Pizza City Fest brings 40 top SoCal pizzerias to LA this weekend

For anyone who doesn't think Los Angeles is serious about pizza, they've never been to Pizza City Fest.

Now in its fourth year, the festival returns to L.A. LIVE's Event Deck this weekend — from 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday — showcasing the full range of styles that define SoCal's pizza scene. The event was founded by three-time Emmy and 13-time James Beard Award-winning food reporter Steve Dolinsky, who has built Pizza City Fest into a three-city operation spanning Chicago, Nashville and Los Angeles. This year, 40 pizzerias will be offering unlimited tastings — general admission runs $99 a day, VIP $199. (Drinks, both alcoholic and NA, are also included in the price).

Who's going to be there?

SoCal pizza isn't specific to L.A. What's most exciting about this year's lineup is how far it stretches — from Orange County and the Inland Empire to the San Fernando Valley and Santa Barbara. It’s a testament to the fact that good pizza is everywhere in the region; you just need to know where to find it.

As Dolinsky puts it: "You don't have to get in your car and drive all over Southern California to try all these great pizzas because they're all going to be made fresh, right there in one place."

Eleven out of the 40 pizzerias are making their Pizza City Fest debuts this year (marked with an asterisk).

Saturday

• Angel City Pizza (Venice)
• Anna Pizza (Valley Village)*
• Bianca Sicilian Trattoria (mobile truck — Arts District)*
• Bub & Grandma's Pizza (Highland Park)*
• Colossus (Long Beach, San Pedro)*
• Emmy Squared (DTLA)
• Esco's New York Style Pizza (Mid-City)
• Fat Lip Pizza & Beer (Corona)
• Fat Nattys (Los Angeles)*
• Joe's Pizza (Southern California)
• Mievè (Miracle Mile)*
• Mike's Firestone Pizza (Fullerton)*
• Old Gold Tomato Pies (Los Feliz)*
• Riip Beer & Pizzeria (Huntington Beach)
• Slice House by Tony Gemignani (Southern California)
• Thunderbolt Pizza (Long Beach)*
• Tribute Pizza (San Diego)
• Triple Beam Pizza (Southern California)
• Truly Pizza (Dana Point)
• Woodstock Farina (mobile truck — Oxnard)

Dessert: Lei'd Cookies (Culver City) and Uli's Gelato (Los Angeles)

Sunday

• Apollonia's Pizzeria (Mid-Wilshire)
• Bettina (Santa Barbara)
• Chi-Pie (Reseda)
• Detroit Pizza Depot (Hollywood)
• Due Fiori (Long Beach)*
• Little Dynamite (Mar Vista)
• LaSorted's (Silver Lake; Chinatown)
• Nonna Mercato (Long Beach)
• Ospi (Venice; Brentwood; Costa Mesa)
• Ozzy's Apizza (North Hollywood; Glendale)
• Naughty Pie Nature (Echo Park)
• Petramale Pizza (mobile truck — Venice)
• Pie Trap Pizza (Covina)
• PiiZaa (Mobile Truck- Torrance)*
• Pizzana (Southern California)
• Prime Pizza (Southern California)
• Prince St. Pizza (Southern California)
• Secret Pizza (El Sereno)
• Speak Cheezy (Long Beach)
• Two Doughs (Agoura Hills)

Dessert: Wanderlust Creamery (Los Angeles) and Levain Bakery (Los Angeles, Venice, Beverly Hills)

Styles upon styles

Esteban "ESCO" Gutierrez grew up in his father's Manhattan pizza shop. Now he's bringing that New York tradition to Mid-City L.A. — and to Pizza City Fest this weekend at L.A. LIVE.

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Susana Capra

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Courtesy Pizza City Fest

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Perhaps one of the most exciting aspects of Pizza City Fest is the sheer range of styles on offer. Detroit, NY, Neapolitan, tavern-style, grandma pie — all under one roof. No dominant identity, and that's kind of the point. Unlike New York or Chicago, where pizza culture rallies around a single style, SoCal's scene is pluralist by nature. You've got Ozzy's Apizza repping New Haven-style, Esco's flying the New York flag, Detroit Pizza Depot doing what it says on the tin, and Bub & Grandma's doing their own artisan thing that defies easy categorization.

Keep an eye on Colossus, based in Long Beach and San Pedro, who earned a glowing review from the LA Times and is bringing a 100% sourdough crust to the fest — the kind of artisan approach Dolinsky says has defined the scene's evolution over the past four years.

And then there's PiiZaa — a mobile operation out of the Torrance Farmers Market whose name is apparently how the Vietnamese community pronounces the word. They'll be making a bánh xèo-inspired dish (a traditional stuffed crepe in pizza form) with turmeric, shrimp and pork.

As Dolinsky puts it, "That to me is very LA. Vietnamese culture meets Neapolitan pizza. That doesn't happen really anywhere else in the country." The fest isn't an argument for one style over another — it's an argument that SoCal can do all of them and do them well.

Slice House by Tony Gemignani will be serving at Pizza City Fest at L.A. LIVE this weekend.

(

Susana Capra

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Courtesy Pizza City Fest

)

Beyond the slices

When you get tired — or full — of stuffing your face with delicious slices, Pizza City Fest has you covered there too.

Saturday's programming kicks off with "The Dough Whisperers" at 2 p.m., featuring Nancy Silverton and Aaron Lindell of Quarter Sheets in conversation about the craft of dough, followed at 3 p.m. by a home baker's masterclass demo from Thomas McNaughton and Ryan Pollnow of SF's Flour + Water — plus a Silverton book signing after.

Sunday brings a backyard pizza oven demo at 2 p.m. from Daniele Uditi of Pizzana. At 3 p.m., Esteban Gutierrez, Sean Lango, and Vito DeCandia make the case that great New York-style pizza doesn't require a New York zip code — moderated by Noah Galuten.

The details

• Pizza City Fest runs Saturday and Sunday at the Event Deck at L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles, 1–5 p.m. both days.
  
• General admission is $99 per day; VIP tickets are $199 and include one-hour early entry, access to an exclusive lounge, preferred panel seating and a swag bag.
  
• All tickets include unlimited pizza tastings, beverages, desserts and admission to all panels and demos — yes, that means drinks, both alcoholic and NA.

First-timer? Dolinsky's advice: "Go to the places that are furthest from your home ... go to the places from Corona, the IE and Covina. Who knows when you'll go there?"

Tickets at lalive.com/pizzacityfest.