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pizzeria mozza…vegan style!
14March 6th, 2009LA restaurants, pizzeria mozzabasically any foodie will tell you that THE place to get a pizza in los angeles is pizzeria mozza. the sister restaurant to the upscale italian eatery osteria mozza has been open for years and it is still nearly impossible to get a reservation. mozza’s thin-crusted and crispy italian-style pizzas are so popular that every day before the restaurant even opens, several wannabe customers line up outside, hoping to grab a seat at the bar.
being somewhat obsessed with pizza, of course i’ve always had an interest in trying out mozza. but the thought of fighting with the crowds and dealing with the whole scene for some “highly modified to be made vegan” pizza was a bit of a turn off. plus, i’m just so used to big, take-out, new york style pies. the personal-sized expensive pizzas served at mozza with toppings i can’t pronounce all seemed a little to fancy for my comfort zone. luckily, i was jolted out of my reticence by my vegan friend and fellow pizza fiend who called me one day and exclaimed, “holy shit, dude! we gotta go to mozza! i have been dying to try that place and i just got confirmation their sauce and crust are vegan! what are you doing tomorrow?” we headed over to mozza the next day, lined up outside 15 minutes before they opened, and just managed to get a seat at the bar. what followed was epic pizza.
rapini, cherry tomatoes, olives & chiles $14 (no anchovies or cheese!)
we ordered a couple pizzas and then swapped slices, and my friend definitely chose the better of the two. she got the rapini, cherry tomatoes, anchovies, olives & chiles…sans anchovies and sans cheese. when the bartender heard her modifications, he asked if we were vegans and then assured us our food would be handled with different utensils. excellent.
the pizza tasted delicious without cheese and came with so many fine vegetables, the mozzarella wasn’t missed. the succulent rapini and and tiny tomatoes were perfectly prepared and sitting on top of the most amazing crisp yet tender crust. thin in the middle and bubbly on the edges, the crust was seriously out of this world. baked in an italian-inspired wood-burning oven, it’s miles away from any pizza i’ve ever tried.
tomato, extra virgin olive oil & sicilian oregano $10
the pizza i chose was a bit more boring, but i loved it all the same. oddly enough the pizza you see pictured above came as is, with no modifications. it’s naturally cheeseless and topped with only tomato, extra virgin olive oil and sicilian oregano. the oregano was phenomenal, but i couldn’t help but laugh when the waiter plunked the plate down in front of us and my friend was all, “DUDE! it looks like there’s WEED on your pizza!” and indeed it did. haha, it tasted great though…nothing like marijuana, i swear! the lack of toppings gave me the opportunity to really taste the amazing crust on its own and reaffirmed my feeling that this is the best fucking crust i’ve ever eaten.
while the seating at the bar is kind of tight, it was rather enjoyable. i would definitely go to mozza again and line up for 15 minutes to snag a spot. they only have one beer on tap, but it’s a damn good one: moretti. if i didn’t have to get back to work, i could have definitely thrown back a few pints of this stuff.
insalata mista. $8
we also shared a small salad and while mixed greens tend to be kind of boring, in true mozza fashion this was exceptional. the leaves were perfectly coated with salt, pepper, and a light tangy dressing, making for total salad awesomeness. the bartender also brought us some complimentary long and crunchy bread sticks, the perfect accompaniment to damn good salad and beer.
because the pizzas are pretty big, way more than enough for one person, i ended up with half a pie to bring home with me. when i went to heat up my barren, tomato sauce covered crust that evening i decided to throw on some vegan cheese to see how it tasted. because this pizza crust was so special, i decided to use some of my all-time favorite vegan cheese on top…CHEEZLY. cheezly (winner of the best vegan cheese pizza challenge) is so hard to come by, and it’s expensive as fuck. i order online at veganessentials.com and use it only on special occasions. but hey, what is more special than having a pizza from mozza to reheat?
pizza from pizzeria mozza with melted cheezly!
mozza crust with melted cheezly on top is so amazing, i can’t even describe it to you. since becoming vegan, i’ve never tried anything that tasted so much like real cheese pizza. you are probably looking at 6 bucks worth of pizza in that picture, just for a tiny slice…but man oh man it was worth it. vegans, if you miss pizza, seriously give this a try. go to mozza, get the plain pizza to go, and cover it in cheezly when you get home. just a few seconds in the microwave got the cheese melted all over the crust, and it tasted in-fucking-credible.
thank you mozza and cheezly for returning the joy of pizza to my life.
and i also highly recommend dining in at pizzeria mozza. get there a little bit before they open, or a little bit before they close and you should be able to grab a coveted bar seat. seriously, this place deserves all the hype.
pizzeria mozza
641 n. highland avenue
los angeles, ca 90036323-297-0101
open everyday
Tags: cheezly, hollywood, italian, pizza
12pm – 12am
14 responses to “pizzeria mozza…vegan style!” 
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i went there pretty recently and was very happy with the already cheeseless pizza too.
plus they have this plate of olives that soooo good.
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My boyfriend and I have been trying to make reservations there forever – I guess you guys did it the right way!
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leonel March 6th, 2009 at 11:21
everything looks good. i know where im taking my girlfriend to dinner for now.
http://www.rawpeople.com/?utm_source=A&utm_medium=B&utm_campaign=C
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One of my omni friends dines there fairly regularly and I always figured I couldn’t possibly eat there. I’m so happy to know that I can!
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I’m so happy to hear that they’re friendly to the likes of us. Thanks for your good works!
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Jesse March 6th, 2009 at 23:04
All this talk of Cheese lately. Have you ever tried Dr. Cow Tree Nut Cheese? I think Native Foods is the only place to get it, when it’s in stock (worth calling ahead). Not so much pizza-friendly as it is cracker-friendly.
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To Allison above: I used to work at both Mozza’s as a reservationist. There’s a trick to it: Call 30 days to the date in advance of the day you want to dine at 10AM. on the dot. Hold until someone gets through the queue to your call, and then score a mighty two or four-top. No parties larger than 6, and even then, good luck on a decent hour sixer.
If you want a same day res, call between 2-3PM on any weekday. They confirm their table res. TWICE, and if the reserved party does not check in, they let tables go late in the day for last minute bookings. Sometimes you can score a choice slot.
And one more thing: Walking in to the Pizzeria’s bar area seems to be a good bet any weekday between 3 and 5 PM. That’s the ‘slow(er) period, after lunch rush/before dinner madness.
Hope that helps!
-http://twitter.com/LeeZett
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I love reading about your pizza adventures!!! 🙂
VEGAN PIZZA PARTY!!!!!! (almost 2 hours!)
XO
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I’m so glad you tried Mozza! You think you know what good pizza is, then you go there and are like, “WHAT PLANET IS THIS FROM???!?! And can I move there????”
Also, I had the eggplant caponata there one time, and it was pretty amazing (not 100% sure it was vegan though… I would check first). The white bean bruschetta is also amazing.
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I would like to thank Quarry Girl for bringing the joy of pizza back in to my life! For realz.
I’m still stuffed fatter than a Thanksgiving tofurky.
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they will also make the chopped salad minus the cheese and meat, which is really good too!
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I second the white bean bruschetta. phenominal. also the potatoes are amazing. they are twice fried and come with little fried chickpeas and sage. out of this world.
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Bianca March 9th, 2009 at 18:59
i agree it is the BEST BEST BEST crust i have ever eaten in my life. i’ve been five times since it’s been open but haven’t been recently and your pics reminded me i need to get there quickly.
brea March 6th, 2009 at 09:07