Casa Bianca Pizza Pie

Pizza divides people. Everyone has their favorite place, and everybody claims to know the "best" pizza and where it comes from. But pizza can be so many things to so many people; you have to start with the type/style of pizza you prefer before you can even touch on who has the best in town. There's Chicago style pizza, there's thin crust, thick crust, upside down in a bowl pizza (as I witnessed on the Food Network last week). Then there's the toppings...some claim there's nothing more pure than the original pizza Margherita. Others say it's sausage. More say it's gotta be pepperoni or you might as well just have a sandwich. See how complicated this can get?

On Chowhound, there are very differing and passionate views about an LA city favorite, Casa Bianca Pizza Pie. People either love it ("thin crust is awesome!," "the eggplant is the best I've ever had!", "it's worth the wait!") or hate it ("greasy crust!", "canned mushrooms!", "the wait is torturously long!").

Well, I happen to love Casa Bianca, and was very proud and pleased to take my parents there for the first time the other night. We did have to wait an hour, but we killed time by walking down to the Colorado Wine Company and each had a glass of fabulous red (Boudreaux for my dad, zin for my mom, and a cab sav for me). We sat on some wine boxes which the manager kindly covered with cushions (the stools at the wine bar were all taken), and had a very nice, pre-dinner drink before we headed up the street to Casa.

Our wine box coffee table

We brought our own bottle of zin (corkage is only $2.50), and ordered two medium pizzas: one with eggplant, sausage, onion and easy cheese; the other with jalapenos, green peppers, tomatoes and onions.

The pizzas didn't disappoint. The crust was thin and crispy, all the way through. The eggplant, deep fried and full of flavor, was great company to the sausage and onions. And the easy-on-the-cheese was the way to go because of the heavier toppings.

Sausage and onions and eggplant, oh my!

The vegetarian pizza was very good as well. The fresh veggies balanced out the flavor of the salty cheese. And even though we got regular cheese on this one, it wasn't gloppy or overdone in the least.

Vegetarian with lots of jalapenos

I like Casa Bianca pies because they don't overdo the crust, cheese or toppings, and there's very little grease on the pizzas. The service was quick and friendly, even though it was absolutely packed (with 2+ hours worth of folks waiting outside), and the atmosphere is simple and focused on the food, not frills. I don't think it's authentically New York style (they don't claim to be) or that they're trying to be anything else or beat anyone else at the pizza game. Quite simply, they make a great pizza and, with the Colorado Wine Company and the Chalet close by, you can put your name in, go grab a drink, then come back just in time to be seated. So the wait factor is easily dealt with. Not a bad way to spend an evening, no?