The Brief

The L.A. vs N.Y. rivalry may be front of mind right now (Dodgers in six btw), but let's face it, it’s always lurking in the background.

In-N-Out vs Shake Shack.

Freeway vs subway.

Malibu vs the Hamptons.

You name it, we can argue about it. So in this high stakes moment it seemed a good time to ask that vital question:

Pizza: N.Y. or L.A.?

For many years, we conceded that there was no contest (Hail New York).

But in recent years, L.A. has supercharged its pizza scene, setting the stage for a more heavyweight battle.

L.A. has the imagination to mash up its cultural influences and reinvent a culinary classic; N.Y. is determined to dig in its heels and work for perfection.

While I confess I’ve most recently been on Team L.A, the times I’ve bitten into a perfect crust at one of our excellent New York-style pizza joints could have me swayed.

It's difficult to call. I'll leave it up to you to decide.

To help I've put a list together of what I believe to be the best places to get pizza in the city — from both coasts. Try them out and see what your tastebuds tell you. And at the very least it means you'll know exactly who to order from when it's game time.

Play ball!

LaSorted’s (Silver Lake, Chinatown)

West Coast Style

Tommy and Erin Brockert started selling pizzas on the porch of their Echo Park home during the pandemic. Tommy was an out-of-work event photographer looking to earn money. Now, four-and-half years later, LaSorted’s has morphed into a successful mini-empire with the recent opening of its second location in Chinatown.

While the original Silver Lake order-at-the-counter location remains, the new digs feature a cozy sit-down restaurant chock-full of Brockett’s extensive collection of signature L.A. sports and pop culture ephemera, including a Dodgers Cabbage Patch Kid still in its box. (Not surprising given the place is named after the famed Dodgers coach).

As for the pizza, the Mamba is a great place to start, a regular cheese slice with or without pepperoni. It's named after the late Laker great Kobe Byrant, who once said he ate a pepperoni pizza before scoring 81 points in a single game in 2006.

The Mamba has its own following

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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The love of innovation is on display with the Upside Down Mamba, which is precisely what it sounds like: the cheese pizza plus toppings, flipped, with a three-cheese blend serving as its base, topped thoroughly with tomato sauce, sprinkled with flaky sea salt, and Sicilian oregano. The cooked cheese underneath the sauce forms a uniquely layered buffer, making for an exceptional texture.

Quarantine Pizza Co. (Various locations)

West Coast Style

If you like something outside the (pizza) box, check out Quarantine Pizza Co., a pizza pop-up by Brandon and Carolina Conaway. Like many who grew up in Southern California, they draw from their respective cultural backgrounds and other influences they’ve picked up along the way.

Brandon is Asian (Chinese and Vietnamese) and white. Carolina is Latina (Mexican and Colombian). Both grew up in Orange County, where they met before moving to Los Angeles for college.

The al-pastor pizza is the stuff dreams are made of — a pizza that tastes like a taco!

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Courtesy of Quarantine Pizza

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Their collective experiences have led to outstanding combinations, such as Banh Mi pies, Char siu pies, birria sausage, salsa roja, and red corn sourdough.

They can nail their version of the classics, too. When you bite into a slice of their sourdough, “Neapolitan-ish inspired," its fluffy texture is like a breath of fresh air. The outer rim of the crust features the perfect amount of “leoparding,” which occurs when the naturally fermented dough is cooked under high heat and creates little dark spots around the edges of the crust.

They've recently announced they'd be opening a brick-and-mortar location early next year, renaming themselves Wallflour Sourdough Pizza. In the meantime, you can find them regularly popping up at the El Sereno Night Market every Wednesday night and at Benny Boy Brewing in Lincoln Heights

Apollonia’s Pizza (Mid-City)

West Coast Style

If you judge Apollonia’s Pizza by its limited menu, featuring a handful of round and square pies, you may wonder if you’ve come to the right place—is this some of the best pizza in L.A.?

But you'll quickly understand after encountering the long lines outside this standing-room-only, cash-only pizzeria off Wilshire Boulevard — and taking your first bite.

Justin De Leon, owner and head pizza maker, grew up on pizza; his first job was working at a pizza restaurant when he was just 13.

I suggest you start with a traditional De Leon cheese pie slice. The chef wanted something “thin, light, and crispy.” Well, he found it. This is the cheese slice against which all others should be judged, with its well-portioned ingredients over the perfectly stretched, crispy, tasting crust, showcasing an almost zen-like attention to detail.

Some of the best pizza you can find in L.A., sold by the slice at Apollonia's Pizzeria

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Brian Feinzimer

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LAist

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Like every great master, De Leon says he doesn’t subscribe to specific labels when describing his style of pizza. While his square pie could easily be described as a Detroit, Siciliana, or even Grandma slice, he simply calls it L.A.-style, a mixture of the multiple styles he draws from. He believes that combination gives Apollonia’s pizza its unique taste, much like the city of L.A.

Prime Pizza (various locations)

East Coast Style

With the tagline "New York style pizza made for L.A.", you shouldn’t be surprised that Prime Pizza has some excellent slice options, which is rare to find in L.A. If you’re looking for value for money, this hits the spot: the two-cheese slice combo with a drink was $10 (hello, Cheap Fast Eats!).

The two slice Combo with both cheese and pepperonis slices from Prime Pizza

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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The slice stays in its lane with a crispy crust and a respectable amount of sauce, perfect for satisfying your pizza craving in a jiff. Its original recipe was developed as an ode to N.Y., inspired by some of the great pizzerias of the Big Apple.

Despite its allegiance to the East Coast, Prime Pizza perfectly nails the vibe of an L.A. neighborhood pizza shop. It's the type of place that conjures up my middle school days, throwing back a few slices after an afternoon of skateboarding with friends, and we love it.

Milana’s (Long Beach)

East Coast Style

Milana’s proudly wears its New York heart on its sleeve, with the flatscreen on the wall showing a live feed of Times Square, and various pies named after well-known spots in the five boroughs. The standout for me is the Sheepshead Bay, made with house-made meatballs, topped with pillow-soft dollops of ricotta and sprinkled with bits of basil.

The Sheephead's Bay slice from Milana's

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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The soft creaminess of the cheese, with just a slight bit of sharp flavor, perfectly cuts through the fattiness from the sliced meatballs. It contains elements of both soft and crispy, which drives the whole thing home.

The large, chewy slice of pie has thin edges allowing for maximum foldability when consuming. It’s a beautiful thing,

Secret Pizza (Montecito Heights)

East Coast Style

A slice of New Jersey style cheese pizza from Secret Pizza

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Courtesy Secret Pizza

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New Jersey-style pizza might be a product of the Garden State, but it’s one of my favorite East Coast-style pies, New York or otherwise.

Secret Pizza was started by Sean Lango, who began cooking pizza out of his Hollywood apartment before graduating to his pizzeria in the foothills of Montecito Heights.

He calls his pizza New Jersey-style because he's from there, and wanted to protect himself from the wrath of purist New Yorkers not happy with outsiders laying claim to their turf. It's very similar to a classic NY pie; he sees it as an opportunity to highlight his home state and his love for it.

What makes his pizza so memorable? Its simplicity. The thin crust gives way to a stellar crispy underside, providing an excellent texture, topped off by a tangy sauce.

Sure, you could add different toppings, but Lango's pie, with crushed tomatoes, a small amount of mozzarella cheese, and topped with aged pecorino is perfect as it is. Sometimes, when you rely on a good, uncomplicated formula, good things happen.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has rejected a proposal that would have let tenants across the county fall behind by about three months' worth of rent and still have local protections from eviction.

Supporters said the rules would have helped immigrants stay housed after losing income because of federal immigration raids.

Only one of the county’s five supervisors supported the expanded eviction protections. With none of the other four willing to second the motion in Tuesday’s meeting, the proposal died before it ever came to a vote.

The proposal failed after an hour of impassioned public comment from both renters and landlords. Onlookers chanted “cowards” as the board cleared the room for closed session.

Would the rules have been challenged in court?

Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, who put forward the proposal, said earlier in the meeting that expanding eviction protections would have been an appropriate way to help the county’s nearly one million undocumented immigrants.

Anticipating potential lawsuits to strike down the proposed ordinance, Horvath said, “I understand there is legal risk. There is in everything we do. Just like the risk undocumented Angelenos take by going outside their homes every day.”

Landlords spoke forcefully against the proposed rules. They said limiting evictions would saddle property owners with the cost of supporting targeted immigrant households.

“This proposed ordinance is legalized theft and will cause financial devastation to small housing providers,” said Julie Markarian with the Apartment Owners Association of California.

Horvath’s proposal would have built on an existing protection for renters in unincorporated parts of L.A. County, such as East L.A., Altadena and City Terrace. Under the current rules, renters can fall behind by up to one month’s worth of “fair market rent” (an amount determined by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department) and still be legally protected from eviction.

Protections won’t go countywide

Last week, county leaders voted to explore increasing that threshold to two months. But Horvath wanted to go further by increasing the limit to three months and making it apply countywide, not just in unincorporated areas.

Tenant advocates said family breadwinners have been detained during federal immigration raids, and other immigrants are afraid to go to their workplaces, causing families to scramble to keep up with the region’s high rents.

“Immigrant tenants are experiencing a profound financial crisis,” said Rose Lenehan, an organizer with the L.A. Tenants Union. “This protection is the bare minimum that we need to keep people housed and keep people from having to choose whether to stay in this county with their families and with their communities or self deport or face homelessness.”

A report published this week by the L.A. Economic Development Corporation found that 82% of surveyed small business owners said they’d been negatively affected by federal immigration actions. About a quarter of those surveyed said they had temporarily closed their businesses because of community concerns.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday placed on the June ballot a proposed temporary half-cent sales tax increase to fund the county’s struggling health care system, which has been hit hard by federal funding cuts.

If passed by voters, the increase would bring the county’s tax rate to 10.25%. It is projected to raise one billion dollars annually over five years.

The tax would expire in five years.

The background

County health officials said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” will cut $2.4 billion from county health programs over three years, threatening closure of some of the county’s 24 clinics and an array of public health programs.

Supervisor Holly Mitchell, who co-authored the proposal, said the county faced a “federally imposed crisis” that in the absence of state action, could only be addressed by raising taxes on county residents.

“This motion gives the voters a choice, given the stark realities that our county is facing,” Mitchell said.

The vote was 4-1, with Supervisor Kathryn Barger the lone dissenter. Barger is the board’s sole Republican. She worried shoppers would go to Orange County, where the sales tax is 7.75%. She also said the state should take the lead on addressing federal funding cuts to county health care systems.

Public reaction

More than 700 people showed up Tuesday to speak out on the proposal. Health care providers pleaded with the board to place the measure on the ballot, saying federal funding cuts to Medi-Cal had hit them hard.

“This is a crisis,” said Louise McCarthy, president and CEO of the Community Clinic Association of L.A. County. “Medi-Cal accounts for over half of clinic funding. So these changes will lead to clinic closures, longer wait times, overcrowded E.R.’s and higher costs for the county.” 

Others opposed any plan that would increase the sales tax.

“Our city is opposed to the adding of this regressive tax to overtaxed residents and making it even more difficult for cities, especially small cities, to pay for the increasing cost of basic resident services,” said Rolling Hills Mayor Bea Dieringer. “The county needs to tighten its belt further.”

Details on the proposed plan

Under the plan, up to 47% of revenue generated will be used by the Department of Health Services to fund nonprofit health care providers to furnish no-cost or reduced-cost care to low-income residents who do not have health insurance. 

Twenty-two percent would provide financial support to the county’s Department of Health Services to safeguard its public hospital and clinic services. Ten percent would be allocated to the Department of Public Health to support core public health functions and the awarding of grants to support health equity.

The rest would be sprinkled across the health care system, including to support nonprofit safety net hospitals and for school-based health needs and programs.

A last-minute amendment by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath set aside 5% of funding for Planned Parenthood.

The spending would be monitored by a nine-member committee but ultimately would be up to the discretion of the Board of Supervisors.