Restaurant chains aren’t always bad. My proof? Two Boots Pizza. Mostly scattered around New York City for the last 20 something years, the pizzeria chain’s Los Angeles station has become a mainstay on Echo Park’s Sunset Blvd. It’s taken me awhile to get myself there—two years to be exact—but as of this weekend, I’m a fan.
Pizza is a touchy subject, but I have no beef with Two Boots. The giant-slab slices (a pizza style that’s hard to come by in LA) have a crispy crust with a scattering of cornmeal grit—a pizza quality I love. As far as comparisons go, I preferred Two Boot’s lighter, less chewy crust to the bagel version at Abbot’s Pizza in Venice, another well-respected proprietor of great big slices.
We tried three of their signature slices: the Newman, the Tony Clifton and plain ol’ cheese. My favorite was the Tony Clifton and not just because I’m an Andy Kaufman fan. I liked the zesty/sweet/earthy taste combo created by a mix of wild mushrooms, sweet red pepper pesto and Vidalia onions. There’s plenty of oomph in this vegetarian slice. The Newman was very rich, but I guess that’s what you sign up for when you opt for pizza topped with two types of Italian meats. This is a white pizza, probably because sauce would have taken it over the edge. All slices left me with greasy fingers, which didn’t bother me at all.
Two Boots’ menu also features sandwiches, salads, stromboli, calzones and made-to-order pies with none too common topping options like jalapeno pesto, andouille, creole chicken and shitake mushrooms. Despite this, next time I think I’ll go for a slice of the Bayou Beast, complete with barbecued shrimp, crawfish, andouille and jalapenos.
Can’t wait!
–Valentina
P.S. There’s no booze, but they do have a fridge full of Boylan Seltzers and other snazzy sodas.
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i loooove too boots. ate so much of it when i lived in nyc. what’s funny is that when they first opened my hubby and i drove out of our way for the first week to get our fill, but we haven’t been back since then!
@Lynn- isn’t it funny how that happens? I rarely go to any one place a bunch, even if i love it. There are just too many good restaurants in LA.