The Most Popular Pizzas At Los Angeles' Top-Rated Spot

New Yorkers might not want to hear this, but Los Angeles is a pizza town, and an excellent one at that. Yelp Elites (who are trusted reviewers) ranked LA's Bestia second out of its best 100 U.S. pizza spots. Here, wood-burning-oven fired pizzas reign supreme, thanks to three-day fermented pizza dough and incredible ingredients. Customers' favorite pizza? The unusual Spicy Lamb Sausage pizza is a bestseller according to the owner, with fresh mozzarella, mint leaves, tomato confit, sliced serrano peppers, and Grana Padano cheese, which is similar to parmesan.

Part of the beauty of Bestia's approach to pizza is the simplicity of ingredients; it's rare to see a pizza on the menu with more than five different items. Other top-rated Bestia favorites include a classic Margherita pizza, simple yet outstanding with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, and olive oil; a Burrata pizza with sweet-yet-briny Castelvetrano olives and fermented chiles; and a Sage and Mortadella pizza with caciocavallo cheese and aged balsamic. Fermenting the pizza dough lends a more developed flavor that's reminiscent of sourdough, and cooking the pizzas in a wood-fired oven gives the crust delightful spots of blistering and char along the edges.

While the menu does vary seasonally, the majority of the beloved pizzas are permanent fixtures, although the spicy lamb topping wasn't on the menu at the time of writing but it could easily make a comeback.

Ranked in our top ten of the best restaurants in Los Angeles, Bestia has been an incredibly popular restaurant since it's opening in 2012, and for good reason. Among the first major restaurants to open in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles, Bestia helped usher in a transformation of the surrounding area from industrial to trendy, with the neighborhood now a hot spot for bars, restaurants, shopping, and living. 

As a Los Angeles resident, I have had the pleasure of dining at Bestia many times in the last decade, with one of my favorite pizzas being the 'Nduja, which features that spicy, spreadable pork paste surrounded by mozzarella, cream, and arugula. Its sister restaurants Bavel and Saffy's are also among my favorites in the city; all three restaurants are tough reservations to get in Los Angeles, even after many years in business, which is a testament to their greatness. While it may be extremely popular in Yelp-based pizza ratings, make sure to save room for the equally incredible pastas and antipasti at Bestia, including the celebrated roasted bone marrow pasta dish. Luckily, it's a great restaurant in LA for large groups, so you and your friends can share and try a bit of everything.