Jerry's Pizzeria, Canoga Park, CA
I was tooling around the San Fernando Valley the other day, looking for sustenance, when I spotted Jerry’s Pizzeria on Sherman Way. I found a parking place in the pack, and noted it was right next to a deli proclaiming they had “L.A.’s #1 sandwich.” Hmm, dilemma.
As I had a scheduled lunch date at a place the next day who also purported to have L.A.’s favorite sandwich, Jerry’s won out.
I used to live fairly close to this neighborhood, but had never been in Jerry’s before, even tho they have apparently been around since the dawning of time.
Walking in through the back door, I was in a fairly large room with a lot of tables and chairs, a few video games, and amidst of local hangers-on who didn’t really seem to be customers or workers. Maybe neighborhood guys who stop by to have a beer and watch TV.
I went to the counter and ordered a 12″ pepperoni, sausage, with extra cheese, and was told it would be ready in the standard 15 minutes. I walked down the street in search of a mini mart to pick up a few things, and gaze into the window of “LA’s #1 sandwich.” There was a line of people waiting for sandwich orders.
Picked up the pie and headed back to the air conditioned deliciousness of my motel room. Opened the box and found a fairly nice looking pie crowding the box’s confines. A “New York style” thin crust, and I immediately noted they prepare the sausage in the same manner of most NY pie shops, thin sliced link Italian sliced on bias. The pepperoni gave off a little oily appearance, which indicates a higher fat content, and fat usually equals flavor.
Cheese was more than ample, and the pie appeared baked to my idea of perfection. A little char on a crispy crust, with chewiness sure to appear as you worked your way inward.
Picked up a slice, it had nice “hang”, but to my delight, the toppings stayed in place.
The crust was as I imagined, the sauce unobtrusive, and the cheese was real, not “pizza topping.”
This is a good pie. Funny I missed it the times I lived in L.A. I shall return.
Jerry's Pizzeria, Canoga Park, CA
