111 Broadway
Santa Monica, CA 90407
(310) 395-9222
Santa Monica, CA 90407
(310) 395-9222
Joe's Pizza
Category: Pizza
Neighborhood: Santa Monica
4 of us met at Joe's to try out New York's finest and it did not disappoint. Our group shared a taste of each type so we got to sample many different slices. We ate here on the 1st official day open which was Sat. 11/10/07.
Pizza slices were delicious. We tried various slices. Fresh Mozzarella w/fresh basil & EVOO generously drizzled. Slice of Pepperoni, slice of Sicilian w/sausage, regular slice w/Anchovy, one with mushroom and a slice of Margherita. Joe was there tossing pies. They are very generous with the toppings. The crust is crispy compared to most LA pizza's. Not cheap at $17-20 per pizza plus $3/topping.
The service was excellent, but disorganized as this was the first day open. They don't have a system yet for which customer gets what slice or who paid for what slice and was on the honor system and they'd ask me what I ordered. When I saw I wasn't getting the 2nd slice I'd ordered, I reminded the cashier what I ordered and Joe jumped in and made up my slice for me and would signal me 1 minute to go and again signal me when it was ready and handed it to me personally. Joe gets 5 stars for customer service. When ordering toppings on slices, they basically take a cooked cheese slice add the toppings and then bake it again to heat the toppings.
My favorite topping was the sausage and I had that with a slice of Sicilian (square) and loved the sausage that had nice flavor of fennel. Not nearly as bold as Mozza's fennel sausage which bowled me over but Joe's sausage was sliced and if I recall, Mozza's sausage was crumbled, but I could be mistaken, I just remember that Mozza's sausage was fantastic. But I'm not comparing the two places, sorry for the tangent.
I've never been a fan of the anchovy and this slice proved no different. The slice came with 3-4 whole fillets of anchovy so again the toppings ($0.75 each topping) are quite generous and my friends that ordered them loved them.
The crust is what I noticed is much different than all other pizzas I've had and being a poker player, believe me... I've had a lot of pizza including Casa Bianca which I felt is so overrated. Casa Buono in Echo Park, is delish and much preferred over Casa Bianca. Back to the crust, sorry, the crust is very crispy and it is delicious. However, I think I'd rather have a slice from Johnnie's Pizza in MdR or S.M. but haven't had a slice at Johnnie's for a long time, so I better grab a slice there before I make that definite call. I think my L.A. Foodies Group (www.LAfoodies.org) will have to have a Pizza taste test between the two pizza joints.
My favorite style of pizza is Chicago deep dish pizza and my fav place used to be Chicago Pizza Works which is no longer in biz unfortunately. I just loved that sweet crust and the gigantic slices. 1 slice you were full, two slices and you are a glutton. One slice was a full meal.
The place is tiny, maybe 600s.f for the entire restaurant and there's 3 inside tiny tables that seat 2-3 people and one outside table without chairs, but I guess you can grab some empty chairs from inside. This is basically a pizza to go joint and if you want to go together as a large foodie group, I'd recommend you buy a few pizzas (they call them pies) and bring some blankets and your own wine and drinks and walk 1/2 block West towards the beach and dine picnic style on the lawn and it would make for an awesome group pizza outing.
I'll probably organize a bigger group outing like described above and will to do a taste off between Johnnie's and Joe's. Should be fun!
Joe's is sure to be a success because during the summer, there's a bizillion beachgoers that will walk by the place every day. I live in Hollywood and I ask myself, would I drive all the way from Hollywood fight the traffic and parking (park at Colorado Place Mall free 3 hr parking) to eat at Joe's. Probably not unless I was meeting a group of my foodie friends to share the experience. It's not a date place, it's a eat and go place or pizza to go. I will certainly go back again, but only if convenient or with a group.
I gave it a moderate $$ rating as 2 slices of pizza and a drink cost me about $9 which is a $ rating, but for pizza, that's on the high end as my slice of sausage pizza was $4.
So, if this NY pizza is as good as it gets in NY, then the LA pizza joints have nothing to fear and the New Yorkers who proclaim that NY is the pizza capital of the universe, get over it. LA has many excellent pizza joints. I've never been to NY so I cannot compare the other pizza joints to Joe's but from the written reviews of Joe's and the constant NY fans proclaiming NY pizza is best, I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree. LA kicks out some fine pizza as well.
I give it 4 stars as it is excellent pizza, but it didn't give me the "OMG, this is the best ever" tingling feeling. I'm sure some of the the NY'ers will probably blast me, but so be it.
Welcome to L.A. Joe! I wish you much success.
Pizza slices were delicious. We tried various slices. Fresh Mozzarella w/fresh basil & EVOO generously drizzled. Slice of Pepperoni, slice of Sicilian w/sausage, regular slice w/Anchovy, one with mushroom and a slice of Margherita. Joe was there tossing pies. They are very generous with the toppings. The crust is crispy compared to most LA pizza's. Not cheap at $17-20 per pizza plus $3/topping.
The service was excellent, but disorganized as this was the first day open. They don't have a system yet for which customer gets what slice or who paid for what slice and was on the honor system and they'd ask me what I ordered. When I saw I wasn't getting the 2nd slice I'd ordered, I reminded the cashier what I ordered and Joe jumped in and made up my slice for me and would signal me 1 minute to go and again signal me when it was ready and handed it to me personally. Joe gets 5 stars for customer service. When ordering toppings on slices, they basically take a cooked cheese slice add the toppings and then bake it again to heat the toppings.
My favorite topping was the sausage and I had that with a slice of Sicilian (square) and loved the sausage that had nice flavor of fennel. Not nearly as bold as Mozza's fennel sausage which bowled me over but Joe's sausage was sliced and if I recall, Mozza's sausage was crumbled, but I could be mistaken, I just remember that Mozza's sausage was fantastic. But I'm not comparing the two places, sorry for the tangent.
I've never been a fan of the anchovy and this slice proved no different. The slice came with 3-4 whole fillets of anchovy so again the toppings ($0.75 each topping) are quite generous and my friends that ordered them loved them.
The crust is what I noticed is much different than all other pizzas I've had and being a poker player, believe me... I've had a lot of pizza including Casa Bianca which I felt is so overrated. Casa Buono in Echo Park, is delish and much preferred over Casa Bianca. Back to the crust, sorry, the crust is very crispy and it is delicious. However, I think I'd rather have a slice from Johnnie's Pizza in MdR or S.M. but haven't had a slice at Johnnie's for a long time, so I better grab a slice there before I make that definite call. I think my L.A. Foodies Group (www.LAfoodies.org) will have to have a Pizza taste test between the two pizza joints.
My favorite style of pizza is Chicago deep dish pizza and my fav place used to be Chicago Pizza Works which is no longer in biz unfortunately. I just loved that sweet crust and the gigantic slices. 1 slice you were full, two slices and you are a glutton. One slice was a full meal.
The place is tiny, maybe 600s.f for the entire restaurant and there's 3 inside tiny tables that seat 2-3 people and one outside table without chairs, but I guess you can grab some empty chairs from inside. This is basically a pizza to go joint and if you want to go together as a large foodie group, I'd recommend you buy a few pizzas (they call them pies) and bring some blankets and your own wine and drinks and walk 1/2 block West towards the beach and dine picnic style on the lawn and it would make for an awesome group pizza outing.
I'll probably organize a bigger group outing like described above and will to do a taste off between Johnnie's and Joe's. Should be fun!
Joe's is sure to be a success because during the summer, there's a bizillion beachgoers that will walk by the place every day. I live in Hollywood and I ask myself, would I drive all the way from Hollywood fight the traffic and parking (park at Colorado Place Mall free 3 hr parking) to eat at Joe's. Probably not unless I was meeting a group of my foodie friends to share the experience. It's not a date place, it's a eat and go place or pizza to go. I will certainly go back again, but only if convenient or with a group.
I gave it a moderate $$ rating as 2 slices of pizza and a drink cost me about $9 which is a $ rating, but for pizza, that's on the high end as my slice of sausage pizza was $4.
So, if this NY pizza is as good as it gets in NY, then the LA pizza joints have nothing to fear and the New Yorkers who proclaim that NY is the pizza capital of the universe, get over it. LA has many excellent pizza joints. I've never been to NY so I cannot compare the other pizza joints to Joe's but from the written reviews of Joe's and the constant NY fans proclaiming NY pizza is best, I'm sorry, but I respectfully disagree. LA kicks out some fine pizza as well.
I give it 4 stars as it is excellent pizza, but it didn't give me the "OMG, this is the best ever" tingling feeling. I'm sure some of the the NY'ers will probably blast me, but so be it.
Welcome to L.A. Joe! I wish you much success.
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