Pitfire Pizza helped to pave the way for LA’s current wood-fired fast casual trend. The company has slowed its expansion over the years but still holds a commanding presence across Southern California, including at the North Hollywood flagship location, complete with large outdoor patio.

Chef Christopher Keyser and the Union team have crafted another red sauce hit in Pasadena, though this one relies on pizza instead of pasta. For big, blistered-edged pies (with some cheese shaved around the rim for good measure) done by the city’s best culinary team, U Street is it.

Pizza fans in Pasadena love the Luggage Room, the casual spot just off the city’s Central Park known for its deeply burnished crusts and inventive flavors.

Chef David Wilcox is turning out what may be LA’s best pizzas right now, all while keeping his customer base informed on safety protocols, larger restaurant issues, and the future of his own place via Instagram. The honest approach has been working, with fans flocking to the place so often they’ve actually expanded hours during this difficult time.

Tomato Pie fans love to gush about the delivery specialist’s homey appeal. The place feels like every delivery pizza option from every hometown in America, but done with a NY slice sensibility, higher quality ingredients, and a few flavor twists like putting Syracuse-style hot wing sauce on top.

Made by actual former Michigander and longtime executive chef about town Ryan Ososky, this Detroit-style spot has not only held on during the pandemic, it has grown to become perhaps the best version of the now-saturated genre anywhere in LA. Stop by the shared space at Phorage in West Hollywood for a crispy-edged, extra-cheesy pie.

Sotto veteran Daniel Cutler oversees this pizza and small plates restaurant with wife and general manager Caitlin Cutler. With inventive pizzas boasting supple but charred crusts and levain bread with a wonderfully brown crust, Ronan is a haven for those who love carbohydrates.

Prime Pizza has become LA’s de facto slice joint. The place not only does simple thin round pies, it also works square and Sicilian style pizzas daily, and with a location now open in Burbank, their reach is bigger than ever.

The wood-fired pizzas at chef Zach Pollack’s Cosa Buona live up to the hype — charred black crusts that give way to toppings ranging from classic margherita to Hawaiian. With its puffy, blistered ring and casual demeanor, some find these everyday pizzas to be a better approximation of traditional delivery-style pies.

It’s hard to think of a more photogenic pizza than the square Detroit-style pies from Apollonia’s on Wilshire. These dense, expertly cheesy pizzas are filled with crunch, cheese, and plenty of sauce.

The late Jonathan Gold made some hefty claims about Pizzana, comparing chef Daniele Uditi's neo-Neapolitan pies to the best in the world. Given the restaurant's naturally fermented dough and wood-fired oven, it’d be difficult to argue otherwise.

Lodge Bread still does new school Neapolitan pies during the day, but now the team has added naturally fermented New York City-style pizzas at night. From Wednesday to Sunday in the evenings, the large 18 inch pizzas come with potato and leek, classic pepperoni, and wild mushrooms.

Jackson Kalb’s approachable Italian restaurant in Venice has fantastic California plates and housemade pasta, but the pizza is a sleeper pick. Kalb has a bit of irreverent take on pizza, with thin pies that pack on nduja and scallions or pepperoni, jalapeno, pineapple, and fresno chile.