Let me be clear on this. I would never presume to — and those words are almost always followed by whoever said them proceeding to do exactly what they just said they would never presume to do — but I would never presume to tell someone how they should feel about something. That said, let me make something else equally clear: Hard Times serves the best pizza in LA, and anyone who disagrees with me on this issue is both wrong, and un-American. And a tea-partier. PUT ‘EM IN THE STOCKS!

Now, when I talk about pizza, I don’t mean the fancy-pants artisanal pies they craft at Mozza (delicious as they are), or the steroidally doughy Sicilian squares they serve at Damiano’s. No, I’m talking straight up New York-style – fat, floppy, thin-crusted slices of calorically-daunting goodness. And if that’s what you’re in the market for — and why wouldn’t you be? — then Hard Times should be at the top of your short-list.

LA needs this place. Like a culinary version of that guy in San Diego who went joyriding in a tank, Hard Times lays waste to all pretenders in its path. Mullberry St. can keep its soggy-ass slices in Beverly Hills, proof that the sharks at William Morriss Endeavor will eat absolutely anything. Garage Pizza in Los Feliz, despite having awesome late-night hours, tastes like they bake old copies of the Orange County Register into their crusts. Abbot’s in Venice comes reasonably close to HT’s level of East Coast nirvana, but still, no cigarro. (That’s Spanish for “no cigar.” I’m bilingual!)

A neighborhood favorite since back before the skinny-pant brigade invaded Silverlake, Hard Times is a clean, spartan kinda place, with walls covered in Polaroids of happily well-fed regulars. The gal behind the counter will have more tattoos than you. The delivery men look like something from Grand Theft Auto 4. And the pizza itself?…

Let’s start with the dough. It’s imported directly from Brooklyn, where the water is soft — which, for reasons that I’m too lazy to research right now, gives the crust a better “body.” Either way, there’s more savory flavor in that bottom layer than most LA joints have in their entire pie. Combine that baked-to-crispy-chewy-perfection crust with a hearty spread of garlic-infused tomato sauce and a steaming layer of grated mozzarella cheese. Add in unsubtle hunks of fresh vegetables, thin-sliced Sicilian pepperoni, or (my favorite) scattered chunks of charred, spicy-as-all-get-out Italian sausage. Sprinkle some parmesan on it, soak up the orange grease rivulets. Fold it in half. Chew.

And tell me I’m wrong.

___________________________________________

WHAT: best pizza in LA
WHEN: 7 days a week, 11 AM – 11 PM (midnight on Saturdays)
WHERE: Hard Times
$$$: $19 for a large 1-topping

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