Living within walking distance of Hillcrest, I can’t help but notice trends. For example there is either a hairstylist, a florist or bar on every block. If there’s a combination of all three, the foot traffic increases geometrically. As for restaurants, there has been an overabundance of sushi or Thai places in the past. But the latest restaurant trend in Hillcrest? Pizza places.
This past Saturday, Naked Pizza had their grand opening in a space previously held by L&L Hawaiian BBQ. Naked Pizza offered free slices of pizza from 1 to 4 p.m. But a mere five shops away is Pizza Fusion, a place known for their fresh, organic and earth-friendly food, which also offered free pizza the same day to celebrate their 2-year anniversary since opening up.
Naked Pizza is based out of New Orleans. With nine locations around the world including Dubai, Naked Pizza has a pretty lofty goal to provide the world’s healthiest pizza. According to their brochure, they claim to use ingredients that contain no additives, preservatives, colorants or chemicals of any kind — hence the name. In addition, the dough includes prebiotic fiber to increase bone health as well as increase digestive health with their blend of 10 seeds and grains.
It’s a given fact that when you offer free pizza, people with gather regardless if the pizza is good or not. Lucky for Naked Pizza, their pizza is delicious. Bits of basil can be seen in their pizza sauce and everything was fresh. -Considering that the free pizza didn’t stick around too long, all the free pizza was straight out of the oven and into the mouths of hungry people.
Whole pizzas are sold with a base price of either $4.99 for a 10″, $5.99 for a 12″ or $6.99 for a 14″. Each additional topping is either $1.49, $1.69 or $1.89 depending on the size of the pizza.
While a strong pizza in its own right, it will be interesting to see how if fair against the other pizza places within a five-block radius: Pizza Fusion, Pizza Nova, La Focaccia Gourmet Pizza, Bronx Pizza and even Chocolat carries their own brand of gourmet pizzas alongside their gelatos and desserts.
My Burning Kitchen 
I didn’t realize there were so many pizza places near each other in Hillcrest. After my red velvet cupcake tasting this weekend, my friends wanted to do something similar and were thinking of a pizza tasting, but I was thinking of a pizza crawl. Hillcrest might be the place to do one!
And you can go bar hopping too between pizza breaks!
Wait, Chocolat makes pizza, too? We watched Eat, Pray, Love this weekend after a very light dinner. The pizza looked so good, I made Travis order one right away. And then I ate 3 slices. No more watching food movies at night.
Indeed they do! I haven’t tried them since I only go in for their desserts.
And yes! I try to avoid food-related movies after I’ve eaten a big meal or need to lose some weight. It’s such a hazard.
I’m all about more Pizza and less L & L Hawaiina BBQ but please don’t tell my husband that. he is from hawaii and he swears there is no better food in the world than greasy L & L.
LOL! Maybe you can find a compromise: a Hawaiian-style pizza? I’m torn between pizza and L&L. But I agree that L&L can be a tad on the greasy side.
I bow down humbly in the psernece of such greatness.
🙂