A New Deep Dish Pizza Contender Opens on Melrose on Black Friday

A quiet new pizza place is about to make big noise along Melrose, as Blackbird Pizza Shop is set to open this Friday offering whole thin-crust pies, craft beer and wine, and that ever-elusive deep dish pizza.

There are only a handful of places offering deep dish pizza around Los Angeles, including Masa of Echo Park, Dough Box, and Hollywood Pies. Rance’s Chicago has expanded from Costa Mesa to Long Beach to a new space near USC as well, but that’s about it.

And now there is Blackbird, an upstart option with a long legacy thanks to chef/owner Luis Ulloa. He’s an industry vet that has spent time under names like Jean-Georges and Michael Mina, and was for a while working for one of the founders of Little Star Pizza up in San Francisco. Now he’s relocated to Melrose Avenue, taking over a long-dormant boutique clothing store space wedged between the defunct Greenspan’s Grilled Cheese and EAK Ramen.

Ulloa and sous chef Alex Greenberg won’t serve slices at Blackbird, and won’t open with plans for delivery, either. Instead, customers can swing through the mid-sized shop for whole pies (thin crust as well as deep dish), a collection of meatballs, and a salad or two. There’s also a small on-tap craft beer offering (and much more available in bottles and cans) as chosen by Drew Clapp, as well as a few surprising natural wine picks. The opening menu is below.

Blackbird Pizza Shop officially opens for business on Friday, keeping room for walk-ins only. Expect dinner hours only to start, with an extension into lunch (and possibly late night) down the line.

Blackbird Pizza Shop
7459 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA

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