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If You Love LA Pizza, Then We Have A Festival For You This Weekend
Grab a slice of Pizza City Fest Los Angeles.
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Photo collage by Gab Chabrán/LAist
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Pizza City Fest artwork courtesy of Pizza City Fest / Photo by Brian Feinzimer for LAist
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When James Beard Award-winning Chicago food reporter Steve Dolinsky wrote his book Pizza City, USA he chronicled his mission to find the best pizza in his hometown of Chicago and, perhaps more importantly, to disprove the idea that all Chicagoans only like to eat thick, deep-dish pizza.
After tallying the 101 region's best pies in his 2018 book, Dolinsky took things further by creating an event that showcased all the different styles of pizza, and launched Pizza City Fest in 2022 in Chicago. Soon after, he brought the festival to Los Angeles, which is now in its second year and happening this weekend at L.A. Live in downtown L.A.
Pizza City Fest LA touches down this weekend to celebrate all things pizza. Tickets get you unlimited eats and drinks and desserts.
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Bailey Holiver
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Courtesy of Pizza City Fest LA
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Why L.A.? According to Dolinsky, Los Angeles currently has one of the nation’s most exciting pizza communities thanks to the robust pop-up scene, much of which was born during the pandemic. (That's not exactly news to us here in L.A., but we appreciate the recognition from a Chicagoan.)
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Here's everything you need to know about Pizza City Fest LA, where a ticket gets you unlimited pizza eats and drinks, including beer, wine and cocktails, and desserts.
Who: Pizza City Fest Los Angeles celebrates all things pizza by bringing together over 40 pizzerias from Southern California, stretching from Santa Barbara to San Diego.
What: Pizza Fest also provides the opportunity to discuss concepts such as "crust and crumb" and see how comfortable you are using terms "undercarriage' with a straight face in public. In addition to all the great tastings, the event will feature a series of panel discussions and demonstrations from chefs, authors, and content creators.
When: 1 to 5 p.m., this weekend, April 27 - 28
If you go, here are our top picks for each day
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Saturday, April 27th
Brooklyn Ave Pizza Co. (Boyle Heights), Hot Tongue (Silver Lake), LaSorted’s (Silver Lake), Prime Pizza (Fairfax), a collab between Riip Beer & Pizza (Huntington Beach) + Heritage BBQ (San Juan Capistrano) and Tribute Pizza (San Diego).
In the Collab Lab that day: Catch demos from Michael Procaccini from La Parolaccia (Long Beach) from 12:30 p.m., followed by William Joo and Jennifer So of Pizzeria Sei (Pico-Robertson) from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
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Sunday, April 28th
Apollonia’s Pizzeria (Mid-Wilshire), Ghisallo (Santa Monica), Shin’s Pizza (Cypress Park), Gorilla Pies (Valley Village), Secret Pizza (El Sereno), Bettina (Santa Barbara)
Catch the panel discussion that day: "Eating With Your Eyes: Pizza as Art in the Age of Social Media” with Justin DeLeon, Apollonia’s Pizzeria (Mid-Wilshire), and Ines Glaser, Lupa Cotta Pizza & Dough (L.A.). Moderated by Luca Servodio of The L.A. Food Podcast & The L.A. Countdown at 3 p.m.
Where: L.A. Live, 800 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles
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Why: Pizza Fest is about bringing people together. Los Angeles can sometimes feel fragmented, with traffic making it difficult to get from one end of town to the other. At Pizza Fest, pizza enthusiasts can try lots of different slices all in one place.
Dolinsky said the festival emphasizes showcasing small, mom-and-pop, independently-owned businesses. It's also about giving back. A portion of the proceeds from City Pizza Fest will go to C-CAP (Careers through Culinary Arts Program), which provides culinary, job, and life skills to more than 25,000 middle and high school students nationwide.
Cost: General admission tickets start at $125, which gets you unlimited pizza and drinks, including beer, wine, cocktails, and desserts. VIP tickets, $200. Details at LALive.com
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