#slice house

Love Friends & Family in East Hollywood, so I knew that I had to try their new pizzeria at The Original Farmers Market. Their stall is close to The Grove at the far end of the market area. The menu includes whole pies, slices, and salads.

A good crust is critical to good pizza. At FF, they start with naturally leavened whole grain sourdough. Their crust is thin (New York style?) with slightly thicker edges. It’s more flavorful, a little earthy, chewy and crisp. I didn’t see any other crusts (i.e., they didn’t have Detroit style, Sicilian).

They had about eight types of pizza to choose from and they can reheat the slice(s) for you. A slice is $7. It’s a good size but not ginormous. The ingredients are higher in quality (e.g., asparagus, Taleggio, pistachio, rapini).

Rapini with sausage and ricotta pizza: Wanted a bit more rapini but I’m sure it wilted quite a bit in the oven. The sausage crumbles weren’t too salty, the ricotta added creamy sweetness. Plenty of cheese, chewy flavorful crust. The toppings didn’t slide off.

Mushroom, fontina, white sauce & arugula pizza: very cheesy, a bit oily but rich and delicious. Loved the chewy, flavorful, thin crust.

The slice price seems a bit high but I’m sure rents are high. Online ordering is available. They will validate your Farmers Market parking ticket (the first 90 minutes of parking are free with validation).

4 out of 5 stars

L’Industrie has the best pizza in NYC, according to many. We arrived at 4:15 PM, and there was a long line outside. The inside was crammed with people eating pizza or waiting for their slices. What makes L’Industrie special? The long fermentation of the dough and imported ingredients from Italy.

You can order whole pies or slices. I’m pretty sure that you can’t request any additions or changes to the slices. They have basics like the margherita and pepperoni, as well as interesting variations like fig jam & bacon. Choose from red pizza or white pizza. They also have sandwiches and desserts.

Tartufo slice ($5.75): four cheeses with oven roasted mushrooms & truffle oil. Great crust – thin and chewy, not floppy, puffier edges. The ingredients did not slide off. I enjoyed the blend of cheeses. While it looked oily, the oily didn’t drip off the slice either. Wish there were more mushrooms.

Margherita slice ($4.25): tomato sauce & mozzarella. Mr. Froyo liked it better than the Tartufo, which he said was too cheesy.

Some slices were much bigger than others. The Tartufo slices were smaller than the margherita slice.

I noticed that most people folded their slices. Expect to stand and eat. There are tall tables where you can put your slice down. The interior felt dark and cramped like a sports bar.

4.5 out of 5 stars

This tiny pizzeria feels like a shop in NYC. The pizza is thin-crust, NY-inspired. Specifically, the pizza maker was inspired by Di Fara in Brooklyn.

Whole pies are 14” (one size only) and start at $16. They have six kinds of pies which you can customize by adding toppings (including interesting toppings like hot honey, whipped ricotta, caramelized onions). A few sides and foccacia sandwiches from Vesti are available. The sandwiches are pre-made and refrigerated.

Pizza slices are available from 12 PM – 4 PM. A cheese slice is $4.50 and a pepperoni slice $5. The slices are cut from the 14” pie. Slices are reheated in the oven once ordered.

Pepperoni pizza: very greasy, heavy on the cheese. Good quality pepperoni. The crust was soft and thin. It was too soft. The cheese was starting to slide off. I had to fold the pizza, and I am not a pizza folder.

Cheese pizza: so much grease but structurally better because the cheese stayed in place, still had to fold it because it was so thin.

Park Pizza shares a space with Glassell General, a convenience store, and will also deliver their pizzas to Verdugo Bar.

The interior is sparse and tiny. There is a counter if you want to stand and eat.

3.5 out of 5 stars

About 10 years ago when Bub & Grandma’s had a stand at Smorgasburg, they used to sell flatbread. Flash-forward to 2025, they now have a pizza restaurant with slices, whole pies, starters, salads, sides, and desserts. A whole cheese pie is $25 and 18 inches.

During my visit, there were 5 kinds of pizza to choose from (for slices). Two of the five were vegan. The pizzas were red pie, pepperoni, cheese, meatball & onion, and market slice (creamy mushroom). The red pie slice is $3.50. The dough is the same for all the pies: naturally fermented sourdough, thin crust.

Order at one window and pick up at the other when they call your name. It took about 5 minutes to reheat my slices.

Cheese pizza slice ($4): The sign said $5, but I was charged $4. This was a great pizza: flavorful sourdough crust, thin and chewy with crispy edges, the tomato sauce was zesty, and the cheese didn’t slide off.

Creamy mushroom slice with vegan cream, vegan parm, roasted mushrooms, roasted garlic cloves, crispy capers, tarragon, chives, parsley ($5): soooooo good, so much flavor, loaded with toppings. The mushrooms were a bit chewy, the whole roasted garlic cloves (!) were heavenly. I did not miss the cheese. Loved all the fresh herbs too.

For some reason, the cheese slice was twice the size of the mushroom slice. I think they’re just not cutting the pies carefully.

They’re currently renovating the inside and when it’s done, there will be inside seating. For now, there are a few small tables set up on the sidewalk and a counter if you want to stand and eat.  

4.5 out of 5 stars

What Up Dough opened recently in Magnolia Park, across the street from the popular Porto’s. Porto’s is so popular that it’s hard to find parking in the area. WUD has a few dedicated parking spots behind the shop, though they were all taken during my visit.

Service seemed indifferent. It felt like a bunch of young guys hanging out and talking. The rap music was super loud. I interrupted to order. There were only a few slices to choose from. The slices are reheated after you order them.

The menu includes NY, Roman, Detroit style pies and slices, wings, garlic knots, paninos, and salads. The soda fountain is in the dining room, so you get free refills. The lunch special is two slices + a fountain drink for $12 (Roman) or $10 (NY).

Walter White: mozz, parmesan, ricotta, basil, garlic, oregano, EVOO. NY style thin, crisp crust with puffy edges. I liked the crust. The rest of the pizza was a little bland – needed more basil and ricotta. There was barely any ricotta.

The Machine (Roman style): red sauce, mozz, parmesan, basil, vodka sauce. It was lukewarm but not hot. The dough was nice – thick but with a crisp bottom. There was a thick layer of cheese on top. The sauces were too salty though.

My order didn’t get transmitted to kitchen. Someone came by to apologize.

3.5 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed my visit to another Slice House by Tony Gemignani and was happy to see them open in Burbank. You can get pizza by the slice or whole pizzas in several styles, including New York, Sicilian, Grandma, and Detroit style pizzas. They also have appetizers, sandwiches, salads, wine, beer, and beverages. They do offer vegan cheese and vegan pepperoni.

Tony wrote the Pizza Bible, won countless pizza competitions in Italy and runs the International School of Pizza. The man knows and loves pizza and his pizzas are made with quality ingredients like 00 flour and his own canned tomatoes.

During my visit, there were 9 kinds of pizza to choose from (for slices). They’ll heat your slice for you. I forgot that a slice is huge. I should have ordered one slice, not two.

Sweet Gino grandma slice ($6.75): sweet tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil. The tomato sauce was too sweet and the dough had hard/tough edges. I think it was too dense. I liked the julienned strips of fresh basil.

Wiseguy NY slice ($6.35): tomato sauce, mozzarella, sweet & spicy Italian sausage, thin pepperoni, ricotta, Tony’s hot pepper oil, green onion. This had a lot going on and the crust was better (soft, puffy edges. The sausage was a bit too salty but overall I enjoyed the variety of toppings and the soft, chewy crust.

Weekdays from 2 – 5 PM, you can get a cheese or pepperoni slice for just $2. Fountain drinks come with free refills. The interior is very casual with booths and several TVs with sports on. It felt like a sports bar. Service was friendly.

4 out of 5 stars.

So many pizza places…I thought I had been to Slices in the past but I looked through my reviews and I’ve never been to any of their locations. Slices sounds good on paper. They use Italian tomatoes, olive oil, and flour to make their pizzas. Pizza is available whole or by the slice, with thin crust and thick crust. They serve Roman-style pizza, calzones, lasagna, cold Italian sub sandwiches, hot NYC hero sandwiches, wings, salads, garlic knots, etc.

The slices from the round pizzas are huge. I noticed they looked pretty greasy too.

Cheese slice ($4.95): Our original pizza made with house red sauce and creamy mozzarella. They were generous with the amount of mozzarella. The tomato sauce is bland though. The crust wasn’t the most flavorful but it had good texture – chewy, thin, not much rise (edges weren’t puffy). The cheese didn’t slide off the pizza.

Pepperoni slice ($5.75): Pepperoni, house red sauce topped with creamy mozzarella. The slice looked great though greasy. They placed the pepperoni slices with care. The red sauce is bland though.

Slices has a few parking spaces in the back. Seating is limited but the place is nice (and new looking).

3 of 5 stars

Another new spot on this now hipsterfied block of Cypress Park…Shins Pizza is from the people behind Barra Santos (next door) and Found Oyster. It’s a New York slice house but you can also order a whole 18” inch pie or a 12” inch gluten-free pie. I don’t think you can build your own pie (the menu says substitutions politely declined), so you can only pick from a few types of pizza (e.g., cheese, pepperoni, veggie, meat, marinara) and a pizza of the month. Split pies are not allowed.

They also have a few salads, wings, arancini, sauces, Italian ice, and a few drinks. There is a vegan pizza option. I don’t think they have beer or wine but it’s mostly a takeout kind of place with limited seating and a counter where you can stand and eat your pizza.

Shin’s combo ($12): 1 slice of sausage and mushroom pizza, 1 slice of cheese pizza, can of Diet Coke: Wow, they even don’t give you a choice of drink. It’s odd, but I’m fine with Diet Coke. The cheese pizza features Sopra mozzarella and tomato sauce. The sausage and mushroom pizza is topped with fennel sausage, cremini mushrooms, and scallions. I liked the crust and tomato sauce a lot. The thin crust was firm with puffy, chewy edges and a slight crispness (like a good bread). The tomato sauce wasn’t too salty or too sweet.  The toppings were high quality but they looked like they were casually thrown onto a plain cheese slice. The scallions were raw.

There’s a self-serve station where you can get your own packets of parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, napkins, and water. The lack of customization and the thrown on carelessly toppings hold back what could be a great pizza place. I also think they could be a little more creative with their pizza toppings.

4 out of 5 stars.