3rd time NOT a charm at Vito's Pizza.

I hate that I have to write this. After discovering Vito's Pizza via the boards, we thought we'd found that holy grail: NY pizza in L.A. We haven't physically visited, all of our orders have been for delivery. Our first order was stellar - that NY crust, perfect proportions of cheese and sauce - and man, were we stoked.

2nd time we ordered... not so much. Our order took over two hours to get to us (after being assured it'd be 45 min), and when we called to complain, we were told that the order-taker was new. Huh? On the "wow, what a mensch" tip, I must mention that after we spoke with a manager, Vito himself then extended the offer of a free pie should we come in and visit.

3rd time... well, I don't think I can order from Vito's again.

I had to repeat my simple order (ham and mushroom, heavy sauce) three or four times. When the pizza arrived, there was NO HAM, and the mushrooms were so incredibly obnoxiously oversized (don't they have knives in their kitchen?) - I mean, 5 of the mushrooms were literally the size of a 1-year old's hand. A husky 1-year old, I might add.

And the extra sauce? Oh, that's the topper - literally - they simply dropped it ON TOP OF THE CHEESE! When I first opened the box, I thought the pie had pepperoni on it, but once my eyes adjusted, I saw that it was sauce. Not only that, but I had told the guy that I wanted to charge our order to the card we have on file there. Which explains why the delivery guy showed up expecting cash.

I called back and was given the same spiel about the order-taker being new. I was also told that the reason the mushrooms were so big is that they were "the good ones. wild mushrooms". Okay, but are they just too "wild" to hold down and cut to a size that a human being could fit into their mouth? Then I was told that they'd like to offer me a discount on my next order. Uh-uh, I said. I'm not sure there will be a next time, so.... what can you do? "Well, we can take the toppings off this one." Good, I said, 'cause I just did (there was a tupperware full of "wild" mushrooms sitting in front of me, mocking me) I didn't hesitate to tell the person I was talkin' to that this was just an embarrassing example of the laziest pizza making I've ever seen.

sigh.

Do I give 'em another shot? ...depends how desperate I'm feeling, I guess. Maybe next time I'm in the mood for a gigantic creepy mushroom with sauce on top. Otherwise, no.

man, I wish I'd taken photos. y'all would not BELIEVE the size of those mushrooms.

BoogieG in Los Angeles Area