The Brief

This weekend, pizza lovers will make a pilgrimage to Pizza City Fest at L.A. Live, where scores of local pizza makers will serve all-you-can-eat slices to worshipful fans.

For $125 on Saturday and $115 on Sunday, you’ll get to try eclectic styles and toppings, many only-in-L.A., along with sides, desserts, an open bar and demos and panel discussions.

It’s all personally curated by festival founder Steve Dolinsky, aka “The Food Guy,” a 13-time James Beard-winning reporter who hosts a weekly Thursday night news segment on NBC Chicago. Now moonlighting as a pizza impresario, he started the festival in his hometown; it’s in its third year in L.A.

Steve Dolinsky, founder of Pizza City Fest

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Courtesy Pizza City Fest

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“L.A. is a pizza city. Ten years ago, that wasn’t the case," Dolinsky said. "But since the pandemic, a lot of people have pivoted to pizza. So we saw this as an opportunity to spread the word and share the good pizza that’s been out there.”

Some notable L.A. trends he’s noticed are the ubiquity of ranch, the presence of soft-serve ice cream, and “everywhere seems to have a chocolate chip cookie.” Dolinsky doesn’t think there’s necessarily a unified style of pizza in Los Angeles, but since everyone seems to have a truck carting around pizza ovens, “you end up with a lot of Neapolitan-style with leopard spotting.”

We talked to six pizza makers who will be at the fest and discovered what kind of slices they will be serving.

Naughty Pie Nature: “The Cosmo”

The Cosmo, inspired by orecchiette pasta from Naughty Pie Nature in Echo Park

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Courtesy Naughty Pie Nature

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Bronwen Kinzler-Britton got her start in pizza as a line cook at Paulie Gee’s in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She moved to L.A. during the pandemic and met fellow chef Jose Ibarra while cooking at Etta in Culver City. They started doing pop-ups in spring of 2023, and in January 2024 they opened Naughty Pie Nature on Glendale Boulevard in Echo Park.

Kinzler-Britton describes their pizza as “Neapolitan style, with a simple recipe: 00 flour, salt, yeast and water.” Their best-seller at the restaurant is pepperoni, but “we want to flex our food muscle, and get antsy if it’s just pepperoni,” so they’ve come up with recipes like “The Cosmo,” inspired by orecchiette pasta, which they’ll be serving on Sunday.

It’s “crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, Italian sausage, broccolini, confit garlic, parmesan, and finished with Calabrian chili,” she says. “But there’s no pasta in it.”

They are prepping 1,300 mini slices for the event.

During the wildfires, they joined more than 25 other pizzerias to form the L.A. Pizza Alliance, started by David Turkell, aka LOL Caesars on Instagram, a much-followed online pizza “community organizer.” The pizza makers worked long shifts to feed Angelenos displaced by the fires and first-responders protecting the city.

“We were donating as much as we could, and gave out free pies as people came in,” says Kinzler-Britton.

Ultimately, according to Turkell, the Alliance served over 100,000 slices.

Ozzy’s Apizza: “The Liotta”

A "Liotta" pizza from Ozzy's Apizza is made with their classic red sauce, olive oil, and parmesan cheese.

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Julie Leopo

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LAist

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Chris Wallace of Ozzy’s in North Hollywood has seen firsthand how a quality product can deliver viral traffic and put a newcomer on the map. When Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports visited and said it was the best pizza he’d had in L.A., Wallace says their sales quadrupled — and have not let up since.

It’s all the more unexpected because the pizzeria serves New Haven-style pizza, simple thin-crust tomato pies with a sparing (if at all) use of mozzarella, brought to the East Coast city by Italian immigrants. (For more on New Haven-style, read LAist’s recent story.)

On Sunday, Ozzy’s will serve up slices of their classic pie, “The Liotta.”

“It’s our staple red and black thing, made with red sauce, olive oil, and parm,” says Wallace. It’s highly adaptable to all tastes — one reason they’re bringing it to the fest is because “it’s easy to make vegan without the parmesan.”

Hot Tongue: “The best plain slice in L.A."

"Best plain slice in Los Angeles", made with naturally leavened dough and topped with California tomatoes and low-moisture mozzarella.

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Courtesy Hot Tongue

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On Saturday, Alex Koons from Hot Tongue will keep it simple yet refined. "We are bringing the best plain slice in Los Angeles," he says. Naturally leavened dough made with stone-milled organic grain from Washington is fermented for three days and topped with California tomatoes and low-moisture mozzarella.

"It's simple on paper, complex in flavor," he says. "The hardest slice to execute, with nothing to hide behind, balanced, light and satisfying.”

Triple Beam: “Tomato Confit Pie”

Triple Beam pizza

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Courtesy Pizza City Fest

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Also on Saturday, Triple Beam will serve squares of its 3.5-foot-long Roman-style “Tomato Confit” pie, a crowd favorite. Cherry tomatoes are lightly salted and slow-roasted in extra virgin olive oil with basil, pine nuts and garlic.

MexiForno: “Tijuana-style Al Pastor”

MexiForno will be serving its taco inspired pizzas

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Courtesy Pizza City Fest

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Chef Marcos Buenrostro and Marilin Jimenez make Mexican-inspired pizzas out of their home in Guadalupe, a town in northern Santa Barbara County not far from the foodie enclaves of Los Alamos and Orcutt.

Everything they serve could just as easily be a taco. “We’re just trying to infuse our traditional recipes into Neapolitan style pizza”, says Buenrostro. “We've got surf and turf tacos, carne asada tacos, birria tacos — you literally just swap tortillas for crust.”

For now, they’re happy to be slinging pies at home. “We’ve considered opening a brick-and-mortar, but why would we waste three or four grand? We honestly get more traffic than the restaurants at our house,” he says.

At the Fest they’ll offer up their “Tijuana-style Al Pastor Pizza”, a Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, with a green tomatillo salsa base, pickled red onions, radishes, piped guacamole, fresh pineapple and al pastor meat. Buenrostro says he’ll be cutting that directly from the trompo.

Miller-Butler: “The Simple Pleasure”

The Simple Pleasure, from Miller-Butler

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Courtesy Miller-Butler

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Miller-Butler, San Pedro’s mobile pizzeria pop-up, will be handing out slices on Sunday. It’s a project by husband-and-wife duo Jillana Miller and Ahmad Butler.

They started experimenting with pizza during the pandemic in early 2020, quickly growing a following in the Harbor area.

They’ve created tons of unique pies, including a Jamaican jerk pizza, a crispy pork banh mi pizza, a birria pizza and a miso pizza which was inspired by a customer. “A sweet Japanese woman who makes artisan miso brought us a jar,” says Miller. “The miso quality was insane — we turned it into a white miso sauce, with Parmesan, which marries well together.”

At the fest Miller says they’ll be cooking up their crowd-pleaser “The Simple Pleasure.”

“It’s a light garlic cream, under our mozzarella/provolone cheese blend, with spinach, thinly sliced tomatoes, and after the oven we add basil, olive oil and our signature sofrito spice blend.”

They currently operate a full-service catering business out of Partake Collective in Long Beach, and are planning to open their first brick-and-mortar store as part of the first phase of West Harbor, the massive 42-acre San Pedro waterfront redevelopment project.

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

Since 1977, Richard Santillan has been to every Opening Day game at Dodger Stadium. 

“The tradition goes from my father, to me, to my children and grandchildren. Some of my best memories are with my father and children here at Dodger Stadium,” Santillan told The LA Local, smiling under the shade of palm trees near the entrance to the ballpark Wednesday morning. He was there to protest the team less than 24 hours before Opening Day.

Santillan, like countless other loyal Dodgers fans, is grappling with his fan identity over the team’s decision to accept an invitation to the White House and owner Mark Walter’s ties to ICE detention facilities.

More than 30 people joined Santillan on Wednesday morning for a press conference held near 1000 Vin Scully Drive to convey a message directly to the team. 

“We are demanding the Dodgers stop participating in funding of inhumane treatment of families and do not go to the White House to celebrate with the criminal in chief,” Evelyn Escatiola told the crowd. “Together, we have the power to make a change.”

Escatiola, a former dean of East Los Angeles College and longtime community organizer, urged fans to flex their economic power by “letting the Dodgers know that we do not support repression.”

Jorge “Coqui” Rodriguez, a lifelong Dodgers fan, spoke to the crowd and called on Dodgers ownership to divest from immigration detention centers owned and operated by GEO Group and CoreCivic.

Jorge Coqui H Rodriguez speaks at a press conference outside Dodger Stadium on March 25, 2026, to demand the Dodgers not to visit the White House following their 2025 World Series win.

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J.W. Hendricks

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The LA Local

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In a phone interview a day before the protest, Rodriguez told The LA Local he did not want the Dodgers using his “cheve” or beer money to fund detention centers. 

“They can’t take our parking money, our cacahuate money, our cheve money, our Dodger Dog money and invest those funds into corporations that are imprisoning people. It’s wrong,” Rodriguez said. 

Rodriguez considers the Dodgers one of the most racially diverse teams and said the players need to support fans at a time when heightened immigration enforcement has become more common across L.A.

The team’s 2025’s visit to the White House drew ire from the largely Latino fan base, citing the Trump administration’s ongoing attacks on immigrants. 

In June, the team came under further scrutiny when rumors swirled online that federal immigration agents were using the stadium’s parking, which immigration authorities later denied in statements posted on social media accounts.

The team again came under fire after not releasing a statement on the impacts of ICE raids on its mostly Latino fan base at the height of immigration enforcement last summer. The team later agreed to invest $1 million to support families affected by immigration enforcement.

When he learned the Dodgers were pledging only $1 million to families in need, Rodriguez called the amount a  “slap in the face.” 

“These guys just bought the Lakers for billions of dollars and they give a million dollars to fight for legal services? That’s a joke,” Rodriguez said. “They need to have a moral backbone and not be investing in those companies.”

According to reporting from the Los Angeles Times, former Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershawsaid last week that he is looking forward to the trip.

“I went when President [Joe] Biden was in office. I’m going to go when President [Donald] Trump is in office,” Kershaw said. “To me, it’s just about getting to go to the White House. You don’t get that opportunity every day, so I’m excited to go.”

The Dodgers have yet to announce when their planned visit will take place. 

Santillan sometimes laments his decision to give up his season tickets in protest of the team. His connection to the stadium and the memories he has made there with family and friends will last a lifetime, he said. On Thursday, he will uphold his tradition and be there for the first pitch of the season, but with a heavy heart.

“It’s a family tradition, but the Dodgers have a lot of work to do,” he said.

A local favorite mom-and-pop bookshop in Eagle Rock is facing displacement due to a steep rent hike. The owners say theirs is just one of several small businesses along Eagle Rock Boulevard struggling to keep up with lease increases.

Over the past 19 years, many in the neighborhood have come to love READ Books for its eclectic collection of used titles and shop dog Florence.

Co-owner Jeremy Kaplan said it’s been a delight to grow with the community over the years.

“Like seeing kids come back in, who were in grade school and now they’re in college,” Kaplan said.

But the building where Kaplan and wife Debbie rent was recently sold, and the rent increased by more than 130% to $2,805 a month, Kaplan said. He told LAist it was an increase his small business simply could not absorb.

Kaplan said he originally was given 30 days notice of the rent increase. After some research, assistance from Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s office and some pro-bono legal help, Kaplan said he pushed back and got the 90-day notice he’s afforded by state law.

California Senate Bill 1103 requires landlords to give businesses with five or less employees 90 days’ notice for rent increases exceeding 10%, among other protections.

Systems Real Estate, the property management company, did not immediately respond to LAist’s request for comment.

What can small businesses do? 

Nadia Segura, directing attorney of the Small Business Program at pro bono legal aid non-profit Bet Tzedek said California law does not currently allow for rent control for commercial tenancies.

Outside of the protections under SB 1103, Segura said small businesses like READ Books don’t have much other recourse. And even then, commercial landlords are not required to inform their tenants of their protections under the law.

“There’s still a lot of people that don’t know about SB 1103. And then it’s very sad that they tell them they have these rent increases and within a month they have to leave,” Segura said.

She said her group is seeing steep rent hikes like this for commercial tenants across the city.

“We are seeing this even more with the World Cup coming up, the Olympics coming up. And I will say it was very sad to see that also after the wildfires,” Segura said.

Part of Bet Tzedek’s ongoing work is to advocate for small businesses, working with landlords who are increasing rents to see if they are willing to give business owners longer leases that lock in rents.

What’s next 

After READ Books posted about their situation on social media, commenters chimed in to express their outrage and love for the little shop.

While he looks for a new spot, Kaplan says he’s forming a coalition of local businesses and activist groups to see what can be done to help other small businesses facing similar displacement. He wants to address the displacement issue for businesses like his, which have made Eagle Rock the distinctive neighborhood that it is today.

Owl Talk, a longtime Eagle Rock staple selling clothing and accessories in a unit in the same building as READ Books, is facing a “more than double” rent increase, according to a post on their Instagram account.

Kaplan said he’s been in touch with the office of state Assemblywoman Jessica Caloza and wants to explore the possibility of introducing legislation to set up protections for small businesses like his, including rent-control measures or a vacancy tax for landlords. Kaplan said he also reached out to the office of state Sen. Maria Durazo.

By his count, Kaplan said there are about a dozen businesses within surrounding blocks that are at risk of closing their doors or have shuttered due to rent increases or other struggles.

When READ Books was founded during the Great Recession, Kaplan said he knew it was a longshot to open a bookstore at the same time so many were struggling to stay in business.

“It was kind of interesting to be doing something that neighborhoods needed. That was important to me growing up, that was important to my children, that was important to my wife growing up,” Kaplan said.

“And then somebody comes in and says, ‘We’re gonna over double your rent.”

Topline:

Frozen budget: Most of the city’s Bureau of Street Lighting budget comes from an assessment that people who own property illuminated by lights pay on their county property tax bill. The amount people pay depends on the kind of property they own and how much they benefit from lighting. A typical single-family home currently pays $53 annually, and in total, the assessments bring in about $45 million annually for the city to repair and maintain streetlights. Changing the amount the Bureau of Street Lighting gets from the assessment requires a vote among property owners who benefit from the lights.

Ballots: L.A. City Council’s vote gives city staff the green light to prepare and send out those ballots. Miguel Sangalang, who oversees the bureau, said at a committee meeting earlier this month that he expects to send out ballots by April 17. Notices about the ballots will be sent out prior to the ballots themselves.

Near unanimous vote: L.A. City Councilmember Monica Rodriguez was the only “No” vote Tuesday, saying she wanted to see a more current strategic plan for the bureau. Sangalang said the bureau developed a plan in 2022 that lays out how money will be spent. Councilmember Imelda Padilla was absent for the vote.

Vote count: Votes will be weighted according to the assessment amount. Basically, the more you’re asked to pay yearly to maintain streetlights, the more your vote will count. Ballots received before June 2 will be tabulated by the L.A. City Clerk.

How much more money: According to a report, the amount needed in assessments from property owners to meet the repair and maintenance needs of the city’s streetlighting in the next fiscal year is nearly $112 million.

Use of the money: Sangalang said at a March 11 committee meeting that the extra funds would be used to double the number of staff to handle repairs and procure solar streetlights, which don’t face the threat of copper wire theft. That would all potentially reduce the time it takes to repair simple fixes down to a week. Currently, city residents wait for months to see broken streetlights repaired. The assessment would come with a three-year auditing mechanism.