Prizzi’s Piazza

I have been going to Prizzi’s for about 6 years now. I first went when they were located on Franklin. The Franklin establishment was kind of a pain because there was always so much traffic, and you had to pay for valet since there was rarely any street parking. Although I liked the aesthetics of the other location, I’ve resolved that they made a wise decision when they decided to move. The new location is larger, and there’s ample street parking. The overall service at Prizzi’s is great.
Now to the food! I have never had a bad meal at Prizzi’s. Everything is delicious and beautifully prepared. First and foremost, the garlic breadsticks are amazing. Dip them in the marinara sauce and you’re in heaven! My all time favorite is the Pesce e Pesce. If you like fish you must try this dish. The tilapia melts in your mouth and the orange reduction sauce is to die for. My second favorite is now the Penne al forno… it’s penne pasta with chicken and mushrooms baked in (I think) a vodka marinara sauce topped with cheese. It’s served straight out of the oven so it’s piping hot! Delish…
You just can’t go wrong with Prizzi’s.

Stay AWAY from this place, They are CROOKS!
I read the Unilocal reviews for this place and couldn’t wait to try their deep dish pizza. I phone ordered a 16″ with 5 toppings, which came out to be about $ 30. I had to park several blocks off of Franklin. When I got back to my car, I looked at the pie and I was shocked to find a 12″ pie hiding inside a large pizza box. I tape measured it, I was totally screwed and I didn’t feel like walking all the way back again.
Ok OK maybe this is some fantastic pie.
WRONG! The pie was very ordinary, nothing special about it. In fact if Pizza Hut or Dominos made deep dish, this is what it would probably taste like. The crust was pretty pedestrian also. Everything about this pizza was bland. I can’t recommend this place, especially if they intend to SCREW their customers.
I’ll give this pizza 2.5 stars for the taste and ONE STAR for being totally screwed by their dishonest service. An average of 2.0 and I am going to round down. ONE STAR!
The best pizza in SoCal is still Tony’s Little Italy Pizza in Placentia Well worth the drive.
Update:
I reviewed this restaurant several years ago and some how they moved my review to the Burbank location, which is now closed. So I am re-​posting my review under the correct address. I don’t know how they were able to change my review to the other location.
Also it says I am the first reviewer, this is also wrong. There were many more reviews here before I came along. But I am glad to give them ONE STAR which they deserve.
SEE Prizzi, the consumer does have some recourse and don’t bother trying to make amends. I’ll NEVER go back to your place of ill repute.
Thank You Unilocal!
2^nd Update
I’ve noticed that the Burbank location is «unclosed». They have managed to reopen under the name, Prizzi.

I feel obliged to write this review eventhough the Franklin location is now closed.
When I was seeing a girlfriend who was staying in Hollywood, she would always disdain california thin crust style. She would marvel about how good Chicago deep dish was. (She is from the midwest). We went through a lot of pizzas in our history, ranging from Pizza slut to the gourmet style. It always came back to the argument of deep dish Chicago style. I was challenged to find a real one… and my search led me to Prizzi one day.
I did read everyones’ reviews on Unilocal.It sounded like I found my Holy Grail. I was so confident I found it. I nudged my friend and said… I think I won the pizza challenge.
Oh? We shall see. Winner buys dessert.
We shall see. I will be back!
I already ordered the pizza pie in advance since I knew it would take a bit to be ready. I called ahead and order a veggie deep dish.
When I walked in, I said I was there for pickup. The lady at the front smiled and asked… Jin? Ever had one of our pies?
No
She just smiled bigger and winked.
No sooner than later a server came out from the back holding a pizza box… WITH two hands.
Get the fuck out. Drama queen. It can’t be that weighty.
WHOA.
I didn’t even want to look at it. I wanted to save that triumph for when I got back to the apartment. I just sniffed the aroma through the box.
It was a satisfying victory when the midwest girl opened the box and her jaw just dropped. She regained some composure and just said. whateves… it doesn’t look bad. It looks better than most we’ve found.
Sadly, I resorted to using a fork and knife (Damn you, Numero Uno uprbringing!) She just laughed and used two hands.
The pizza was fantastic. Great balance of textures and flavors all layered in that thick slice. Nothing was overly done to water down the taste or structure of the pizza slice. I could understand why the chicago style has such loyal fans.
We barely finished our one slice and saved the rest for later. Such a marvelous meal. Big thumbs up to the Hollywood location. I am sure Prizzi will do well in Burbank. I know I will venture out there if I need a real chicago style pizza.

Just discovered this place last month and now I find out it’s CLOSING!!! Say it isn’t so Prizzi’s Piazza! Such amazing food! And the pizza! Oh the pizza! I prefer the regular style to the deep dish, but man is it GOOD! I’m a veggie, and I recommend just the basic cheese with kalamata olives, but but go nuts with whatever you like, it’s guaranteed to be good. The salads are also fab. I like one called the Miste Verdi (or something close to that). Oy, and the breadsticks, they’ve got these goddamn incredible breadsticks! I will pine for your breadsticks Prizzi’s! Why must you close when I was falling so hard for you! Just lower your prices a smidge, and I promise I will bring you 20 more regulars! ugh. It pains me to even write this review when I know how little time we have left together…
Seriously people, eat up while you can, and PLEASE beg them to stay while you’re at it, this place is truly awesome! I will miss it terribly. :(

What the frack? This review is for 2x deep dishes. The reviews totally made me think this place was godly good. The pictures are great and I got exactly that too but the smell of the pizza was weird, it was soggy with oil, no crunch, DENSE, salty, sesame seeds on the crust, not enough cheese or sauce on the meat lovers and couldn’t really tell if sausages were IN the meat lovers because it was mixed up with the ground beef. I could not eat more than half a slice of the meat lovers and 1 slice of the Sicilian with 2 cans of 7up to break up the oil. I AM comparing it to other deep dishes that I’ve had over the years and this one is in it’s own category of pizzas.

Nice little pizza place on Franklin near grower.
I wish I could of tried the Sicilian pizza but the guys ordered the deep dish instead. I don’t know what a deep dish pizza should look like but this one had too much bread, if that’s how its suppose to be then I guess it was good, lol.
I ordered the wedge salad which was interesting, everything was separated on my plate, I had to mix it. I didn’t enjoy the purple onions though. It was alright.
Now the jambalaya and pesto pasta were ABSOLUTELY DELECTABLE.
EXCELLENT.
Great servers.
The white wine sangria’s were weenies, they tasted like juice but the southern comfort drink my friend was drink, will surely put hair on your chest, lol.
Overall experience was good, I will come back here.
Pastas start at $ 12 so do pizzas
wedge was $ 8
drinks were on special that day so they were $ 5.

good lord the sicilian deep dish pizza is heavenly
the crust is really good with sesame seeds and it gives it a distinctive flavor
the toppings are really fresh and yummy
add sun dried tomatoes and mushrooms to the deep dish and BAM!
perfection.
got an early birthday lunch/​meal thing from my friends and i’m sure glad he took me!
good prompt service
smack dabbed in a hipster area but at least the chow is good
that pizza is a monster but so worth the carb overload and food coma…
go there!

It is a pity, I like the food here. Some of their pastas are wonderful. This would be a 4 star review if this one thing did not exist:
The Bro Dog, Frat Boy waiter.
This guy is loud, obnoxious, rude and I hate him. The past 2 times I have been there he basically ignores us, and chats up his equally annoying female friends who chain-​smoke and squeal loudly about hideously mundane events in their lives. This dude screams «FUCK YOU!» playfully at them, while they screech just to screech. I feel like I am at a zoo, just watching animals try to one-​up each other with volume. Now, I swear like a sailor, but when I am paying 20 bucks for a pasta dish, I expect a little bit of ambience, and respect.
The first time I encountered the King of The Bro’s my boyfriend and I were on a nice date, and there were no seats inside so we sat outside. We chose a corner that was secluded so we could enjoy our meal. Nobody else was out there. Then, two girls come and sit down next to us, okay whatever. THEN, bro is on his break, and decides to sit next to them, blocking the pathway for our waiter to get us our food. The waiter had to GO OUT ON THE STREET to serve us our meal, because his horrible co-​worker was too busy chain smoking (and blowing it right in our faces) and babbling on about inane facts of his bland life to these two females.
This guy is downright disrespectful of the clientele at this otherwise great and classy restaurant (it can be a little slow, but I forgive that), He has ruined my dining experience on more than three occasions. If I wanted to go to a Frat House, I WOULD GO TO A FRAT HOUSE.
I am seriously not going to go back until this douchebag is fired. I actually walk by and see if he is working, and if he is, I go to Birds. Too bad, the rest of the staff are super nice.
Thanks for ruining my dining experience AGAIN tonight, BRO.
(and I am not the only one– I know a couple people who will not eat here because of their experiences with him)

I usually go to Bird’s which is next door, but I decided to check out Prizzi’s. I was craving Chicken Parmesan, and theirs was ok. The bad thing was that it was $ 18! I guess they need to pay their rent… Anyway, it’s a cool little place with a small bar too.
Parking is probably impossible, I don’t know where people park.

I have had delivery from this place a couple of times, and it’s pricier than I would normally spend on delivery, but also much better than delivery I would normally get.
A large deep dish pizza with 3 quality toppings will range from about $ 24-​$ 29. I would rather spend the extra money to have them bring me their delicious deep dish pizza than call up Pizza Hut. Absolutely worth every extra penny.
I would also recommend the Garlic Stix. The bread is more of a vehicle for butter and garlic so I wouldn’t recommend it unless you want to be indulgent, but its a real treat.
The Burrata salad is pretty awesome too. If your idea of a salad contains lettuce, this isn’t for you. If you are open minded enough to consider delicious cheese and meat a salad, then order this one. Don’t let the price scare you away, you are not ordering their delivery because it’s cheap, your’e ordering their delivery because it’s one of the best meals you can get brought to you.
The only thing I would not recommend is the Caesar salad. They use fancy shaved cheese on it, but other than that is it really nothing special.

I bookmarked this place because of Craig R’s review. He made the pizza sound so amazing and the picture he took instantly hooked me. I was waiting for the just right time to try this place and thought today would be it… but BLAST IT ALL TO HE! my meeting ran late and I had to tell my coworkers to go with the vendor without me. It was such a bummer but duty called.
Luckily, I work with super awesome people because my coworkers and our vendor, brought me back 3 slices of the best looking deep dish pizza I have seen in a long while and I just went to Chicago a few months ago! Suffice to say, this pizza could give those Chicago guys a run for their money!
Anyhow, the pizza slice was cold but alas, I just so happen to be a girl who doesn’t mind a cold pizza so I went for my first bite. Seeing as the slice was way too big to just shove in my mouth, I took a knife and fork and cut me my first bite.
For being cold it was one helluva pizza pie! I can’t imagine what it would taste like fresh out of the oven and at the restaurant?! Suffice to say, I gobbled that pizza slice up in a hurry! I can only hope that there is still one slice left in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch! Oh pretty please let it still be there!
EN-​JOY-​ABLE is all I can say! I will definitely return for some more!

I’ve lived in the neighborhood for two years and have given Prizzi’s three chances, hoping that it would live up to the over-​the-​top reviews on Unilocal.Unfortunately, it has disappointed me every time. On two of my three visits (including tonight) the service has been horrible. In each case the restaurant was not full, yet we still had to wait an unreasonably long time to order drinks and then even longer while the glasses of wine sat on the bar, our servers apparently too distracted to fetch and deliver them the 10 feet to our table. On both occasions we felt invisible and ignored.
And the pasta? Very ordinary; nothing special. Passable, but I wanted more. So disappointing. I will not be back. Maybe I should have tried the pizza.

Our drive to Prizzi’s started as so with Hugo C. saying, «You girls need to get off Craig R’s *insert explicit word here*
If you’re not Unilocal friends with him yet well you ought be. Send him a friend add now and tell him Ciara G. sent you.
My man Craig R. knows his EATS! Congrats to him on his ⁸⁄₁₇ ROTD! To me, Craig is what Unilocaling is all about. A good chunk of my bookmarks are «Craig R» Unilocaled places. I’ve got San Diego places, now a Solvang cupcake place, San Fran places and many local spots.
I have been wanting deep dish pizza for what seems like forever now. I heard about Masa via Unilocal and bookmarked it immediately. I have even been tempted to order the frozen version of Gino’s East or Lou Malnati’s online as I was pretty much that jonesing for the deep dish pie. Then a few weeks ago Craig uploaded pic from his Prizzi’s Piazza night and I was SOLD! Drool rolling down the side of my mouth as I Unilocaled in bed at the wee hours of the morning sending Craig compliments of «write! Write! write!»
So the time finally came for our deep dish pizza night. Isabel F. was awesome enough to purchase the living social deal ($ 15 for $ 30 worth of food) for Prizzi’s as well as called ahead and scored us an 8:30pm resie on a Friday night. To the smirk face dismay of Hugo C. we did the «Craig R» and ordered our pie as soon as we sat down and waiter Rob came by.
Large of course (I texted Craig in advance earlier in the day to see what size he ordered and how many slices) topped actually filled with pepperoni and mushrooms. As Craig R. said…“Holy Deep Deliciousness, Batman! This was one awesome pie and totally satisfied my deep dish craving. Cheesy, saucy, piles of toppings encased in a mound of just the right amount of doughy to crispy thick ass crust. Loved the added touch of the sesame seeds on the outside.
Garlic Breadsticks. ANOTHER MUST! Get the large order (4) as the small order of 2 would just be a tease. Probably the best breadsticks I have ever had. Über soft, hot, garlicky and sprinkled with parmesan cheese. YUM-​O! Side of Meatball too please! Waiter «Ooo those are good they are stuffed with cheese in the center». Me: «What tha!!!» SOLD! Verdict… Delicious! Round, juicy, meaty, cheese filled yummyness. Not to mention that their marinara sauce is also lip smacking good. Isa started with a Caesar Salad and I started with a Wedge Salad. My Wedge was outstanding! Out of this world blue cheese dressing, plenty of blue cheese crumbles, so ripe grape heirloom tomatoes and perfectly pickled red onions. The only thing it was missing was thick cracked black pepper. Mmm mmm mmm that was a good wedge salad.
No room and with a venture to Donut Man on the horizon, we just could not pass up the dessert special for the night which was Nutella Filled Fried Ravioli. They were more like Nutella filled fried wontons. They were good bc they were filled with nutella but they were nothing special. I would rather eat another slice of deep dish pie.
In the end our awesome meal came out to a reasonable total of $ 63 (pre coupon). Not bad at all as the food really was top notch. A random fact… if you like crushed red pepper flakes on your pie, HC and I both agreed that theirs stood out as pretty stinkin fantastic.
Craig R’s I bow to you again with a great eats find and your awesome review for Prizzi’s completely lived up to the hype and warranted this well deserved 5 star review by me and a HUGE «Holy Deep Deliciousness, Craig R! That was some amazing Pizza»

Approved! For all your Italian cravings!
First and foremost – GET THE BREADSTIX. Some of the best I’ve ever had. And for 2 people the half order is more than enough.
The fried mozzarella balls were pretty good but maybe a tad rich for even my cheese fetish. Might be a good dish to split 4 ways.
The butternut squash ravioli was top end. But at $ 16 it should be – especially with no salad.
Came here on the ‘living socal’ deal where you get $ 30 for $ 15. Pretty nice deal. Would definitely be back again to for the breadstix and maybe try some of their pizza.

HUGE deep dish pizza! When the waiter drops off the pizza, he challenges you to pick it up and see how heavy it is. We got the veggie lovers, which included grilled eggplant, my favorite! Tons of veggies, heaping mounds of cheese and tomato sauce, on a hearty crust.
Prizzi’s is in a fun neighborhood in Hollywood, and inside the crowd is buzzing and fun. If you can, get seated in the upper level where you can look out over the whole restaurant, which feels almost like a restored barn.
The service was great and all the food is good here, not just the pizza. We got pesto pasta, grilled salmon, broccoli, and sauteed spinach, which was great!
Awesome food, fun crowd, warm and helpful staff, good wine, cold beer, make this a neighborhood favorite!

Sunday… 5pm. We thought we were very early for dinner, but the restaurant had quite a few patrons already. Luckily, we were seated quickly and didn’t have any trouble getting our order in.
Since my future brother-​in-​law was craving deep dish pizza (he’s been watching Man vs. Food) we ordered a veggie deep dish, but added meat. HA! We’re nuts like that. We also added goat cheese. Hell, if we’re going to consume a billion calories, might as well make them count. We got their garlic breadsticks which have been quite heavily reviewed here already. They were good. After one, I said, «I’m full.» And really, I was. But that didn’t stop me from eating a slice of the deep dish. Really good. Gooey cheese, fresh eggplant, yummy pepperoni. I was impressed. My only other deep dish pizza experiences were in Michigan at PizzaPapalis.
The deep dish took a while. I think from ordering til it arrived was about 15 – 20 minutes? Wasn’t a big deal though. Had time to digest about 1 bite of breadstick.
We couldn’t pass on dessert, because plate after plate passing by was too tempting. We went with the brownie con panna and it was nice.
Service = ace

the garlic breadsticks are from another world, they’re that good. I always have weird cravings for them and will go to prizzi’s just for these garlic breadsticks.
I have had their pasta, and it was ok. Besides the garlic sticks, my favorite item has to be the caprese sandwich with those delicious garlic parmesan fries. My tastebuds are just watering at the thought of this perfect combination.

It’s a Friday night, things are humming on Franklin. Friend and I stop by at Birds and put our name on the list. Ten minute wait – not bad – but it’s loud, really loud, shout at each other loud. We reconsider our decision and walk up and down the block, peruse our options.
We’re not in the mood for sushi. La Poubelle looks crowded and tony, one step above what we’re wearing. Nestled in between sits Prizzi’s, patio tables strewn with martini glasses, full and empty. «This one serves liquor,» I say, and we enter. There is no wait and they stay open until midnight, we’re told. Friend and I share a glance: sold. This place is quieter than Birds and our friends Frank and Dean are there, too, crooning overhead.
We sit, thick menus put in our hands, an even thicker one placed on the table between us – these are the drinks. I settle in and glance around at the coupled-​off tables on either side. A man and woman on a date; two men together, one looking intensely at the other. I think at first that they maybe are together, but then their conversation turns to God and girls and I realize, oh maybe not.
The menu is standard Italian fare, all antipasti, pizze, secondi and dolci. All a bit expensive for what I fear is a lack of imagination. The cocktail list is riddled with cheesy flavored liquor, «x-​rated» passion fruit liqueur. I look across the room to the bartender, who looks like he could be an extra in a Cameron Crowe movie and suddenly I feel skeptical. Could we reclaim our space at Birds? Surely it’s been ten minutes …
Across from me, friend has her face buried in her menu. She is hungry. «What looks good?» she asks. Lost in thought, I realize I haven’t even decided what to order. Quickly, I suggest the prosciutto and melon appetizer and side of garlic fries. She nods. «How about a pizza? We can split it,» she says, deciding on deep dish-​style, ground Italian sausage on top.
We snicker over the drink menu. At first I decide upon a Hendrick’s martini, but then see the Old Fashioned. «It’s what Don Draper drinks,» I say, before scanning the room for anyone who might happen to be our waiter, to no avail. I sigh, gear up for a hassle, but before my heart can drop another notch, a man, large and friendly with a pad in his hand, materializes before us. He introduces himself as Mark or Rob, I can’t remember, and takes our order before disappearing again.
Our drinks arrive, the first sip of whiskey heady. We chat, make eyes at a table of boys on the patio. Things are looking up at Prizzi’s, and I take a moment to admire the design – slick and modern, sharp angles and stone and metal. No red-​and-​white-​checkered table cloths here. No straw-​edged bottles of chianti, no fake grapevines dangling from the walls, no murals of Tuscany. I suspect they are not the original tenant.
Food starts to arrive. The prosciutto and melon and the fries. The portions are enormous and we eat slowly. The melon is fresh and sweet, the cured meat difficult to cut it is sliced so thin. Little pearls of mozzarella stud the plate. The fries are flavorful but mediocre, cooked a little too long, past crisp to brown. But we are hungry and we eat; we do not complain. I wonder where the pizza will fit when it comes, glasses are moved around and the ketchup squeeze bottle pushed to one side.
Mark/​Rob presents it to us and announces that he’s wanted to try this dish since he started working here. I offer him a slice, but he demurs, says he has an upcoming class reunion for which we wants to «look better than everyone else.» Friend and I have no such qualms and I portion out one gooey, cheesy slice onto each of our plates. The fries and the fruit are forgotten as we dig in to the greasy, bready pizza, thick with cheese and sausage and sauce. It is divine. The crust is crisp, even the bottom, the ideal texture.
When our table is satisfactorally decimated, Mark/​Rob comes back and asks if we’re in the mood for dessert. I am not, but I hold up my empty glass and say, «I’m in the mood for another one of these, though.» Friend orders one too, and I jab my straw through the cherry at the bottom of her empty glass before it’s whisked off the table. The older gentleman who seated us comes to clear our table and we explain that yes, we’d like our leftovers to go, but could he please divide the spoils into two even servings – one for each of us. He nods, amused, maybe annoyed, and returns several minutes later with two bags of even size in-​hand.
We figure out the bill and pay. I consider the portion size and decide the prices are justified, the bill topping out just under $ 75 – not bad for three dishes and four drinks.
We get up to leave and as we make our way past the block-​long line that has formed in front of the Upright Citizens Brigade, I look back and try and find some signage. Where had we just been? I wonder, fishing my receipt out of my pocket. Prizzi’s Piazza, the slip reads. Ah, what a great little place.

I have been on a long journey to search for the best Chicago style deep dish pizza every since I moved to Los Angeles.
I love everything about this town, but I miss my Chicago pizza. I was in the elevator last week and I said — I lived in the Mid-​west for 8 years and there is nothing good about mid west… sucky weather, nothing to do, few food options, but MAN! I MISS CHICAGO PIZZA. The lady in the elevator said — Yep, I grew up in IL and unfortunately I’ll have to agree with you.
Ok — I still like Giordano’s pizza a tiny little bit better, good enough for now.

Uhmm… The pizza was RIDICULOUSLY good!!!
I ordered the Cheese + Pepperoni, and just WOW…
The only downside was I had to wait 20 minutes for the take-​out pizza. Otherwise it’s all good in the hood!