Tony's Little Italy Pizza

Having just won the 2007 AOL City Guide Dining Out Contest for the Best Pizza in Orange County I really wasn’t sure what to think. Many times, when a restaurant wins an award as voted by the “locals” it usually screams out mediocre at best, but I was willing to give Tony’s Little Italy Pizza a try. Hotly debated about the authenticity of their deep dish pizza on Chowhound, was there any debate about what to get? I have read mixed things about Tony’s but mostly positive. The restaurant is very small and is adorned with wall to wall Chicago sports team memorabilia. There is even a hand painted overhead picture of Wrigley Field to help get you into that Wrigleyville state of mind. I ordered a Canadian Bacon and Mushroom Stuffed Pizza. This is the classic Chicago style deep dish pizza. The crust was a nice golden brown and had a nice crunch on both the bottom and sides. There was also a distinct buttery flavor to the crust. When I asked the owner if they used butter in their dough, my query was quickly cast aside. The bottom crust is a fairly thick layer upon which mounds of cheese are layered. The toppings are then placed on the top of cheese. I was sort of dismayed by the amount of toppings that were placed on the pizza. For a pizza of this magnitude, with its thick crust and huge amounts of cheese, a fairly substantial amount of toppings should be added to balance out the pizza. Sadly this was not the case. The Canadian Bacon was sliced pretty thing and was hit and miss on the pizza, some slices had a good amount of it while others had barely of whisper of any. The use of fresh mushrooms was nice to see. I am not particularly fond of the canned mushrooms that some places use. Again, the rather meager amount of toppings seemed to get lost in the huge pool of cheese. The toppings are then layered with tomato sauce and once the pizza is finished cooking a light sprinkling of parmesan finishes everything off. The tomato sauce had a nice acidic kick to it and the perfect amount of sauce was placed atop the pizza. I could taste both oregano and basil mixed into the sauce which added a nice herbal punch. This pizza must be eaten in small bites. With the huge amounts of cheese on it, I almost choked several times when big melted cheese balls got stuck in my throat. Now I know what a cat feels like when hacking up hair balls. I think the addition of more toppings would help alleviate this problem. The large pizza is pretty substantial. You could probably make 3-4 meals out of pretty easily. Overall this is a pretty good pizza. I’m not sure if I would go out of my way to eat here, but if I was in the neighborhood and felt like having pizza this would be a great option. Tony’s Little Italy Pizza 1808 N. Placentia Avenue, Unit B Placentia, CA 92870 (714) 528-5159