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Baby spinach adorns the NY White pizza above, Porco pizza shown underneath.
Two of my friends have been raving about this supposed "real Italian/napolitana" pizza in Monterey Park, and after months of accumulated hype I decided to give in and drive 20 miles just for fucking pizza. I even took five other friends in tow for the expedition to Monterey Park, the hotbed for all great cheap eats -- some of my favorites include Shakas and The Boiling Crab.
When we approached the door I immediately got that familiar feeling where you've overhyped something to your friends and set them up for major disappointment. The atmosphere is typical for a pizza parlor, nothing special ...nothing to hint at what was in store -- the best pizza I have ever tasted in LA, as of yet (prove me wrong!).
The crust is cooked in a woodfire oven, perfectly chewy even though thin -- a measured distance from run-of-the-mill thin crust pizza. The owner + head chef, Christiano Bollini, learned to make pizza this style by working as a pizza chef in Bologna, Italy so I'm told. They even use an actual wood chip oven that only runs for a few hours at a time; they are closed in between lunch and dinner from 2 to 5 each day. The ingredients choices on all of the signature pizzas (5 that we tried) were absolutely solid, drawing taste from modern Italian favorites (ie gorgonzola, goat cheese, prosciutto). The 16" pizzas each cost us about $13 and could each feed 2 people easily, so the adventure didn't exactly break our bank ...of course gas wasn't $4/gallon last week so go figure in the literal sense.
It's been a week since our adventure and my friends won't stop talking about how we need to go back. By the way, as an added plus they have a BYOB policy!
Bollini's Pizzaria Napolitana
2315 S. Garfield Ave Monterey Park, CA 91754
(323) 722-7600
Open Monday-Saturday
from 11:30am-2pm, and 5pm-10pm
