800 Degrees is my daughter’s pizza place. Period. Since the pizzas are custom-made to order and meant to serve one, it’s been my solution to the I-like-meat-on-my-pizza-but-my-daughter-likes-plain-cheese-and-my-husband-only-wants-veggies dilemma when ordering pizza.

When 800 Degrees opened a few years ago, it was hailed as the Chipotle of pizzas since you choose your toppings as you move down the line. Of course, Chipotle was just adapting the Subway method of personalizing one’s food, but I digress. Wildly successful since it opened, it’s spawned several imitators like Blaze Pizza, Clusi Batusi, Open Oven, etc.

Theres always a line out the door at the Westwood location, but never fear! The line moves quickly. You choose a crust traditional Neopolitan which is their default, thin crispy or gluten-free (a recent addition). Next you choose amongst margherita (tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil), marinara (tomato sauce, no cheese), verde (pesto and mozzarella) and bianca (olive oil, garlic, mozzarella no tomato sauce) and then you get to select your toppings.

I’ve heard that it’s best to select a few toppings since the more toppings you add, the soggier the pizza gets. The pizza always winds up being a little soggy in the middle, but I don’t mind. The toppings range from the obvious – pepperoni, mushrooms, olives to the more unusual – bacon jam, prosciutto, arugula. The toppings are sprinkled over the pizza (they’re not generous with the toppings) unless you get the proscuitto or arugula. Those two items are added to the pizza after it’s been cooked in the searingly hot wood-fired oven and cover the entire pizza.

There’s also salad offerings. I ordered a chopped salad once but found the vinaigrette a little sour. I’ll just stick to the pizza. There’s also beer (on tap and in bottles) and wine and an amazing soda machine which can dispense up to 300 different soda combinations (supposedly). It’s a big metallic box with a touch screen display. My daughter only gets root beer and my husband and I don’t drink soda so we’ve yet to try our hand at a new soda creation.

Once you’ve paid and picked your drinks, you’ll hopefully find a table or will struggle to find a table that looks like it’s almost done. The tables turn pretty frequently so the wait is minimal. They’ll call your number as soon as the order is done.

800 Degrees started offering a 50% the pizza of the day special where if you follow their Instagram account (or just check it that day), whatever pizza is pictured can be yours for 50% off. (Editor’s Note: The Pizza of the Day Instagram special has gone up to $6.99 starting August 2016.)

800 Degrees has expanded to several locations and are constantly opening more!

Location: 10889 Lindbrook Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90024. See additional locations here.
Website http://www.800degreespizza.com
Menu – http://www.800degreespizza.com/menu/
Kid-Friendly – Yes
Kid’s Menu – No
Vegan/Vegetarian Friendly – Yes
Gluten-Free Friendly – Yes

UPDATE: As of October 2018, the Westwood location has closed for business.
UPDATE: As of April 2019, the Westwood location has reopened with a new menu.