Pizzeria Bianco

Pizzeria Bianco at 53 South 6th Street in downtown Los Angeles is the California outpost of Chris Bianco's legendary Phoenix pizzeria — widely regarded as one of the finest pizza restaurants in the United States. Bianco opened the original Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix's Heritage Square in 1994 and spent three decades refining a wood-fired pizza philosophy built on exceptional ingredients: dough fermented slowly and cooked at very high heat in a wood-fired oven, house-made mozzarella from milk sourced from farms Bianco visits personally, San Marzano tomatoes imported from Italy, and toppings of unimpeachable provenance. The Los Angeles location, which opened in 2021 in a beautifully converted downtown space, brings the same philosophy to a California audience. The Wiseguy — a white pizza with wood-roasted onion, smoked mozzarella, and house-made fennel sausage — is the most iconic creation on the menu and the pizza most regulars order first. The Rosa — a white pizza with red onion, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and crushed pistachios — is the most distinctive and arguably the most brilliant, a combination that sounds improbable but achieves a balance of sweet, salty, and nutty that is completely harmonious. The Sonny Boy layers house-made soppressata and Castelvetrano olives over tomato in a preparation that balances richness with bright olive acidity. The crust at Pizzeria Bianco is the result of Bianco's own dough recipe, refined over decades: blistered and charred from the oven heat, with a chew and an open crumb that distinguishes his pizza from any other in Southern California. Pizzeria Bianco operates Wednesday through Sunday, dinner only, in downtown Los Angeles, California. Reservations through Resy are available and strongly recommended given the restaurant's reputation and limited capacity.