Awhile back, a lil bloggin’ birdie dropped some poop which led to this craptastic pie at Coop. Still love you Ronnie, tho BARELY.

This is one of the better slices in the Westside, beyond Joe’s in Santa Monica. The gentleman, Mr. La Rocco, can be seen grubbin on his own product, doing the crossword puzzle(?) on a random early evening. He likes fresh roma tomatoes with garlic knots. That’s respectable.

Not sure where the actual pie slingers are from, but this is what makes this joint great: the puttanesca slice. Sugo alla puttanesca has been falsely portrayed as sauce in the style of a whore in Italian. While the blogger/writer Steve Parzen clearly dispeled any notion the puttanesca sauces are whorish, it is no doubt tasty. Traditionally, puttanesca has involved olive, salted anchovies, tomatoes and chili flakes, LaRocco’s version utilizes artichokes, basil and pecorino romano to give the sense of a kitchen sink spilling over onto the pizza. Recipes evocative of kitchen sink are often some of the finest assemblages of ethnic cuisine: think bi bimp bap

What makes LaRocco a viable “Broke Ass Dining” entry is the daily special of 2 slices & a soft drink for $6. In the traditions of a NY pizzeria, nearly all the special pies at LaRocco are available by the slice, from the puttanesca to the Brooklyn to the Spinach & Pomodoro. There is no where in LA where you’ll find a slice of white pie (Delicious ricotta cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan & fresh garlic.) of this caliber for only $3 (assuming fountain drink is $1). The crust is half decent, you can get the slices reheated to extra crispy in their Baker’s Pride(?) deck office, or you can get it regular (still pipin’, mouth roof burning hot) which yields just a bit of foldability.

A final note: LaRocco’s is NOT Rocco’s Pizza. Mr. Paul LaRocco is from Manhattan’s Lil Italy; the Rocco family is from Staten Island, aka, Manhattan’s garbage dump.

LaRocco’s Pizzeria
3819 Main St.
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 837-8345

Yes, the folks are from Staten Island. Yes, the product looks like a NYC pie. Still, it comes out of a baker’s pride oven, not a coal fired pit. But hey, there is fresh mozz, laid piece by piece onto each pie. That’s a huge plus and a rare LA find.

Even during the first week of opening, it’s 1 of the better NYC slices in LA, IMO, on par with Vito’s (but with a much larger, relaxed, less pressured, room to die), offering almost a similar crust to Joe’s, but with more chew, albeit a bit thicker. Chew is good. Chew is from high-gluten flour. Chew is what’s missing from the current iteration of Bollini’s Pizza.

That said, Garage is still the pizza home base for us even tho I know the pie slinger ain’t from NYC and the owners aren’t third generation parlor owners. I think that’s what’s TRULY great about LA cuisine.