"Los Angeles is a serious pizza town. Take its recent obsession with sfincione, the square-shaped, Sicilian-style pizzas brought to America in the mid-20th century, primarily through New York, as proof. Those thick crusts - spongy and pliable, like a good piece of focaccia - made their way across the country, taking a notable detour in Detroit, and landed in Los Angeles, where, in 2026, they've become something of a calling card for a specific brand of chefs."
"In October 2025, Old Gold Tomato Pies joined Los Angeles's sfincione revolution. Helmed by chef Jeffrey Vance (formerly of Seattle's Navy Strength and No Anchor, the latter of which earned him a James Beard Foundation Award nomination in 2016 for Best New Restaurant), this retro slice shop in Los Feliz runs on razor-thin margins and '90s nostalgia."
"The pizza features Prime Roots pepperoni, a plant-based meat made from naturally fibrous Koji that can mimic the texture and fat profile of pork, even replicating its crispness and crunch. Order the Goon Squad for the first time because it's fun to say, order it again because it's crab rangoon on a freaking pizza."
Los Angeles has emerged as a serious pizza town with a growing obsession for sfincione, the square-shaped Sicilian-style pizza featuring thick, spongy crusts similar to focaccia. Chef Jeffrey Vance, formerly of acclaimed Seattle restaurants Navy Strength and No Anchor, opened Old Gold Tomato Pies in Los Feliz in October 2025. The retro slice shop operates on thin margins while celebrating '90s nostalgia and draws inspiration from Vance's childhood memories of Pizza Hut in Canada. The menu emphasizes high-quality, locally sourced ingredients with vegan options comprising 30 percent of offerings. Notable pizzas include the Barney, featuring Prime Roots plant-based pepperoni made from Koji, and the Goon Squad, which creatively combines crab rangoon elements on focaccia-like dough.
Read at Eater LA
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