Joe Peep's is one of those legendary spots that used to figure prominently in "Best Pizza of LA" discussions. Lately, I don't hear it mentioned as often, but the place is still there. It's on Magnolia in the Valley, so a bit of a journey unless you happen to be in the Valley for some reason.
This is the front door that faces the street, but in reality, it serves as the back door, even with the dual OPEN signs you see above. If you walk in this door, you will be in their kitchen.
This is the real front door, which is the back door. Since we are in the Valley, you will have to imagine that it is 8000 degrees outside. About 8000 anyway.
Joe Peep's is a quirky place, and one of the quirks is that they allow, and almost seem to encourage, graffiti to be written everywhere. Now I personally cannot stand graffiti, but in this situation it seems somewhat fitting. Here is all the graffiti as you walk in the door.
For whatever reason they do not want graffiti in certain spots. However this request is generally ignored.
Here is the Coke can waiting for the slice of pizza. While we wait, let's discuss the pizza.
The pizza at Joe Peep's is known for being very heavy. It is easily the pizza with the most cheese and sauce out of any in L.A., at least of which I'm aware. Some people find this unpleasant, but I consider it a bonus.
The pizza is so thick that it was calculated one pie has 5,689 calories. The employees all wear t-shirts that say "5689" on them. (Or something like that - it's in the 5000s.)
Oh, here is that Coke can, surrounded by sometimes scary graffiti.
Now here comes the pizza. The real "rule" on sampling a pizza is that you should not get a slice, but an entire pie. That way it is fresh and not reheated. However I am breaking that rule here as well as at the next spot Abbot's.
How was the pizza? Unchanged from my memory. Meaning, super cheesy, tons of sauce, great flavor. This pizza is a heavy duty piece of pizza. It is probably not for everyone. However in my book it gets an A.
Now let's move on to ABBOT'S in Venice.
Abbot's could not be more different than Joe Peep's. Joe Peep's is a traditional type place that serves "normal" pizzas, such as mushroom, cheese, pepperoni, etc.
Abbot's has a BAGEL crust. Why? I have no idea. It sounds like it would not be such a great concept, and some people dislike Abbot's for their bagel crusts, but I think they work.
The other unusual thing about Abbot's, at least when they started, was the crazy toppings. Nowadays, it is not so unusual to have, say, BBQ chicken on a pizza, or pasta on a pizza, or a pizza with no tomato sauce (which is always a bit sad to me.) Even by today's standards, their toppings are pretty out of the box. (The pizza box, that is!....Sorry.....)
Abbot's is I suppose named after Abbot Kinney, the street where it is found. Just being on Abbot Kinney makes you 35 percent cooler than you are, say, a few blocks north in Santa Monica. As you eat your slice, you can watch the hipsters go by on bicycles, many of them Schwinns, perhaps one of them my stolen Schwinn, but let's stay focused.
Back to the pizza. Now the first thing I do when I go into Abbot's is look to the LEFT of the display cases. There, on some days, if you are lucky, will be.....the......
SALAD PIZZA!
What is the salad pizza you may ask? It is, um, uh, salad dumped onto a pizza. Like the bagel crust, it sounds like a bad idea. But also like the bagel crust, it is actually a good idea. A very good one. There is a great dressing on the salad, feta cheese, avocado. It is more filling than a regular slice. And where else can you get a salad pizza anyway? (Answer: nowhere.)
Luckily, today there is indeed a salad pizza!
Here is a slice. You don't even have to wait. Because it's a salad and not heated.
Of course, one slice of pizza would be enough. But today we are going to get two.
After the obligatory salad slice, you should order a hot slice from the racks.
There are two racks inside cases. The way I choose is I examine the pies. I look for a pie that has no slices taken off it, or only one or two. That indicates that it is probably newer. I do not really care what toppings I'm ordering, just that it is a fresh pie.
Today the pie with no slices yet taken from it was, according to the slightly eccentric guy behind the counter trying way too hard to be cool (there is almost always someone behind the counter who is eccentric and trying way too hard to be cool - remember we are in Venice).......wait I lost track of the sentence. The pizza today was GOAT CHEESE. Very nice.
For whatever reason, the guy said I would be getting TWO slices, one of them for free. OK, free lunch tomorrow. Excellent.
Here is the goat cheese slice!
Sadly there was no tomato sauce on the goat cheese pizza. A part of me thinks every slice of pizza (except of course the exempt salad pizza) should have tomato sauce on it, by law. The other part of me says this goat cheese pizza was still good, and such a law would be a bad thing.
Now to add more debauchery to your meal, you can pick up this free dipping sauce. The sauce is like a very spicy version of the In N Out sauce. Dipping the bagel crust in this sauce is a very good idea.
Here are all the slices ready to be eaten.
So what is the verdict on Abbot's? Abbot's has great pizza. I have never, ever had a slice here that was not fantastic. The toppings are fresh and creatively combined. The crust is a good consistency. The tomato sauce, if you have any, is tangy and delicious.
Downside is the price. $80 per slice. OK, not $80, but $4 or $5, which is a lot.
On the plus side, there are many napkins readily available.
So who wins the battle between Joe Peep's and Abbot's? I would have to say that this is an apples and oranges contest. (Both fruits, by the way, Abbot's should try on a pizza, but hasn't yet.) I cannot say that one of these pies is superior to the other. I do know that I could not eat Joe Peep's every day, though. Way too heavy. (Both the pie and myself after a few days eating there.)
So I think round one has to be declared a tie.
