Judging solely by the number of times I’ve seen their striking boxes – which feature a green-tinted, meditating garden gnome that evokes a psychedelic trip as much as the mushroom window paintings adorning the building exterior – pop up in my Instagram feed, Altadena’s relative newcomer Side Pie portends not only the next trend in LA pizza-going, but also the next trend in home buying.
You see, for as much as Altadena has been touted as the latest Eagle Rock or Highland Park in the local press, a buyer’s market does not become a buyer’s market until there’s a vetted, beloved pizza joint to sustain it. What about the 2013-founded Pizza of Venice, a handful of blocks over on Fair Oaks, you ask? To which I say: Even if there’s a plain cheese pie – not to mention chicken wings – on the menu, any joint with Yelp photos dominated by beds of arugula and goat cheese is still squarely in the realm of speculative real estate.
Which is not to say that Side Pie, whose menu currently features a pizza called “Jah Mama Za,” a chicken empanada pie made in partnership with the drummer of the rock band TV on the Radio, doesn’t offer an ample touch of the high-falutin. There’s no question that more pairs of Doc Martens trot up to the order window here than do into Pizza Joe’s right down Lake Ave., the only remaining relic of another era of pizza-eating – and life – in Altadena. (No, I will not bring the Altadena-adjacent Domenico’s into this conversation on a technicality, but there will certainly be time to discuss their delightfully slutty red sauce on another day.)
What I mean to get at here is, despite the highly ’grammable aesthetic and premium $20-25 price point on most of the pizzas (which are medium-sized), Side Pie turns out a product that is perfect for bringing home to any nuclear family sporting a socially-inclusive yard sign. Yes, it’s packaged right for the moment, but it’s truly a quality pizza – which ultimately does matter in justifying a neighborhood’s growth into seven-figure asks.
The pizza itself is not just good, it verges on great in many respects. Given that this is my inaugural review here at LA Pizza Reviews, allow me to establish my methodology first: I critique the plain pepperoni pie only, unless there is a widely-recognized signature pizza, in which case I will review that instead. At Side Pie, that pizza might be “The Altadena,” which is essentially a ’roni pie with fresh mozzarella, ricotta, and basil, but there’s not enough of an established consensus on this yet, so I defaulted back to the straight ’ol Pepperoni.
The Pepperoni pizza features, as the Side Pie order site instructs us, a Bianco DiNapoli organic tomato base, mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and pepperoni from Ezzo, the last independent natural casing pepperoni producer (“simply THE BEST!”). By the by, the Ezzo family has been curing meats in Columbus, Ohio for over a century – and given the hypertensive properties of pepperoni, it’s not even an idiom to call them “the salt of the Earth.” But back to the pizza: It’s cooked in a mammoth woodfired oven that often makes an appearance on social media, as it’s tiled with a Grateful Dead skull.
This is one of those pizzas that immediately tastes like you’re eating something high-quality – not just greasy pizza, but real food. It’s almost light, but not in the same airy, unfulfilling sense as most overhyped Neapolitan trifles; instead, it seems this way simply because it’s a pizza you can eat a lot of without feeling like the grease might be as poisonous to you as dirty motor oil is to an old Cadillac already on its last legs. Indeed, even though the suggested serving size on one pie here is probably 2-3 people, I ate the whole pizza by the time I crossed the 210 Freeway, heading South back into my maiden Pasadena.
Every ingredient that tops the Side Pie pepperoni contributes to the perfect pizza symphony. The sauce has exactly the right tang – bold, but appropriately neutral, neither too fruity nor too refined. The two cheeses are applied in just the right amounts and taste like the good stuff you’d buy at Whole Foods, but the pizza chefs have also paid diligent attention to their moisture and fat content, so they don’t yield puddles of grease like so many other good cheeses do. As for the Ezzo pepperonis – yes, they are indeed “simply THE BEST!” as the site says.
Where I’m a bit more mixed – and what holds this pizza back from transcendence, in my estimation – is the crust. While I absolutely love the chewiness – this is a crust you want to literally sink your teeth into – it could really use more crispiness at the bottom. I understand that this is a woodfired pie, not a true greasy New York slice, but given the delightful char-bubbles at the head of the crust, I sensed there was potential for some superior crisp on the underside. By no means does Side Pie have the depressing floppiness of a traditional Neapolitan, but the crust overall could facilitate more of a pleasantly crunchy interplay with the toothsomeness of its innards.
Crust-driven qualms aside, Side Pie is nonetheless a pizza I have been thinking about for a whole week since having it. As I journey across Los Angeles in search of the perfect slice, reserving precious calories for each new stop, this will be one of those joints that I keep returning to along the way, new discoveries be damned. It’s a pie good enough to build a family and a life around in burgeoning Altadena, but move quickly if you want to have any money left over for takeaway pizza.
87/100
Side Pie is open Thursday-Sunday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 900 E Altadena Dr. in Altadena. Place an order by calling (707) SIDE-PIE or on the web at https://www.side-pie.com/.
My First Bite Reaction (on YouTube):
Great review of an operation that takes their work very seriously. I’m glad you picked a great, hardworking crew for your first review. Look forward to reading many more.
Are you the DiNapoli who cans my fav tomatoes? If Yes Brava, they are the best.
Though I love just a few blocks from Side Pie I haven’t been yet. The pics of the pie looks inviting so I’ll have to try them out.
Altadena could use many more good places to eat like why doesn’t some Nice Italian restaurant open in the vacant Websters lower building???
As far as the review goes…. MEH. Too wordy and disconnected for me but maybe it’ll get better.
When Ross Greco had “Greco’s” on Fair oaks Ave it was the best pizza in town! PERIOD! The place that took his place sucks.
“You see, for as much…,” “which is not to say that…,” “what I mean to get at here is…” — my friend, reading your writing is like eating ground glass.
Oh, for crying out loud, we are not in New York. It’s a “PIZZA,” not a “pie.” If you want pie, go to Marie Callender’s or Coco’s or Burger and Pie in Pasadena. If you want pizza, get a pizza and STOP calling it a “pie.” (rant over)
I completely agree. Great 1st review!