A great slice and booking advice at Pizzeria Bianco
Pizzeria Bianco opened up on DTLA’s The Row last year (2022), but the original location is what put Tucson, Arizona on the pizza map. Like us, you may have rolled your eyes at Tucson being hailed as the home of the ‘best pizza in America,’ but after they opened up a location in LA and shortly after it was awarded a Bib, we had to see what the fuss was about.
We went for Janice’s birthday lunch (not to be confused with her birthday dinner, see the Flavors from Afar post for that.) Could we have made a reservation? Apparently yes, but the website wasn’t super user friendly and we ended up just walking in… to an hour+ wait.
The eye rolling continued. Over an hour wait for a pizza place from Tucson?
As far as the Cheap Girls go, this appeared to be the thing we aim to avoid: a scene.
After some oysters and a drink next door to tide us over we sat to try the legendary pizza, seen in everything from Netflix documentaries to Vogue.
And what was the verdict?
Holy. shit.
We were pretty stunned. Through those first few bites the only sound that came from our table were our breaths, feverishly trying to cool down the scalding, melty pizza while simultaneously shoving it into our mouths.
What we ordered:
Margherita Pizza (being slaughtered above): The true measure of a good pizza spot is its Margherita Pizza. The purest, truest form of all pizzas. The crust was crispy enough to stand up without folding the slice, but still maintained a delightful, doughy chew. The fresh mozzarella tasted like an Italian grandma was in the back pulling it herself (who knows, could’ve been the case.) And the sauce - THE SAUCE - it tasted more like tomatoes than tomatoes themselves. Bright, acidic, sweet, fresh, and utterly delicious.
Wise Guy: This is a white pie topped with wood-fire roasted onions and fennel sausage. The absence of the tomato sauce let the other simple ingredients shine - and the wood fire oven you could see at the back of the restaurant gave the onions and sausage the most wonderful charred flavor. Truly, we were speechless.
Cost: Pizza’s run $25-30 and we ordered two for three people.
Was it the best pizza in LA? Undoubtedly.
Was it worth the hour+ wait? Sure, if you’ve got the time, but we recommend just making a reservation.
Was it the best pizza in America? We’re definitely willing to keep eating to find out for you guys…
