641 N Highland Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90036

I’ve been craving a good pizza for a long time. Unfortunately, you don’t find legendary pizzas everyday in Los Angeles, like you might in New York or Chicago. That’s why I was pretty excited when I heard about Pizzeria Mozza, Iron Chef Mario Batali’s take on pizza. Combining his prowess in Italian flavors with the baking skills of Nancy Silverton (of La Brea Bakery fame), Batali has been said to redefine pizza with unique, untraditional flavors that you’d never find anywhere else. Ingredients include things like squash blossoms, egg, and potatoes. As with everything in LA, pizza had to be glamorized—taken to the new level with gourmet, innovative toppings.

And the odd thing? Everyone seems to love it. Who’d have thought that squash blossoms on pizza could be so good?

Actually, nobody, and there’s a reason why—because those “gourmet” ingredients just don’t belong on pizza. All in all, I was interested a lot when I heard of Mozza’s concept, but I was skeptical. And after having tasted the pizza personally, I can assure you that Pizzeria Mozza, while one of the most popular places in Los Angeles, is far too overhyped for its own good.

It’s not that Mozza is bad per se. If anything, it’s very inventive and bold, as would be expected for a restaurant with such a pantheon of fantastic culinary minds behind it. But everything is just slightly overdone, largely for the purpose of being innovative, rather than because the concepts are sound.

The restaurant itself is nice, with a modern, simple, clean style and great lighting. It’s rather minimalist. However, at the same time, it’s very cramped. If you do get a table (which is hard, considering it’s always booked), you might end up sitting only a foot or so away from the next person. So it’s not exactly the most comfortable place to relax, which, in my opinion, violates the feel of a pizza parlor.

It does have two positives. First, the place oozes sophistication and class, especially for a traditional pizzeria. Second, it has a nice wine selection, though most of the wines are from Italy, and the selection isn’t too expansive. I had a really nice Montepulciano while I was there. As for the pizza, it’s a solid pie, but you can do way better at a more traditional place like Frankie and Johnnie’s and maybe Casa Bianca in LA. Still, I would just avoid most pizzerias in LA, or at least be highly suspect. Moreover, the restaurant is quite overpriced, giving you an individual size pie for $15+, which, especially for the quality, is completely unjustified.

Pizzeria Mozza thus fails to live up to its reputation. Not only does the pizza fail to impress, but it’s a waste of money for the most part. It’s not horrendous, but you can find much better from a much simpler pizzeria.

What I had:

1. Fried squash blossoms with ricotta—very oily, even for fried food. Also very salty. Still, ricotta has a great flavor. Perfectly fried—nice crispness to it. Still, as far as fried food goes, overdone and a bit boring. I’d prefer some fried mozzarella. 1.0/5.0
2. Meat Lover’s Pizza—homemade sausage, some ham, etc. All of it is very good, especially the sausage, which has oil just leaking out on touch. Great flavors. PHENOMENAL dough! Perfectly baked, with a fantastic crispness. Oil isn’t too problematic for me—I don’t mind it. For others, however, it would be oily to the point of ruining the pizza. My father and brother, for example, couldn’t even eat the pizza b/c it made them nauseous. For others, like me, oiliness adds a satisfying aftertaste. Still, pizza is nothing nothing extraordinary. Just an oily pizza, with way too much salt.  2.0/5.0

Ambience: 2.0/5.0. Very hip, but just too cramped to be very enjoyable.
Service: 3.0/5.0.
Taste: 1.7/5.0.
Value: 2.0/5.0. Very expensive pizza, but gains points for uniqueness.
Overall Score: 1.9/5.0