Chicago Deep-Dish, LA Style

"In a small way, we've made it more California-ized."

It's Chicago deep-dish pizza with a style that's all LA.

"As far as I know there's no other place that does what we do in Los Angeles," says Rob Rowe, one of the owners of Masa of Echo Park.

Masa cooks up a unique deep-dish pizza likely to satisfy any Chicago native, but Rowe explains what makes them distinct is giving the classic pie a California twist -- kicking up the flavor and toning down the grease.

"In a small way, we've made it more California-ized," Rowe said. "The LA crowd doesn't necessarily want as much of a greasy food mess as what you would get in Chicago."

Some may equate less grease to mean "healthy" but don't misunderstand, Masa isn't as much interested in cutting your waistline as they are adding fresh local flavor. There's plenty of mouth-watering parmesan cheese, olive oil, sundried tomatoes, and calories to go around.

It might also come as a surprise to a veteran pizza aficionado that Masa's most popular dish doesn't contain meat.

"Pepperoni is definitely up there but I would say we probably sell more vegetarian than we do anything," Rowe said.

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More: Masa of Echo Park

On any given day at lunch or dinner, the cozy restaurant is packed. A fresh Masa deep-dish takes around 45 minutes to bake so patrons are encouraged to bring patience.

Local Yelpers brag that it's "worth the wait" and "you won't regret it." And they back it up with a 4-star rating.

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