Damiano's Mr. Pizza
Profile
$$$ - expensive
Pizza
Hollywood dive with quality beer selection and vegan pizza
Damiano's Mr. Pizza resides in the fairly hip Fairfax corridor near The Dime across from Canter's.
Dine-in, delivery, and take-out available, as well as a large selection of specialty brews, including a couple of organic (vegan) Samuel Smith beers.
N. of CBS Television City and The Grove near Oakwood. Street parking.
- Delivery
Added by ananimalfriendlylife.com on Jun 4 06 (updated Dec 17 06)
Reviews
I'll say it right up front:
The decor is hideous, like they don't want you to eat in. It seriously has not been cared for since the 70s. The lighting is incredibly dim in a vain effort to compensate.
Considering how expensive the menu is, it's kind of shocking that they haven't spent a few bucks to clean the place up.
The speakers playing JACK FM (basically jukebox rock) are tinny and obnoxious, but I found it kind of funny while waiting for our pizza to listen to all the different 80s songs JACK's programming dept. likes to throw together.
The service is wildly uneven, but they generally seem to try. I've had at least one experience where my vegan cheese was not well-applied and so cooked into a soup, and the manager was very rude when I tried to address the problem.
Those are the obvious issues anyone may notice when dining at Damiano's Mr. Pizza, and they are the main reason my rating is so low.
Looking at the menu, vegans will find that a few items have "vegan" printed in parentheses next to them. There's not a lot, but it's nice to know the marinara pasta is, indeed, vegan. It's nice to be told that some noodles do contain egg in them. These are great notices that every restaurant ought to provide as a service to their guests.
That said, there's obviously a lot of non-veg items on the menu, and I'm talking about some standard Italian items you don't see often on menus that could be upsetting to some vegetarians. But I'm more than happy to spend my money on vegan products and stoke that demand, even if they sell those other types of products. One day, if we all keep buying vegan items, they will take up more of the menu, and hopefully the other selections won't be worth the price it costs to carry them anymore.
Ultimately, the real reason I put up with all the B.S. at Damiano's is that I can order a vegan pizza with Follow Your Heart "mozzarella," artichoke hearts, mushrooms, and vegan "pepperoni," served with a nice, cool Samuel Smith Organic Ale or Oatmeal Stout. I love the beer, and the pizza is quite good, too. That Follow Your Heart "cheese" really is the only way to make a good vegan pizza. Well, that I know of, anyway.
Of course, I can't do this very often. One 12" pie made to order as described above, and one beer -- plus tax and tip -- set me back about $30 on a recent trip. But, considering how shockingly difficult it is to find a classically made vegan pizza in Los Angeles, sometimes I just have to stop in and order one to share, especially since they're open 'til 6am!!
I've learned of another restaurant (through vegguide.org!) that serves vegan pizza now... look up Stone Fire on La Cienega. It looks a LOT cheaper!
I love Damion's Mr. Pizza. Hands down, they have the best 100% vegan pizza I have ever had.
I read the previous review before going to Damiano's, so I kind of had that to bracket my experience. Granted the service can be a little hit or miss. They get extremely busy, especially after-hours on the weekends so service can be quite slow. And to top it off they usually only have one or two servers for the whole restaurant. But with that said, the service is extremely friendly (if you're not a jerk to them) and they will do their best to answer all your questions about what is and isn't vegan on the menu. Ask for Bradly when you go, he's great.
Damiano's deserves such a high rating because their vegan pizza really is superb. I can think of no other place where I can get a pizza with mouthwatering melted vegan cheese, vegan pepperoni, and a whole bevy of vegetable toppings that include unique items like artichoke and sun-dried tomatoes (delicious!).
The decor is somewhat of a let down. It's extremely dark to the point that reading the menu can be difficult, and Damiano's does look a little like it hasn't been touched by time since the 70's. But the food so far eclipses the decor that it doesn't even matter...and hey, it's dive...it's supposed to be a little gritty.
The biggest drawback of Damiano's is that it is rather pricey for pizza. For one medium pizza with vegan cheese, vegan pepperoni, and a few veggies it could set you back somewhere between $30 to $40 (not including drinks). But with that said, the food is well worth the price.
If you go to Damiano's with some patience, a full wallet, and an open mind, you'll be sure to leave happy.
This is the only "1" I've ever given in a review. This is one of the dirtiest places I've ever eaten at. The lights are super dim, even in the daytime for a good reason. I've seen (and ignored) little crawlers here because the food is good. Unfortunately it is disgustingly filthy and infested. The point is, if you're drunk and it's late at night and you don't care about nasties, this place could just be for you!