Editorial review•Apr 8, 2026
Esco's New York Style Pizza is the rare LA pizza spot where the backstory isn't marketing — it's structural. Esteban "Esco" Gutierrez didn't arrive at New York-style pizza through a trend pivot; he grew up in it, learning to toss dough in his father Tomas's New York pizzeria before eventually planting his flag on Pico and La Brea in Mid-City. Co-owned with real estate and art entrepreneur Aryn Drake-Lee, the spot opened in 2022 as an explicitly Black- and Latino-owned, family-operated business in a neighborhood that doesn't need another ironic throwback concept — it needs a real one. The Harlem-inspired decor and Knicks-themed logo aren't cosmetic; they're the point. You can eat inside a reimagined NYC subway car complete with old-school graffiti, which is either extremely your thing or something you respect from a distance while focusing on the pizza. Either way, the room earns its concept rather than borrowing one.
The menu centers on oversized New York-style pies built for folding, not for Instagram geometry. The Hot Honey Pepperoni — fresh mozzarella, shaved pecorino romano, fresh basil, finished with a hot honey drizzle — is the kind of pie that explains why the hot honey wave hit pizza so hard: the contrast of salt, fat, and sweetness does real work on a proper NY slice. The Clam Pizza is the bolder swing: Ricardo mozzarella, asiago, garlic oil, baby clams, oregano, chili flakes, finished with fresh lemon and basil — a white pie tradition that separates the people who actually know New York pizza from people who think they do. The Margarita (crushed tomatoes, mozzarella, fresh garlic, basil) is the baseline test, and diners consistently come back to it. Buffalo chicken slices also draw a loyal crowd based on customer reports, though the official menu naming varies.
The move here is a whole pie over a single slice if you're coming with even one other person — the extra-large format is clearly where Gutierrez's recipes are calibrated to perform. Price point is entry-level, which at Pico and La Brea means you can eat well without a plan. If you have any interest in the clam pie, order it without hedging — it's the dish that signals what this kitchen actually knows how to do.
Carlos Mendez, Food & Drink Editor