NY Style: Joe's or Vito's Pizza?

I'm taking a break from posting my Japan travels because I've been on a pizza rampage. Hmm, okay hitting up two pizza joints may not qualify as a rampage but I'd say I've definitely been tearing through those cheesy slices like Godzilla. There's been a number of discussions on Chowhound about the best New York-style pizza in LA and I had to investigate. I've had pizza in Italy before and I must admit that I'm more a fan of New York's version. It's thin, crunchy, simple and sweet.

Vito's is located in the nook of a white strip mall on La Cienega Blvd. just south of WeHo. Not quite a 'joint,' it's a small cozy sit-down place that might fit 15 people at most. Given its reputation, they seem to draw a distinctively East Coast crowd. SNL's Cheri Oteri was there the other night. She probably misses the Big Apple flavor. By far, Vito's has more variety in their display case (see below): deluxe veggie, tomato and cheese, spinach with plops of ricotta...Personally, I like plain cheese pizza. It's nice and simple and you can get a better feel for the crust and sauce. It's $2.50 a slice but the price goes up as you step up the gourmet-ness.



Then last night I tried Joe's Pizza which had a long-anticipated opening a block away from Santa Monica beach. It had the more of the pizza joint feel, with scattered barstools against the walls and a glass partition at the front counter preventing you from drooling over the hot pizzas. They cook up thick-square Sicilian slices but aside from that the offerings seem more basic than Vito's. Though if you talk to the guy at the oven, he'll be more than willing to accommodate requests. I got a slice of cheese ($2.50) and made a special order for mushrooms. A big burly dude looked incredulously at my two slices, as if my tiny body couldn't handle it. I showed him~!

So which do I prefer? It's a tough one, but I'd say Vito's. They both have a tasty, sweetened tomato sauce, but the slice at Joe's was crispy-thin to the point of tasting like a wafer. Maybe an off-night? Vito's dough blended better with the sauce. I think the deciding factor for where I'll be eating at more will be which part of town I'm in. Santa Monica or West Hollywood. Either way, I'm glad there's an option for great pizza. I don't know about you, but I started getting tired of hearing about overhyped gourmet pizza restaurants that charge twice the price for something that really shouldn't cost much at all.

Vito's Pizza
846 La Cienega Blvd.
LA, CA 90069
www.vitopizza.com


Joe's Pizza
111 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90401
(310) 395-9222