Today, Bun Boy and gang are headed out to a beautifully picturesque stretch of Hollywood Boulevard to taste six pizzas in six blocks.
Fighting hoards of tourists, angry Darth Vaders and crazy crack addicts along the way.
Why do a pizza crawl in a part of town not particularly known to have good pizza, you ask?
Cuz it sounded fun!
And we’re pigs.
Was I expecting the ‘Za to actually be any good?
NO!
It’s going to be melted dairy product on hot, soggy cardboard and we were going to love every minute of it!
Who knows what kind of surprises we’d encounter along the way? Come join us while we search for the best pie on the Street of Broken Dreams (and bongs) (and wigs).
(In full disclosure, I totally stole this idea from Serious Eats, who does a much better job)
GRECO’S NEW YORK PIZZERIA
Our first stop was near Hollywood and Highland, a place I had seen a million times but, of course, had never tried.
And why would I?
While it is across the street from my gym, there is often zero reason for me to be eating pizza at 6 a.m. after sweating on the eliptical machine and fighting away the homeless for a slice of pizza isn’t exactly an appealing aspect.
But today, it would be!
Greco’s was…ok.
Crust was crispy but on the thicker side, cheese and sauce were fine. Not much to say (kind of like most of the places we tried today).
Like at all of the places we were to visit today, we ordered one slice of cheese and one slice of pepperoni and all shared. No need to be greedy this early on, we still had a lot of pizza to consume.
6814 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 469-1696
grecospizza.com
Greco’s – Pepperoni Pizza
OUr first stop!
Stale ass pizzas on display
Not many of the spots we visited had many actual humans inside.
Behold….the ‘Za…(August Kammer)
The Pizza Crawl Crew!
In Hollywood, tourists enjoy snapping photos of the sidewalk for some reason.
LEILA’S PIZZA AND DELI
Most of the pizza parlors on the boulevard are layed out the same. You are immediately greeted by a long pizza display counter where you order, then you walk down a narrow expanse to the seating area.
Leila’s was my 2nd favorite pizza of the day. Good all around crust, sauce and flavors.
All the slices on today’s crawl were absolutely ginormous. One full slice is often too much.
I liked the vibe here, like having a pizza parlor in the lobby of your hostel. Very relaxed. You could probably take a nap here and no one would notice or kick you out. Too many more slices of pizza and that could end up being a possibility.
Onto the next one, folks!
6760 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 978-0238
Leila’s – Pepperoni and Cheese Pizza
Leila’s has a hostel vibe with it’s free computers for use and people just hanging out.
Tenille digs in! And eternally loathes me for snapping this photo.
Irish Car Bombs! Wisest decision ever when you’re shoving pizzas into your belly at frightening speeds? Yes, it certainly was.
STEFANO’S – TWO GUYS FROM ITALY
This place probably served my least favorite pie.
The sauce was too minimal for my liking and nothing about it was very memorable.
It was one of those situations that proved even bad pizza is good pizza, so of course we finished every bite.
Funny enough, the interior here was the most inviting. Nice leather(ish) booths to sit in. It screams pizza parlor from the 70’s and there’s nothing wrong with that.
6705 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 463-0715
Stefano’s – Pepperoni Pizza
Stefano’s – Cheese Pizza
Stefano’s has an old school pizza parlor vibe but probably serves my least favorite pizza.
No, it’s not a bad case of pizza belly. Captain is pregnant.
Our edgy, tough and formidable group ready to take on anything. As long as that anything are slices of pizza and not hoodlums. thugs or scaliwags.
JOE’S PIZZA
Joe’s (which we’ve all tried before) was easily the best pizza on today’s crawl.
They’re a New York chain that began slumming it over here for some reason and we’re certainly glad they did, cuz it’s awesome.
Everything about it is top notch. Good crust, sauce and toppings.
No complaints.
Even if we had any, we were too full to form any legible sentences. Just lots of heavy sighs.
We were getting full….
Onto the next!
6504 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 467-9500
joespizza.it
Joe’s Pizza – Caprese
Joe’s Pizza – Cheese and Caprese
Joe’s Pizza – White Pizza
The peeps at Joe’s thought we were quite dumb for photographing and filming and had zero interest in any kind of Bun Boy award of excellence for best pizza. Jerks.
This mean old lady would not serve us! We would show her. By standing out front of her store and discussing the situation for at least 5 minutes. She must have been forever traumitized as a result.
ASPARAGUS PIZZA
Since we were brutally kicked out of Greco’s #2, we desperately needed a replacement (like a hole in the head).
So, we headed off the boulevard just a bit to Asparagus Pizza on Cahuenga.
The odd fact about Asparagus Pizza is they don’t actually have any asparagus on the menu.
Kind of a disappointment.
The homeless guys twitching and talking to himself next to us (chowing down on a big plate of spaghetti) seemed not to mind.
We had zero room left in our bellies for any more pizza. We were stuffed. We were done.
Onto our last pizza joint!
Asparagus Pizza
The man on the right was so upset about no asparagus at Asparagus Pizza that he couldn’t stop talking (to himself) about it.
Asparagus Pizza – Cheese and Pepperoni – As you can see, this place offers no actual Asparagus as a topping.
PIZZA AL FORNO
Our last stop on the crawl was probably my 2nd favorite pizza of the day.
Wait, didn’t I already say that? Ok, maybe my 3rd.
Really thin, NY style, lots of cheese, great sauce. Not very crispy, but the folding kind of pizza we all can appreciate.
Pizza al Forno, like all the others is a super casual, walk in, grab a slice and leave because there’s nowhere to sit. And because you’ve just about had it of Hollywood.
Well folks, it’s been a fun day exploring the wonders of Hollywood boulevard pizza with ya’ll.
While I wouldn’t exactly encourage you to go out on this crawl yourselves, I do hope I’ve given you the tools to navigate this famous street the next time you have relatives in town and you need to feed them in a hurry after they insist on seeing the Chinese Theater.
6541 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
(323) 962-8903
Pizza al Forno – Pepperoni
Pizza al Forno – Cheese
Hollywood Boulevard, the street of dreams. And Pizza. And Tourists. And Crazy people.
Hollywood Boulevard is full of surprises! Unlike all the other aggresive street characters, these fries will NOT make you tip them for taking a pic.
You named Leila’s AND Al Forno’s your 2nd favorite pizza of the day. Haha!
those look SO BAD. not the pics, but the pizzas. except for Joes.
Waste of calories.com! LOL
Those pizza’s look horrible…