Johnnie's New York Pizzeria — Restaurant in Los Angeles

My preference is for a standard parlor type pizza, rather than the small wood-fired artisan types. Therefore my rating is appropriate in context, this is an exceptionally good pizza for its type. Note also, like many parlors, this is called "New York", but it's not that thin, fold-over type with sparse cheese, this is much more substantial, and more to my taste.

Good solid crust, tasty and chewy down to the end, the sauce a little sweet, which is fine, and perfect cheese, not globs of it that end up pulling off the slice, just right to the bite. The cost is a bit more than a comparable Domino's down the street, and for that you get a heck of a lot better pizza (and a lot less salt). For MdR, or maybe anyplace these days, the price is quite reasonable.

I recommend the large, even if you can't eat it all, because it's the right mix of crust and interior, and it means plenty leftover for the next day. Who doesn't like a cold pizza breakfast right out of the fridge? It helps that there's no oil load, it's not greasy at all cold.

I have nothing remotely critical to say. Some minor issues now and then, the cheese was not browned on one pizza, easily cured at home, on another the cheese was a little too heavy, and one had too many mushrooms and stems. That's pizza, but there was one I had that was perfection, the crust ring was even all the way around, and the mushrooms looked like they had been placed with geometric precision. Of course, once bitten, it's all the same, and here, that's really good.

On a quest to try all the local non-gourmet shops making this style, I also tried Fat Tomato, on the other side of Lincoln, Pizzarito on Glencoe and Lenzini's on Culver. FT is comparable, with differences that are more preferences than deficits. Their outside crust is typically smaller and flatter (still chewy), but that means a greater interior to crust ratio. Their sauce has a more herbal taste, very tasty. Pizzarito has upped their game, a recent test was positive, close in quality, the crust a bit thinner, which is fine. Lenzini's isn't even in the ballpark, it's a bland cheese pie.

For me, Johnnie's crust wins at the edges, I really like that fat chewy bite, but it's so close that I spread my business between them and Fat Tomato. With the recent improvements at Pizzarito, I'll have to give them a try now and then as well. Three good pizzas in range, what a problem.

Without doubt Johnnie's access is easier, FT's lot is tiny and crammed, and you almost always have to turn right on Washington and escape via Redwood, if you're headed back down towards the sea. Heading out of Johnnie's eastbound there's no light, but you can cruise around the block to get to the Abbot Kinney intersection.

Ed: Here's my latest large, what an absolute beauty. When I dream of pizza, this is what I see.

By the way, it's now official, DP, the reigning expert on Evil Corp Tube, has declared this type to be a "football" pizza. Okay.

Ed ed: I tried one with meatballs, and as you'd expect, it didn't come with golf balls sitting on top, there were half round slices (see below, on the right). I asked them to be restrained with the topping, and they complied, it was perfect. Check it out, very good, nice flavors.

Triple ed: Confirmed in two trips now, the crust is thinner. Could be a fluke of course, just how the master was rolling dough that day, we'll see. Does it matter? Not at all, less flour down the pie hole is a good thing. It might be thin enough to rate as a NY, but the cheese and sauce load probably rules that out, and makes it floppy. Again, I could care less about flop. Interesting that I observed FT across Lincoln also reducing the crust thickness. I could tell by the heft of the box before I even bit. Economics? Maybe, but as I said, it's a positive eating...

I have ordered from Johnnies more times than I can count and always get a calzone. Tonight we ordered a couple calzones and when I took a bite it didn’t taste right. The ricotta was sour. We tried the other calzone and the same thing - just sour and a weird after taste. We called the restaurant and were told they would pick it up so the chef can taste it because he didn’t think it was bad. Why would lie? It’s not like we wanted to keep the food and a refund. We just wanted what we ordered but with cheese that hadn’t spoiled. The manager or the chef was so rude. We asked them if they would be sending new ones or just taking the old ones. Keep in mind we ordered our food at 6:26pm and it was now 7:30. They said yes they would send new calzones at the same time. Well that’s not what happened. The driver picked up the calzone and said he’d be back with the new ones in a bit. All told it took two-hours to get our food. They also didn’t address the ricotta issue but when we cut into the calzone - they basically didn’t use any ricotta - it was all mozzarella! We could barely chew through it - had two bites and threw it out. I will post the photos for you. I don’t know if the MDR location is under new management or an off night but on every level this was a fail that could’ve been handled so much better. They lost a very...

This place is just the most awful pizza place I have ever ordered from. We just ordered from them and the order came wrong. I called. They did not care and told me to deal with the delivery people. I called the delivery people. They told me they delivered what Johnnie's told them to (they had the instructions etc.) and I would have to deal with Johnnies.

I called Johnnies back. I spoke with the manager. I told him the order was wrong, it was not the delivery services fault and I would be willing to drive there to have it fixed or get a refund. He said he was too busy and would not do anything to help me. He was so mean. He said something was delivered and we have already charged you for it and we will not change anything. I asked him if he was willing to lose a customer over this. His response was , "I don't care." He hung up. My husband tried calling and he hung up on him.

The place is somewhat clean, I have been there before and should have known better.

The pizza has never been good, but like an idiot I thought we could give them another chance. So, that is on me. Their pasta is terrible.

The order that did come was burned and not eatable. The pasta was over cooked and cold. All of it went in the trash.

I am so done with them. Please don't go there. You...