Saturday, August 6 | Pancakes R Us |2282 N. Garey Ave, Pomona What is Pancakes R Us? If, like us, you thought it was an absurd concept-gone-wrong type of restaurant (that “R” is awfully strange, after all) … well, we’re here to disappoint you, in hopefully a good way. Pancakes R Us does not feature human pancakes …
June 1: Mike’s Pizza, 1441 Arrow, San Dimas Ordered: 1 large takeout, half-cheese, half-pepperoni, 14-inch, $13 even. Despite the theory in some circles that there’s no good food in San Dimas, we braved rush hour in the La Verne/San Dimas corridor (cue joke here) at 5pm on this day one of the NBA Finals. There were …
June 7: Red Devil Pizza, 1465 Foothill, La Verne Ordered: 1 medium (14″) takeout, half-cheese, half-pepperoni ($15.25 pre-tax) & 1 medium (14″) ‘margherita’ ($16.50 pre-tax). Admission: we’ve been to Red Devil before, being partial to their amazing logo as well as their artichoke heart and garlic pizza. But it’s been years since we’ve been there, …
une 12: Sal’s Pizza and Bagelry, 2095 Foothill Blvd La Verne Ordered: 1 “margherita,” 1 ½-cheese, half-pepperoni (14”, $16.50 and $14, respectively). Sal’s pizza is basically an assemblage of all the local places we tried prior: the crust was vaguely crisp on the bottom, though this gave it an unpleasant burnt taste; the sauce was …
une 15: Nomad Pizza, 611 S 7th St, Philadelphia, PA Ordered: 1 ½ margherita di bufala, ½ pepperoni (~ 13″, $15.00 pre-tax). If Nomad were local, this would probably end our quest; sadly, our quest goes on. This might, in fact, be the best pizza we’ve ever had. The crust: hand-made, a light touch, well baked so …
June 20: Rione Pizza Ordered: 3 slices: 1 diavola (tomato sauce, mozzarella, soppressata, evoo), 1 tri-colore (cherry tomato, basil pesto, mozzarella di bufala, evoo), 1 patate (potatoes, herbs, evoo; about $3.50 each; pic taken from their website) The second of our two Philadelphia stops also placed second for Philly pizza … but also, to this …
une 25: Nuno’s Bistro and Bar, 2440 West Arrow Route; Suite 4A; Upland Ordered: 1 margherita (14″, $13.95 pre-tax). When making our list of area pizzerias, we thought Nuno’s – with their ‘state of the art wood-fired oven’ that really does look nifty, mosaic-ed out as it is – had a chance to win. As …
July 1: Petrilli’s Pizza, 110 S Mountain Ave # F, Upland July 1: San Biagio’s Pizza, 1263 W 7th St, Upland Petrilli’s: ordered 1 medium 16″ pizza, half-cheese, half-pep ($22, pre-tax). San Biagio’s: ordered 1 medium 16″ pizza, half/half ($18.75, pre-tax). So we did a two-fer (and shared with others – we’re not that big of …
July 7: Stella Barra, 6372 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood Ordered: 1 classic margherita (12″, $14.95 pre-tax). We were excited to try one of the new LA-area pizza stars (pre-Book of Mormon: Hello!) … and then we weren’t. Stella Barra, as a place to eat and drink, is fantastic: a huge bar in the middle of a …
July 14: Tutti Mangia, 102 Harvard Ave N, Claremont Ordered: 1 pizza margherita D.O.C (12″, $10.50), 1 pizza tradizionale (pepperoni and banana peppers, 12″, $11.5). After our disappointment with Stella Barra – and well before that, in fact; as early as this game began – we were hugely optimistic about Tutti Mangia, a nice Italian …
July 18: Casa Bonita, address undisclosed, La Verne We make pizza, too. Sauce? Best ever, recipe courtesy of Peter Reinhart (if you think you like pizza, it’s worth looking him up). Cheese? Fresh mozzarella that could have stood a bit more meltmelding with the sauce. Basil? Applied both pre-bake and post – genius move, and again, …
July 20: Il Mattone Trattoria (Claremont) Ordered: 1 pizza margherita (13″, $12) , 1 pizza ligure (13″, $13) We decided on a Thursday afternoon to trek all the way to Claremont for a late lunch at Il Mattone Trattoria, which we hadn’t eaten at since it’s name change (a long time). IMT features a legit …
July 26: Caffe Allegro (La Verne) Ordered: 1 pizza margherita (12″, $12) The best part of this lunch? A pleasant last meal with a departing colleague (miss you, Mark). The other part – the pizza? Once again, in the voice of Paul Hollywood: sponge. Not to mention the overly-cheesed dry mozzarella (one thing learned from …
Saturday August 5: Pappas Artisanal (La Verne) Ordered: 1 margherita (10″, $16), 1 bebo (sausage, pep, bacon, calabrian chiles, chives; 10″, $18), 1 hola aloha (carnitas, pineapple salsa, cilantro; 10″, $17) We have a long relationship with Pappas that’s been defined by one thing: frustration at their constant tinkering with what has been, at its highest …
Friday August 11: Union on Yale (Claremont) Ordered: 1 margherita (13″, $15). Unlike Pappas (click here), we’ve never been big fans of Union on Yale. They suffer the Claremont curse of bad service, specifically being terrible at bringing your check even if you’ve long finished your meal … and they don’t keep their bocce court …
