomatoes, fresh buffalo mozzarella,
basil, parmigiano reggiano, EVOO
Nice fold with plenty of cheese still on the pizza
Location above a Yard House
Crust: soft and slightly sweet, cooked to perfect folding texture
Sauce: tasty and not overpowering
Cheese: deserving of DOC stamp, plentiful throughout
Recommend: Margherita DOC definitely, but probably all pizzas are great and I can't wait to try more!
Best part: no wait, delicious pizzas with lots of authentic cheese
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