Pizza Week on What's To Eat LA: Vito's Pizza

846 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310)652-6859
Mon-Wed, Sun 11AM-10PM
Thu-Sat 11AM-4AM

Vito's is a titan amongst pizza places in LA. Described as classic Naples style pizza, this pizza is absolutely addicting. When you go in, I kid you not, you feel that everything in there is hyper Italian. The pizza, the tables, the floors, the pictures, and especially the workers. It's like you feel like you've walked into some amazing mob movie except the mobsters haven't come in to eat yet!

The pizza (rated very highly in all circles) is prized among many Angelenos. They had a location in Silverlake a while back and many hearts were broken, but people on the West Side now get to rejoice. This is yet another location that people swear is the real NY slice in LA. It's a darn good slice of New York style but with a refined air of class. Think elegant pizza that you want to serve to people who could kill you, and yet not so absurd that they still taste that it's real down home pizza.

The rundown begins with their plain cheese. It is the foundation that we start with, and we realize that without any dressing, this is a darn good slice of pizza. It's a thin crust, toasted cheese but only slightly toasted crust piece of pizza. The difference they have is they nail the NY spices. They got those intangibles I spoke of yesterday that really are necessary to complete the nostalgia of my growing up on the East Coast.

The Margherita pizza is the cheese but given more life via their fresh tomato and basil.

The famous White pizza has a blend of cheeses and is rich and complex. Never too unbalanced and the flavors play with your mouth a bit. You think you've pinned down which cheeses you're eating and then it sneaks up on you at the end. I love this pizza!

Pictured here is Celeste's slice of their famous veggie slice untouched. She did remove the broccoli, cause she just doesn't like it steamed plain. Best veggie slice she's tasted though, and me too for that matter. The greens were wilted just enough, but still had good substance to them.

Now let's get one thing straight. I love sausage on my pizza. Carefully chosen sausage to put on pizza is one of the great feats of pizza for me. It can bring an average slice of pizza back from the dead or it can tear a great slice of pizza down. The reason being is that the juices from the meat seep into the cheese and alter the flavor. What Vito has on his is exceptional. It's married to this thing like it it was it's first love. Not spicy, but sweet, and very Italian rich with spices. I don't know and don't want to know where he gets it from. I'd like to think he gets it from a secret source that only he and God know about.

A word about the pizzas themselves. They only come in one size...18 inches to be exact. I do believe that they realize there's only one traditional size of pizza...big. While the basic cheese runs about $17, you can get all the way up to $30 for their primo pizzas. But hey it's ALL very good pizza so whatever appeases the appetite is what it's all about.

The location, while it does have parking, is in a small strip mall. They do deliver and you better believe it's totally worth it. The prices, while pricier than your average pizza (here's the menu to view), are in fact good when you realize we're talking about better than average pizza. The restaurant's floor space, while tight, is rather on the cozy side. The service is, bar none, the best pizza place service ever to date. Paulie (yes that's his actual name) was practically eager at the chance to make everyone in the restaurant happy. Try finding that at Pizza Hut or Papa John's! Also note that they're open super late on the weekends as well. Vito's name suits this place perfectly...Italian to the bone!

Free Drink Refills: Yes
Pizza Price Range: In store slices $2 and then toppings range from .50 to $1. Full Pizzas range from $17 to $33

Have a wonderful 4th of July!

(For my 4th of July links just look on my sidebar)

Asakuma Rice...a serendipitous evening

848 N. La Cienega Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90069
(310)652-7780
Sun-Thur 11:30AM-10PM
Fri-Sat 11:30AM-11PM

Don't you just love when serendipity happens? When I was little I was told a story in second grade about serendipity. A child had lost a toy and went looking all over their home for it. In the process of the search he found much more than he was looking for and though he found the toy in the end, he realized that all the things he found in the process were just as fun if not more fun than his lost toy. I went in search of Vito's Pizza and found Asakuma Rice (their website is down at the moment so here's the menu to help as well) a couple of doors right next door. When I got to the parking lot something inside changed my appetite from pizza to Japanese so it was decided by destiny.

Rice (the chain of Chinese food restaurants) used to be in this exact spot now held by Asakuma Rice. From what I'm aware of, it's associated with Rice, but Rice is Chinese and Asakuma Rice is more of a mix of Japanese and Chinese cuisine. Knowing that I try to stay away from chains, this is an okay exception due to the fact that I think this is the only Asakuma Rice, though it may be associated with Rice. The inside even seems more Japanese than it's Chinese counterpart (though you can't see it, to the right of the picture is also their sushi bar).

Celeste and I popped down and were greeted by one of the happiest, friendliest waiters I've ever had the pleasure of having been waited on. Imagine if the town of Stepford branched out from just wives and started making wait staff as well... that's what you'd get. We started out with their steamed won tons (we ordered for them to be spicy and the sauce they blended was a perfect mixture for us). Great texture and very full flavored won tons. The bed of spinach it rested on was complimetary to each won ton bite and perfect for soaking up the sauce. I'd totally order these again.

Being that this was Asakuma and not just plain Rice, I ordered one of the Asakuma specials. I got the Marinated Black Cod with Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura which came with rice and Sunomono. Let me start with the sunomono which was crisp and extremely fresh tasting. Not too extreme on the vinegar base. I'd also like to add that I never had sunomo with noodles in it. Usually it's just the cucumber mostly. The noodles were a nice touch and quite unexpected. It was a good way to round out such a simple side.

The tempura was great. Just on the edge of doughy but not reaching it. I liked how they gave me plenty of it as well. Some places only give like three or four pieces sometimes, so this too was a pleasant surprise.

And the Black Cod, just a lovely piece of fish. It was so incredibly tender, but not "fall apart" tender. It was firm how a good piece of fish should be. The slightly orange flavored sauce was amazing. Please don't discount it cause I called it orange sauce because it was actually so much more than that. It was just a divine main course crowned by this piece of cod.

Celeste had the Kung Pao Shrimp and chose brown rice to accompany it(which was moist, not dry and in need of sauce). The shrimp were cooked just right, they were firm but tender(there are few things worse than dry, chewy, overcooked shrimp). The vegetables were very good as well, but what made this dish snap were the peanuts. I don't know whether they were or not, but they tasted and looked like those big toasty Virginia Peanuts, and oh the difference it made. Such a simple way of making a traditional dish stand out from the competition!(and we know, cause it's one of her favorites)

We finished off with Mochi, mainly because it was noted on the menu that they get theirs from some special vendor in Hawaii. Now I wouldn't say they were any better or worse than other mochi we've had, but the texture was a bit different, which was a nice change of pace. What made this dessert worth a recommendation though was the fresh fruit and fried wonton strips with caramel sauce. Yum!

Going back to serendipity. I am never all that surprised anymore when I find a place worthy of being written about. In LA you rarely have to go too far to find someplace worth eating at. Sometimes I like to think that Los Angeles Magazine looks at my page when I find that recent issues have places I've recently covered in the last month or two in it and they've labeled them as new listings on their restaurant roster. Makes me feel like I'm helping out in a weird way. If I am "helping out" feel free to give me a mention. I'd love the nod from you guys.

Free Drink Refills: Yes
Entree Price Range:$7 to $12