Pizzeria Mozza will change the way you see pizza. Everything from the crispy crust to the thoughtful toppings contribute to an unforgettable experience. Whatever you get will be delicious, but quite a few dishes went above and beyond.
From the non-pizza selection, the Mozza Caprese is hands down the best. The silky fresh house burrata is beyond description and is topped with their delicious pesto and deeply ripened off-the-vine tomatoes.
Make sure to get a whole tomato with each forkful, along with a little of all the other components, and sit back as your first bite explodes (literally) with caprese perfection.
Some other notable starters:
Chicken Livers, Capers, Parsley, and Guanciale.
Fried Squash Blossoms with Ricotta.
In the pizza arena, the crust reigns supreme, allowing each pizza to champion all others.
Mozza has the best brick-oven crust I've ever had.
With some of the pizzas, the crust gets a little soggy in the middle (i.e., the mouthwatering Fennel Sausage, Panna, Red Onion and Scallions pizza), but other than that, the pizza dough comes out warm, blistered, and crispy.
White Anchovy, Tomato, and Hot Chilies.
Squash Blossoms, Tomato, and Burrata.
The Bianca with Fontina, Mozzarella, Sottocenere, and Sage pizza is my personal favorite.
In other words, it's a gourmet three-cheese pizza topped with lightly fried sage. This pizza ends up looking like a pretty basic pizza, but with just the right amount of salt, and just the right amount of cheese sandwiched between crispy crust and brittle sage, Mozza accomplishes what very few pizzerias can. I imagine if the famed three blind mice stumbled upon these three cheeses, they would regain their sight.
After mourning the death of another pizza from Mozza, I have yet to leave without getting their Butterscotch Budino topped with Maldon Sea Salt and accompanied by Rosemary Pine Nut Cookies. The budino will leave you swimming in a salty sea of butterscotch bliss. If you love Maldon Sea Salt, as you should, be sure to ask for some extra.
The budino stands fine on its own, but sprinkling a couple more shavings on each spoonful never hurt anyone.
They also tend to have homemade gelato, like this Fig Gelato, on the menu.
Mozza's interior is not what you would expect from the dreary intersection of Highland and Melrose. Walking into Mozza is a retreat from a noisy, smoggy, and flattened Los Angeles. Though there is no visual access to the outside world, light seems to hit Mozza's smartly designed interior in all the right places.
Service is always efficient and spot on here. If you're going without a reservation, be prepared to wait a bit for bar seating to open up. Otherwise, make a reservation two weeks in advance just to be safe. The best way to ensure quick seating, other than making a reservation, is to get there fifteen minutes before opening and wait in the line of bright-eyed patrons looking to get their fix of Mozza.
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 297-0101
GET: Mozza Caprese; Bianca with Fontina, Mozzarella, Sottocenere, and Sage; Butterscotch Budino with an Extra Side of Maldon Sea Salt.
