Holy Shit, My Favorite Pizza in LA Might be at The Beverly Center

I know what you’re thinking. The bottom level of The Beverly Center is a god damn ghost town of restaurants that are impossible to find. You have to leave the mall and wander along the sidewalk, staring straight up at each of the signs in hopes that you’ll accidentally just walk into a Chipotle and be relieved of this horrible searching.

BUT HEAR ME OUT.

One of these phantom street-level restaurants just might have the best pizza in Los Angeles. And more than that, my favorite pizza OF MY LIFE just might be hiding under there.

I am talking, of course, about Cal Mare.

Wait… it wasn’t obvious? Like, you guys aren’t constantly seeing breakdowns of the unbelievable pizza they serve at the trendy, upscale Italian/seafood restaurant that is hidden somewhere near the valet?

Well sure, my wife and I had to take an elevator, walk through a sort of fountain area, cross two lanes of mall traffic, and then turn a corner… but we found the place. And the payoff was incredible.

I won’t speak to their full menu, or even their pizza menu, because what I ordered was so specific in its craft, beauty, and taste, that I won’t pretend that I have any authority over the rest of the menu. Aside from trying a bite or two of Mrs. Foodernatch’s (also delicious) pasta, I was a one meal man at Cal Mare.

And that meal changed my life.

(Not really, but it was good and this is my thing so I will do whatever hyperbole I want)

I ordered the Carbonara Pizza. And wow. Wow. Wow. It was insanely good.

Everything that makes a perfect carbonara pasta makes this pizza a home run. It was rich and delicious, salted to a savory dream, with a fresh farm egg beaten at the table and drizzled on every inch. It was so good I used the pizza tray as a dipping sauce and pressed every last millimeter of crust into the golden goo.

And that crust! Chewy with just the right amount of crunch, teeming with flavor, and stolen frequently by my 2-year-old daughter (she’s grounded).

There is one catch, though. And something that almost made me change my order.

This pizza has potatoes on it.

Now, if you know me and where I’m from, you know that the red potato pizza made famous at Willington Pizza is a dream. It’s literally famous. But that has always been the exception, not the rule. I don’t care much for potatoes, and I have even less use for a heavy starch on my pizza. I want the dough, the sauce, the ingredients to shine; potato is a blunt and often overwhelming flavor.

But fear not, you potato-hating dipshit! They are sliced perfectly thin, only adding a bit of crunch and texture in the spots that you want it. No overpowering mash, just the perfect addition to the insanely decadent orgy of cheese and egg atop the crust

If I have to dock this pizza for anything (which I don’t; again, this is my blog), it would only be that it is so rich, that it might be a dish best served shared. My wife actually ended up snagging a few slices from me, which was probably for the best in the long run, even though I called eleven different divorce lawyers as it was happening.

So, pizza lovers of Los Angeles, fear not the courageous walk from the middle of The Beverly Center to the inexplicably positioned bottom floor of the mall. Fear not the idea that mall food is going to be an overpriced option that lacks originality. And fear not the fact that I’m actually not sure if the egg they put on it was even cooked.

Cal Mare makes an excellent pizza. And they deserve a shot at the rest of the menu.

Just don’t let your kid steal all of the pizza crust.