Los Angeles has more good pizza than anybody could realistically keep up with. Every part of the city has another neighborhood favorite, chef-driven restaurant, viral slice shop, or regional style that somebody swears is the best.
We still keep going back to D-Town Pizzeria.
Respect My Region co-founder Joey Brabo and RMR’s Abel Estrada have now eaten there four different times, and the reaction has been the same every time: this pizza is absolutely delicious.
Abel has reached the point where D-Town Pizza is where he wants to eat whenever he comes to Los Angeles. It is no longer a restaurant he is curious about or a place we need to visit for content. It has become part of the trip.
That says more than a dramatic ranking ever could.
We are not claiming to have eaten every pizza in Los Angeles. We have not. What we can say honestly is that D-Town Pizzeria is our favorite pizza we have tried in LA so far and four separate visits have only made that opinion stronger.
D-Town Pizza: The Crunch Is What Gets You First
D-Town makes Detroit-style pizza, so the crust is thick, rectangular, and baked in a pan with cheese reaching all the way to the edge.
The result is that signature caramelized border, but simply calling it “crispy” does not fully explain it. There is a real crunch when you bite into an edge piece. The outside is dark, cheesy, salty, and almost fried, while the dough behind it stays soft and airy.
That contrast is the reason the pizza works.
Some thick pizzas look impressive when the box opens but become heavy after one slice. D-Town gives you the comfort and richness people want from Detroit-style pizza without turning the whole thing into a dense block of bread and cheese. The crust has structure, but there is still air inside it. The edges crackle, while the center stays tender.
Joey and Abel both keep coming back to the same part of the experience: the crunch is ridiculous.
It is not only about texture, either. D-Town seasons its pizza in a way that carries through the entire bite. The garlic comes through immediately, followed by the cheese, sauce, toppings, and that deeply browned edge. There is enough seasoning to make every square taste finished without burying the ingredients underneath it.
Nothing tastes timid. Nothing tastes accidental.
Even after the pizza has been sitting in the box for a few minutes, the edge still has bite. That matters because Detroit-style pizza can lose some of its personality if the crust softens before it reaches the table. Across our visits, D-Town has continued to deliver the texture we remembered from the previous trip.
Even the Box Feels Like Part of the Experience
The experience starts before the first slice comes out.
D-Town’s branded pizza box gives the order an identity immediately. It does not feel like somebody slid a trendy square pizza into generic packaging and sent it out the door. When the D-Town box shows up, you know exactly what is inside, and opening it has become part of the ritual for us.
The lid comes up, the smell of garlic and baked cheese escapes, and the crispy border around the pan is right there staring back at you.
Food packaging cannot rescue average pizza, but good branding can make an already memorable product feel complete. D-Town understands that. The box, presentation, aroma, seasoning, and crunch all feel connected.
That detail also fits the way we experience food at Respect My Region. Whether we are covering restaurants, events, travel, music, or cannabis, we pay attention to the entire experience surrounding a product—not only the final bite. Our coverage of Venice Fest’s mix of Los Angeles food, local businesses, and community looked at that same relationship between what people consume and the culture built around it.
D-Town has built an experience we remember, not just a pizza we liked.
Chef Ryan Ososky Has a Real Connection to Detroit Pizza
The restaurant also has something that cannot be created through branding alone: a genuine connection to Detroit. Chef Ryan Ososky grew up eating the square pan pizza associated with his hometown before bringing his own approach to Los Angeles. In a 2021 interview with La Cucina Italiana, Ososky discussed growing up with Jet’s Pizza and acknowledged Buddy’s as one of the original reference points for Detroit-style pizza.
The same report noted that Ososky had previously led the kitchens at XIV and The Churchkey. He was already experimenting with Detroit-style pizza at The Churchkey in 2017, before square pies became as common on Los Angeles food feeds as they are today.
That history is important because D-Town does not feel like a restaurant that discovered Detroit-style pizza through an online trend report. Ososky knows the food personally, understands what makes the style recognizable, and has enough professional experience to push it without losing its foundation.
The Wisconsin brick cheese, rectangular pan, airy interior, and caramelized cheese edge all connect D-Town to the traditions of the style. The garlic, seasoning, toppings, and overall presentation give the restaurant its own personality.
Los Angeles is a city where regional foods constantly get reinterpreted. That can lead to some incredible restaurants, but it can also produce food that looks right and tastes disconnected from where it came from.
D-Town does not have that problem.
The Awards Confirm That D-Town Is Operating at a High Level
Our opinion is based on eating the pizza, but D-Town also has real competition results behind it.
At the 2025 International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas, Ososky won the pan-pizza competition and earned Pizza Maker of the Year honors. SFGATE’s report from the Pizza Expo described the event as a massive gathering of more than 10,000 pizza professionals and enthusiasts, with competitors arriving from around the world.
That is meaningful recognition. It confirms that the technique and consistency we keep noticing are not limited to our table.
Still, an award did not convince Abel to make D-Town part of every Los Angeles visit. The food did that.
Four Visits Later, We Are Still Thinking About It
The easiest way to fake enthusiasm in food media is to eat somewhere once, call it life-changing, post a few close-up shots, and move on to the next place.
That is not what happened here.
We tried D-Town, loved it, came back, and kept getting excited about it. Joey loves the flavor and the way the garlic and seasoning come together with that caramelized crust. Abel is equally locked in on the crunch, the presentation, and how satisfying the entire order feels from the branded box to the last edge piece.
Now, when Abel comes to LA, D-Town is the move.
There are always more restaurants to visit, especially in a city where RMR might spend one day covering a festival in Venice, another exploring food and attractions around Santa Monica, and the next filming somewhere across town. Choosing to return to the same pizza place means giving up an opportunity to try somewhere new.
D-Town keeps being worth that trade.
Is D-Town the Best Pizza in Los Angeles?
“Best pizza in Los Angeles” is the kind of debate that never ends. The city is too big, tastes are too personal, and comparing Detroit-style pizza with a thin New York slice or a wood-fired Neapolitan pie is not always useful.
We can only speak on what we have eaten.
After four visits, D-Town Pizzeria is the best pizza Joey and Abel have personally tried in Los Angeles so far. That is not based on hype, a press release, or one lucky order. It is based on repeated visits and a pizza that has continued to deliver the same things we loved the first time.
The crunch is there. The garlic is there. The seasoning is on point. The dough stays airy. The cheese around the edge gets beautifully caramelized. Even the branded box makes the order feel like something you have been waiting for.
Most importantly, it is absolutely delicious.
If you already love Detroit-style pizza, D-Town deserves a spot near the top of your Los Angeles list. If you have never tried the style, this is a strong place to understand why people become obsessed with those crispy corner pieces.
Visit the official D-Town Pizzeria website to check the current menu, location information, hours, and ordering options.
For more of what RMR is eating, attending, watching, and experiencing throughout Southern California, explore our ongoing Los Angeles coverag
