Pizza City Fest Returns to L.A. LIVE For Its Third Year In Downtown Los Angeles, April 26-27, 2025
Following successful events in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Nashville in 2024, 40 of Southern California’s top pizzerias, including 12 new ones, will come together atop the Event Deck at L.A. LIVE for Pizza City Fest Los Angeles in 2025.
LOS ANGELES, JANUARY 27, 2025 – Pizza City Fest is thrilled to announce its return to downtown Los Angeles for a third consecutive year as part of its nationwide tour. The two-day celebration promises an unparalleled experience for pizza aficionados and will take place on April 26-27 on the Event Deck at L.A. LIVE.
Attendees will have the exclusive opportunity to savor unlimited offerings from the region's premier pizza artisans, all conveniently located in one central hub at L.A. LIVE. Pizza City Fest will highlight the area’s unique pizza landscape and showcase the diverse and exceptional talents of the region's top pizza makers.
Steve Dolinsky, the founder of Pizza City Fest and a two-time Emmy and 13-time James Beard Award-winning food reporter, has curated yet another mouthwatering list of 40 pizza makers spanning the region from Santa Barbara to San Diego, and included a dozen new entries to the culinary roster this year.
“The pizza scene in SoCal continues to impress me – from temporary pop-ups to collabs to entrepreneurs who have made the leap from portable baking to full-time brick-and-mortars,” said Dolinsky. “We’ve invited some of the most popular pizzerias from the region, featuring a range of styles, including Detroit, Chicago deep-dish, Sicilian, Neapolitan and Roman; we’ve even added an Armenian lahmajoun from Glendale. Is it pizza? You decide.”
In addition to the formidable list of participating pizzerias, Pizza City Fest Los Angeles has assembled an incredible lineup of chefs, authors and experts who will share both their knowledge and love of pizza in a series of panel discussions and demonstrations throughout the weekend.
Pizza City Fest is proud to announce that Culinary Careers Program (C•CAP) is returning as the official charitable partner of this year’s event. The nonprofit provides culinary, job and life skills to more than 25,000 underserved high school students and adults, annually. It offers culinary-and-wellness curriculum, an integrated approach to employment in the food industry through apprenticeships and job shadows, and more than $2.5 million in higher-education scholarships each year.
TICKET INFORMATION
General admission tickets for Pizza City Fest will be $125 for Saturday, April 26 and $115 for Sunday, April 27. VIP tickets will be $200 for Saturday, April 26 and $190 for Sunday, April 27. VIP guests will receive one-hour early admission, a special reserved seating area, a dedicated bar, reserved VIP seating for panel discussions and demos, and an exclusive Pizza City Fest swag bag. All tickets include unlimited pizza tastings from 20 different pizzerias each day, as well as beverages, sides, and desserts; plus admission to panel discussions and demos.
American Express® Card Members can purchase tickets before the public beginning on January 29 at 10 a.m. PST through January 30 at 11:59 p.m. PST. The public on sale will begin on January 31 at 10:00 a.m. PST
For more information and to purchase tickets, go to www.lalive.com/pizza-city-fest-la/.
SATURDAY, APRIL 26 (12 p.m. – 5 p.m.)
Participating Pizzerias/Bakers
* New to this year’s event
- Angel City Pizza (Venice)*
- Chi-Pie (Reseda)*
- Dtown Pizzeria (West Hollywood)
- Fat Lip (Corona)
- Fire & Wood Catering (Mobile Truck)
- Hail Mary (Atwater Village)
- Hot Tongue (Silver Lake)
- III Mas Bakery & Deli (Glendale)*
- La Parolaccia (Long Beach)
- LaSorted’s (Silver Lake)
- Little Dynamite (Los Angeles)*
- Pie Trap (Covina)*
- Pizzana (West Hollywood)
- Riip Beer & Pizza (Huntington Beach)
- Slice & Pint (El Segundo)
- Slice House by Tony Gemignani (Burbank)
- Triple Beam Pizza (Echo Park)
- Truly Pizza (Dana Point)
- Tribute (San Diego)
- Two Doughs Pizza Co. (Agoura Hills)
- Salad: Ronan (Melrose District)
- Desserts: Lei’d Cookies (Culver City) and Uli’s Gelato (Los Angeles)
- Panel Discussions and Demos
Panel Discussion:
2 p.m. – The Dough Whisperers
- Tony Gemignani – Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, Capo’s (San Francisco); Slice House (various); Author, “The Pizza Bible”
- Noel Brohner – Slow Rise Pizza
- Daniel Holzman – Danny Boy’s Famous Original Pizza (Downtown Los Angeles)
- Moderator: Karen Palmer – L.A. Contributing Food Editor, SF Gate
Book Signing:
3 p.m. – Tony Gemignani
Demo:
3 p.m. – Pizza at Home: Mastering Dough for Gas, Wood & Electric Ovens
- Giuseppe Gentile – L’Antica Pizzeria Da Michele (Hollywood, Santa Barbara)
- Alex Koons – Hot Tongue (Silver Lake)
- Moderator: Luca Servodio – The LA Food Podcast & The L.A. Countdown
SUNDAY, APRIL 27 (12 p.m. – 5 p.m.)
Participating Pizzerias and Bakers
*New to this year’s event
- Apollonia’s Pizzeria (Mid-Wilshire)
- Bettina (Santa Barbara)
- Detroit Pizza Depot (Hollywood)
- Eataly Los Angeles (Century City)
- Emmy Squared (DTLA)*
- Farina Pizza (Mobile Truck)
- Fiorelli Pizza (Venice)*
- Mexiforno (Guadalupe)*
- Miller Butler (San Pedro)*
- Naughty Pie Nature (Los Angeles)*
- Nonna Mercato (Long Beach)
- Ospi (Southern California)
- Ozzy’s Apizza (North Hollywood)
- Petramale Pizza (Venice)
- Prince Street Pizza (Southern California)*
- Prime Pizza (Los Angeles)
- Ronan (Melrose District)
- Secret Pizza (El Sereno)
- Speak Cheezy (Long Beach)
- Square Pie Guys (San Francisco)*
- Dessert: Levain Bakery (Larchmont)
- Panel Discussions and Demos
Demo:
2 p.m. – Mastering the Dough: Two Pizzaiolas, Two Perspectives
- Jillana Miller – Miller Butler (Portable Pizzeria)
- Roxana Jullapat – Friends & Family Pizza Co. (Fairfax District)
- Moderator: Stephanie Swane – Modernist Pizza
Panel Discussion:
3 p.m. – Let’s Collab! (or not): Influencers, Journalists and Moving the Needle on Media Exposure”
- Lawrence Longo – CEO, Prince Street Pizza
- Andy Wang – Contributing Writer, Forbes and Observer
- Chris Wallace – Ozzy's Apizza (North Hollywood)
- Moderator: David Turkell, Turk’s Pizza Party
PARTNERS
Pizza City Fest proudly acknowledges the valuable contributions of its esteemed partners, who play a vital role in making this culinary event a success. Be sure to check out larger than life activations, dedicated bars, sampling and more from this year’s incredible partners including:
- Pernod Ricard and its premium spirits including Código 1530 Tequila, Skrewball Peanut Butter Whiskey and Absolut Vodka
- Coca-Cola
- Ceresota Flour
- ABM Building Maintenance and Facility Services
- Pizza Today
- LA Magazine
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About Pizza City Fest
Pizza City Fest was created in 2022 by Steve Dolinsky – a two-time Emmy and 13-time James Beard Award-winning food reporter, and currently “The Food Guy” at NBC 5 Chicago. He’s written two books on the subject, launched a weekly tour business, produces and hosts a bi-monthly podcast and is now taking the next logical step – creating a series of pizza festivals with three objectives in mind: showcase a region’s unsung pizza artisans; educate and inform the public on how to make better pizza at home and what goes into great pizza; finally, to give back to the community through charitable partnerships.
About L.A. LIVE
L.A. LIVE is a vibrant 4 million square foot entertainment destination located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. It is a place that truly captures the essence of the city's lively and dynamic atmosphere. L.A. LIVE offers a wide array of entertainment options, including world-class music venues, a sports and entertainment arena, restaurants, clubs and hotels.
Developed by Los Angeles-based AEG, L.A. LIVE is considered to be the nation's most active “live content and event campus.” It features 260,480 square feet of conference center and ballroom facilities, a 100,000 square foot special events deck, the famous Lucky Strike Lanes and Lounge, a one-of-a-kind GRAMMY Museum, saluting the history of music and the genre's best-known awards show all centered around Peacock Place, a multi-use outdoor event space. L.A. LIVE showcases more events, award shows, sporting competitions, concerts and hospitality options than any other destination in the world.
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