My vote for the
#1a best pizza
in Los Angeles

The bottom line. Yes, there are a lot of places in Southern CA that boast that they're authentic New York pizza, but these guys walk the walk and talk the talk. And no, they don't put legumes on their pizza. It's the real deal.  I put my culinary credibility as a New York Pizza aficionado on it. No, they're not kosher, however I vote to give them an honorary pass. Try it, you'll love it.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers relocate to Los Angeles. By the years end however the majority for the can't take it and move back. One of the reasons? They claim that they can't find good pizza and bagels on the West Coast. Seeing that this has been a problem, I've made it my business to solve it. Here are the best of the best.

These locations might be off the beaten track, but they're worth it.They top of the line authentic bagels and kinishes. My litmus test is I ask myself if they'd stay in business if they opened a location in New York? The Michael, owner is a cute little Russian man looks like a kinish.When I told him that he has the New York style down to a science, he responded with a smile," New York? These are my mothers recipes from Russia! Where do you think you New Yorkers learned it from!"

The .99 tip

Driving down Wilshire Blvd in Santa Monica, I passed Hakata and saw a sign that read " ALL YOU CAN EAT SUSHI".  That night I decided, "I'd give it a shot and try a new place for a change. The tables were about 40% filled  up, or 60% empty. The decor  was dingy and waitress brought over both the menu and the all you can eat menu. Excited about experiencing their all you can eat board of fair, I began to peruse the menu. Although though the all you can eat menu at $35.00 per person wasn't a deal, it wouldn't have mattered if it had turned out to be an enjoyable relaxing dining experience. As I'm reading , I began to notice all sorts of clauses as if I was entering into a legal contract. The first bi-law of the menu stated that it was to be all you can in within one hour.

Oh boy! How relaxing. I thought to myself," ok! the foods here! Attack! Now chow down, we only have 47 minutes left!" If that wasn't weird enough another bi-law stated that any sushi that was left over, you would be charged for. Yet another clause read, the eater was not allowed to separate the fish from the rice and leave the rice on the side! There were more clauses, like you can't order the all you can eat to go as well as ginger and tea were extra. Offended by this tacky culinary Magna Carta , I vied to order from the regular menu instead. Over an hour after placing our order, the food finally arrived. Over an hour later! The waitress probably thought I ordered from the all you can eat menu and wanted to see to it that I surpassed my hour statute of limitations . I mean she didn't even come by to see if we needed water. We didn't  order anything complicated ,  just an order of vegetable tempura and a few sushi rolls.

The rolls weren't even wrapped fully! Instead of the seaweed going all the way around the rice, it only went 3/4 the way, in the shape of a u. At first I thought, why should I let it bother me, I'll forget all about it in three months from now. But then I said to myself, no I won't, and they'll remember me! Now, although these cheapskates had all sorts of clauses and bi-laws, I found a loop hole . Nowhere did it state the amount of soy sauce that one can use. I began to pour the brand new bottle over my food. I utilized a bottle and a half. This had to eat the tight wad restaurant owner alive as it was digging into his profit margin. I then proceeded to ask for the check. That was the only thing that the waitress brought in a timely fashion. I'm far from a poor tipper. I take pride in not upholding the stereotype of being a cheap Jew, but this was all out war. The bill came out to $50.25. as I went to leave the tip, I pondered the thought  for a moment.

If I left less than 20%, they'd just dismiss me as being cheap. And being that it wasn't a new establishment,  I'm sure that I wouldn't have been the first customer in the history of the restaurant not to leave a tip. So with that, I placed a nice big decimal and left a .99 cents. I then wrote a note on the credit card statement," OVER AN HOUR WAIT  FOR SUBSTANDARD SUSHI ? SHAME ON YOU ! IF YOU HAVE TO SCROUNGE AROUND AND INSERT A LIST OF BI-LAWS, DON'T OFFER ALL YOU CAN EAT. A  99 CENT TIP ? HOW DO YOU LIKE GETTING NICKEL & DIMED? After I ran into the car, locked the doors and drove away, I realized that I left my credit card behind. Just kidding! Could you imagine? Hakata Sushi at 2830 Wilshire Blvd., in Santa Monica, you'd be better off with one of those hot dogs at 7/11. The kind the Indian clerk left on the grill two days ago.