The Brief

Los Angeles is in the midst of a pizza renaissance. Pizzaiolos across the city are slicing up unique takes on pies that pull from multiple influences — local, global, and everything in between, just like Los Angeles itself.

It's like that playlist you make for your friends — a little jazz, rock, hip-hop, country and pop. That's L.A.-style pizza. Because the region isn't beholden to any specific pizza standards, chefs can use all the best parts of what makes a great pie.

Which means I’m fully prepared to say that L.A. is currently making pizza better than any other city across the globe. Fighting talk, I know, but this is a hill I'm willing to die on.

With soccer fans from around the world descending on L.A. this summer, as well as passionate locals cheering on their favorite squad, there's a chance that many will work up an appetite. From the Eastside to Long Beach, the city is ready with inventive takes on crust and toppings, served up fresh to satisfy all your melty, cheesy cravings.

Westwood

Danny Boy's Famous Original

A spread of slices at Danny Boy's Famous Original in Westwood, including pepperoni, white with mushrooms, sausage, and cheese.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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Chef Daniel Holzman has been told he's doing it wrong. His New York-style pizza at Danny Boy's Famous Original — with locations in DTLA, Westwood, and Woodland Hills — relies on a four- to five-day fermentation, well beyond what's customary for the style. But the proof is in the slice: buttery, flaky, soft and chewy, with a crust that develops a complex structure most pizza makers never bother to chase. Don't sleep on the sausage and mozzarella slice, made with freshly ground in-house meat, you can taste with every bite.

Silver Lake / Los Feliz

Hot Tongue Pizza

The best of both worlds : a cheese slice with arrabbiata sauce and a vegan slice made with spicy crushed tomatoes, cashew mozzarella, red pepper, white onion, almond parmesan and fresh basil.

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You'll find the quasi-vegan pizzeria called Hot Tongue Pizza in Silver Lake. I use the term quasi because they started as vegan only and then added meat options later. Each slice costs around $6, but Hot Tongue also offers a great combo lunch option: two slices and a canned soda for $10.

If you're an omnivore like yours truly, you can go both ways. Get one vegan slice, such as their Arrabbiata with cashew mozzarella, spicy tomato sauce, roasted red peppers, white onion, basil and almond parmesan. It's saucy, sweet, and filled with fresh flavors. Then get their cheese slice, with grated parmesan cheese and mozzarella. The vast, sizable slices hit the spot with their chewy, sweet crust. If you're dining in, douse your pizza slices with Zab's Hot Sauce for a bit more sweet heat.

LaSorted's

A slice of pepperoni pizza amongst slices of burrata and cheese and Adriana from La Sorted's Pizza.

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Tommy Brockert was an L.A. event photographer when his then-girlfriend, now wife, gave him an Ooni pizza oven. That led him to enroll in a one-day pizza-making class, where he was hooked and began stumbling down the rabbit hole of crafting his own naturally leavened sourdough pizza crusts. When his income dried up at the start of the pandemic, he had the crazy idea of selling his homemade pizzas off the front porch of his home in Echo Park. It was so successful that he now runs his own pizza shop, LaSorted's, in Silver Lake, just down the road from where he used to sell his porch pizzas — with a second sit-down location in Chinatown.

A good place to start is the Mamba, prepared as a regular cheese slice or with pepperoni. Its name comes from the late Laker great Kobe Bryant, who once said he ate a pepperoni pizza before scoring 81 points in a single game in 2006. The Upside Down Mamba is perhaps the most texturally interesting pie on the menu — their cheese pizza flipped, with a three-cheese blend serving as its base, then topped thoroughly with tomato sauce, sprinkled with flaky sea salt, and Sicilian oregano. Think about how a producer takes a snippet of a song and creates a new song based on it. Brockert accomplishes something similar with his pizza — it's both specifically Los Angeles and distinctly his own.

Old Gold Tomato Pies

A tray of slices at Old Gold Tomato Pies in Los Feliz, including the Crab Rangoon slice, the Godson with burrata, and the Moral High Ground vegan option.

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Old Gold Tomato Pies feels like the older punk sibling who got really into the Grateful Dead — adorned with the kind of hippie-meets-hardcore energy that jives perfectly with its Los Feliz surroundings. The classic slice shop vibe is immediately welcoming, and the menu rewards the adventurous. The Crab Rangoon slice is the one to try. Premium lump crab from Indonesia — no imitation stuff here — tastes fresh and pairs well with a cream cheese topping for a rich dairy element. The party doesn't stop there: sweet chili sauce mingles with crispy wonton skins and fresh scallions in a combination that might sound like too much. But the Sicilian crust — light and airy on the inside, crispy on the outside — ties it all together and makes any apprehension about your choice go right out the window.

Mid-City 

Apollonia's Pizza

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

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Justin De Leon, owner and head pizza maker at Apollonia's Pizza, grew up on pizza. His first job was working at a pizza restaurant when he was 13. The modest menu might make you wonder if this is really some of the best pizza in Los Angeles. But you'll quickly understand why after your first bite — or encountering the long lines outside his standing-room-only, cash-only pizzeria off Wilshire Boulevard.

De Leon has been a lifelong student who has broken down pizza into its fundamental elements. If you ask what defines his pizza craft, he'll say his job is to "simplify it." Start with a traditional slice of De Leon's cheese pie. "I was looking for something thin, light, and crispy," De Leon said. Well, he found it. Next, try the square slice — notice the crispy, frico cheese crust that rises along the sides, giving it a 3-D effect. De Leon describes L.A.-style pizza as a mixture of various styles. In his own words, "To me, L.A. pizza is a mix of everything." Now with a second location on Crenshaw.

Northeast LA

Bub and Grandma's Pizza

Bub and Grandma’s Pizza in Northeast Los Angeles offers East Coast–style slices on sourdough crust with fresh toppings.

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Gab Chabrán

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The newest kid on the block on York Boulevard in Highland Park, Bub and Grandma's offers East Coast-style pizza on a sourdough crust that's thin, but don't let that fool you — it's airy and chewy with light char marks throughout. The pepperoni slice is the one to get, with perfectly cupped edges that create a level of synergy with the crust's char you won't soon forget. The meatball onion slice is a close second, with perfectly seasoned meat working harmoniously with caramelized white onions. Does this pizza have any business being this good? Either way, we're all better for it.

Wallflour Pizza

The $10 lunch special at Wallflour Pizza in Eagle Rock comes with a drink and and house salad.

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LAist

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Brandon and Carolina Conaway started selling pizzas out of their backyard in Highland Park during the pandemic under the name Quarantine Pizza Co., drawing from their diverse backgrounds — Brandon is Asian and white, Carolina is Latina — to create inventive, sourdough-forward pies that developed a cult following on the pop-up circuit. Now brick-and-mortar for about a year on Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock, Wallflour is the next chapter. The naturally leavened, Neapolitan-inspired pies are the main event, but don't overlook the $10 lunch special — available daily from noon to 4 p.m. — which includes a focaccia square slice pepperoni and cheese options, a side of house salad, and a soda or sparkling water. And keep an eye on their seasonal specials, check their Instagram for before you go.

Secret Pizza

What happens when an East Coast transplant starts making pizza on the Eastside of L.A.? You get Secret Pizza, Sean Lango's New Jersey-style pizza, with a variety of options available daily.

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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 founded by Sean Lango, who began cooking pizza out of his Hollywood apartment before opening 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, who weren't happy with outsiders laying claim to their turf. 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 — crushed tomatoes, a small amount of mozzarella, topped with aged pecorino — is perfect as it is. Sometimes, when you rely on a good, uncomplicated formula, good things happen.

DTLA

Pizzeria Bianco

The red sauce and green sauce slices at Pizzeria Bianco are both bursting with flavor and textures.

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Chris Bianco's temple of pizza cookery, Pizzeria Bianco at The Row near downtown is always worth seeking out. Plus, you can't beat free two-hour parking. Grab either their red or green slice: the red slice showcases their all-killer, no-filler approach with only house cheese blend and tomato sauce. The green contains caciocavallo, a soft Italian cheese, parmesan, and spinach cream sauce. Both slices come in a signature pizza crust that's well-cooked with a tight pull on each bite.

Long Beach

Milana's New York Pizzeria

The Sheepshead Bay slice from Long Beach's Milana's always hits.

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I could not make a pizza list without mentioning one of my favorites in my hometown of Long Beach, Milana's The New York-style pie joint specializes in a series of East Coast-style pies, but 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. This exceptionally piled slice features a great combination of flavors — the soft creaminess of the cheese, with just a hint of sharpness that perfectly cuts through the fattiness of the sliced meatballs, and both soft and crispy elements that defy categorization and drive the whole thing home.

For most Californians, the milestone of buying a “starter home” is increasingly happening long after the start of adult life.

A new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Public Policy Institute of California finds that the age at which a majority of Californians turn from renters to homeowners is 47. In the rest of the country, a majority of people are homeowners by 36.

“It's quite staggering,” said Chris Duff, president of the Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors. “The age does seem to be climbing every year, especially here in California.”

The numbers that explain why so many Californians are locked out 

High home prices, unyielding mortgage interest rates, sluggish construction of new homes and lackluster wage growth are all conspiring to keep many younger adults locked out of homeownership, real estate experts said.

Those factors exist across the country, but they’re especially acute in Southern California. According to recent data from the California Association of Realtors:

• The median home price in L.A. County was $879,900 in the second quarter of 2026. That was more than double the national median home price of $434,900.

• Only about 17% of L.A. households earn the $219,200 minimum income needed to afford a typical $5,480 monthly payment.

Younger buyers need to get creative — or get help from mom and dad

Larissa Rubijevsky, a realtor focused on L.A.’s South Bay neighborhoods, told LAist that when she began working in Southern California in the early 2000s, her first-time buyer clients tended to be in their early 30s.

Homes were already expensive back then, but Census data shows that first-time buyers were indeed younger. In 2009, a majority of Californians had become homeowners by age 41, according to the Public Policy Institute analysis.

These days, Rubijevsky said she sees millennial and Gen Z buyers making sacrifices just to try to enter the market.

“Sometimes they have to move in with their parents for a certain amount of time and save money,” she said. “Some of them are trying to buy property with their peers, with their friends, and then share the title 50-50.”

Others are hitting up their parents for down payment gifts, Rubijevsky said.

She said she saw her clients get noticeably older after the buying frenzy of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. In those days, homes cost less and interest rates were low. Today’s prices and monthly payments are simply out of reach for most younger buyers, she said.

“People would like to have the American Dream,” Rubijevsky said. “When people can't do that, they're forced to leave the state… That's not a happy decision for them, but they just don't have any choice anymore.”

Why the trend toward older homebuyers matters for California

Between 2015 and 2025, California’s net migration included a loss of 884,000 people who cited high housing costs as their primary reason for leaving the state.

Marisol Cuellar Mejia — a senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of California who co-authored the recent homebuying analysis — said home ownership continues to be the main way for most families to build the kind of wealth they can pass on to the next generation.

“Younger adults in California are missing out on long-term wealth building,” Cuellar Mejia said.

She said the trend will have “a cascade effect that has a lot of implications” for lawmakers and individual families. Californians who need to wait until their 40s to buy a home could decide to delay marriage, have fewer children and keep working beyond a traditional retirement age.

Across Southern California, typical homebuying ages vary widely by location, education level, immigration status and ethnicity. In L.A. County, where most residents are renters, homeowners only begin to outnumber renters at age 59. In Riverside County, where homes are cheaper, that age is 39.

White and Asian Californians tend to become homeowners younger than Black Californians, according to the analysis. So do college graduates when compared with those without a college degree. California’s Latino immigrants are more likely to rent than own a home in every age bracket.

Vivian Chen, a mortgage lender with Southern California-based Exceed Lending, said some buyers are still able to secure their first home in their 20s and 30s by participating in government-funded down payment assistance programs, such as the California Dream For All Shared Appreciation Loan and various other county and city-funded programs.

“We are doing quite a few every month,” Chen said. “Those programs are actually helping a lot of first-time buyers.”

Is more government help on the way? 

California voters will be asked to approve new homebuying assistance funds in the upcoming November general election. Proposition 37 seeks to create a “middle class” down payment assistance program funded by revenue bonds of up to $25 billion.

Under the proposed program, homebuyers earning up to 200% of their area’s median income could apply for state funding to cover down payments of up to 17% for newly-built homes. That assistance would come in the form of a loan, not a grant, with recipients likely needing to pay back the money in monthly installments.

Republican California State Assemblymember Carl DeMaio has opposed Prop. 37, saying it would turn the state into one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders and leave taxpayers on the hook for potential financial losses.

Supporters — including the California Association of Realtors — argue the measure would incentivize developers to build new for-sale housing rather than rental units, something that has been increasingly rare in Southern California.

“We've really closed the revolving door when it comes to that first-time homebuyer getting a small one-bedroom or two-bedroom condo and then moving up as their life circumstances change,” said Duff, the Greater L.A. Association of Realtors president. “Since we're not building that construction, we don't have that inventory.”

This story first appeared on The LA Local.

More than 100 Boyle Heights and East L.A. residents packed a boardroom Wednesday in Diamond Bar to tell air regulators how air pollution and lingering odors from the Lineage warehouse fire have affected their health, homes and daily lives.

Some boarded buses before 8 a.m. to travel the 25 miles to the South Coast Air Quality Management District hearing, where the agency is considering whether to order stricter cleanup requirements and penalties against Lineage Logistics.

The hearing board is considering whether to issue an order of abatement, which would require Lineage to take specific steps to address air pollution from the warehouse fire and meet stricter cleanup standards at the site.

The hearing comes after AQMD said it received more than 4,000 odor complaints since early July and issued 19 notices of violation to Lineage, alleging the odors created a public nuisance.

Lineage said it had removed about 80% of the food waste from the facility and expects to spend between $80 million and $100 million on cleanup.

The air district hearing board is expected to continue its review Thursday as it considers issuing an order and possibly charging fines for the air quality violations. Board and Lineage representatives are scheduled to give presentations tomorrow on the cleanup and related pollution.

Here are five takeaways from the testimony.

1. Residents made the trip to make sure their voices were heard

Several speakers said it was frustrating that residents had to leave their communities, miss work and travel to Diamond Bar just to be heard. They called on AQMD to hold future hearings in Boyle Heights, closer to the people most affected by the fire.

On the bus ride to the hearing, residents told Boyle Heights Beat that they were coming to speak for their children, for neighbors who feared reprisal and because they had lived through environmental crises, like the Exide battery recycling plant, which contaminated neighborhoods in Southeast Los Angeles for years.

2. Weeks later, people say they still don’t feel safe

Speakers told the hearing board they are still dealing with foul odors from rotting food and health issues, including nausea, headaches, bloody noses, rashes, sinus and eye infections, asthma flare-ups and breathing problems. Many said they worry about the long-term effects of exposure and whether the air will be safe when kids return to school.

Amanda Diaz carried her newborn son with her to the microphone. She told the board her son was about two weeks old when the fire broke out . Her voice shaking with emotion, Diaz said she had to take her child to a hospital after he broke out in rashes, and she is worried that the exposure has caused harm that isn’t yet apparent.

“The fire has robbed me of these chances to recover from childbirth in peace and enjoy these precious first weeks with my son,” she said.

Several people said the impacts extend beyond the streets closest to the warehouse and that more people across Boyle Heights and East L.A. have been affected.

“Does the air have a ZIP code?” resident Margarita Gonzalez asked the board and Lineage’s representatives, inviting them to spend time in her home to better understand the extent of the odor problem.

“Our community deserves fresh air,” Erika Jimenez, who lives near Mariachi Plaza, added.

3. Elected leaders call lingering odors a public health crisis

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass addresses the board and residents via remote video at a hearing held in the William A. Burke Auditorium of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) in Diamond Bar.

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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, District 14 City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado and State Sen. María Elena Durazo urged the board to require stricter cleanup standards and impose financial penalties against Lineage.

Bass called on the board to use its enforcement authority to require a stronger cleanup plan, including financial support for impacted residents.

“What the residents of Boyle Heights are facing is not just a nuisance, but it is a public health crisis that requires urgent and actionable measures,” Bass told the board.

Bass said Lineage should be required to establish a fund dedicated to the ongoing support of impacted residents, including relocating them until the issue is completely resolved. She added that the company has made some effort to provide help but only after pressure from residents and elected leaders.

Jurado said the sheer volume of complaints and notices of violations is evidence enough that Lineage’s management of the crisis has been inadequate.

“Residents should not have to file complaint after complaint to force a multi-billion-dollar corporation to contain the harm that it created,” Jurado told the board.

She added that any order against Lineage should include firm deadlines, aggressive odor control, public reporting and meaningful consequences if it is violated.

Durazo echoed outrage that residents are expected to endure unsafe conditions while the cleanup unfolds at the “company’s pace.” She said the rotting material should be removed before students are expected to return to school on Aug. 12.

Durazo said Lineage should pay for the full cost of housing and home remediation for residents, and the board should enforce the maximum financial penalty against the company. She also asked that another hearing be held in Boyle Heights rather than miles away during the workday.

“Residents deserve to be heard,” Durazo said.

Concerned residents of Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles at a hearing held in Diamond Bar. The South Coast AQMD Hearing Board held a hearing listening to proposed conditions to reduce odors impacting the nearby community from the Lineage Warehouse fire cleanup in Boyle Heights.

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Gary Coronado

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4. Residents say they don’t want history to repeat itself

For many speakers, the Lineage fire was not an isolated incident. They said it was another example of Boyle Heights and East L.A. communities being forced to live with the impacts of policies and businesses that create health hazards for the community.

Several people compared the situation to Exide. Others questioned why communities near industrial facilities are often asked to endure pollution and health risks while waiting for action.

“We are witnessing environmental racism,” Eve Sanchez said.

Alma Martinez, of Monterey Park, weeps during public comments at a hearing held in the William A. Burke Auditorium of the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Diamond Bar.

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Gary Coronado

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Some called for the warehouse and other industrial facilities to move away from residential neighborhoods.

“I need you to pay attention to what’s happening in our community and for these factories to move from their location please,” said Cristina Fernandez, an East L.A. resident, with help from an interpreter.

She also invited Lineage representatives to visit her home and experience the poor air quality.

5. Students and parents describe a disrupted summer and back-to-school concerns

Leonardo Gutierrez, 8, and mother Maria Patiño Gutierrez, of East Los Angeles, address the board at a hearing held in the William A. Burke Auditorium of the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) in Diamond Bar.

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Gary Coronado

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The LA Local

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Several youth who are members of East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice spoke on behalf of their families and their neighbors and highlighted the uncertainty of going back to school in the aftermath of Lineage.

“Am I expected to go into my senior year in these conditions? It’s ridiculous,” said Isabella Hernandez, a Boyle Heights resident.

“Lineage is banking on the fact that we’re poor,” Hernandez said. “They think we’re stupid and uneducated and that we’re just going to lie down and take this.

“We’re not. We deserve clean air and a safe place to live,” she continued.

Another Boyle Heights youth spoke about a lack of purifiers being distributed.

“I come from a multigenerational home and we only have one air purifier … How does this make sense?” she said.

Maria Patiño Gutierrez said she’s not comfortable with her son going back to school, which is less than two miles away from Lineage.

“Our summer plans were ruined because of this fire,” she said.

Her son also addressed officials during the hearing.

“It was my birthday when the fire started," he said. "My baseball game was canceled. Everything was canceled because of the fire.”

An effort to put a rent control measure on the November ballot in Anaheim has fizzled. That means Santa Ana is likely to remain the only Orange County city with rent control, at least for now.

The group Tenants United Anaheim launched an effort in January to put rent control on the November ballot. The initiative proposed to cap rent increases in the city at 3% annually. It also would have required landlords to pay relocation assistance to tenants forced to move through no fault of their own, such as when an owner takes a rental unit off the market.

Why did it fizzle?

Tenants United Anaheim has yet to release an official statement, but an organizer with the group told LAist the group had decided to suspend signature-gathering in order to improve and strengthen the text of the ballot measure.

This week is the deadline to submit ballot initiatives for the November election in Orange County. The group expects to resume the effort for a future election.

The context

Tenant advocates in Anaheim had hoped to follow in the footsteps of neighboring Santa Ana, which became Orange County’s first city to adopt rent control in 2021. It was upheld by voters in 2024. The efforts in both cities have faced strong opposition from the California Apartment Association, which represents landlords.

What's next

Some cities have had to pare down their protections for renters after negative court rulings. Los Angeles and Pasadena have stopped enforcing mandatory relocation assistance following legal victories by landlord groups.

Tenants United Anaheim's members hope their revised rent control proposal will make it on the ballot in 2028.