Zelo Gourmet Crust Pizza

Came here on a Friday night and it wasn’t too busy (probably because it was EDC weekend). Been here a couple times after falling for their corn pizza (the combination of caramelized onions and cornmeal crust mixes so well).
We ordered a whole pizza for two, which was way too much food (at least I have breakfast and lunch set for the next day). Got half chicken sausage (their special of the day) and half corn. Chicken sausage was pretty good, but I still think the corn pizza is my favorite and what keeps me coming back.
The waitress was cool. The gf didn’t have much of an appetite so they were able to cut more slices into the pizza. This place is pretty good for dates, because it does take about 30 minutes for them to make your food, which gives you plenty of time to talk before you dig in.
If you’re down to spend an hour to eat here, it’s a great place to try. But make sure you aren’t too crunched on time. One of my exes turned full bitch mode because of the long wait and in her words «small portions».

Pizza, and beet salad are great. I’ve eaten here many times, as I’m a local boy, but the service tonight was atrocious. It seemed from the very beginning that it was an inconvenience for the guy to wait on us. It was not acceptable. He spent the entire time chatting to his friends sitting next to us, and never bothered to check back once. His tip reflected my service.

Ate here for a few years but a few months ago, I think they made the pie smaller. When said something about their comment was its always something” nice customer service! Then I got home and the corn slice was dried up barely edible. And it’s not cheap! Sorry gone down hill. Can barely be cut with a steak knife.

The corn meal pizza crust is absolutely amazing. I try to stop in and get a slice of the veggie and a slice of the mozzarella and pesto whenever I visit Los Angeles.
$ 4.25 per slice of pizza is well worth the unique and delicious flavors of this must have pizza!
Although the service was slow, the staff was friendly and fulfilled all our requests.
I’m definitely coming back!

I think it’s time to update my review on one of my favorite joints in the neighborhood. Zelo Pizza has since acquired the nail salon (I think that’s what it was) next door and expanded it’s space. I still prefer the older section of the restaurant or the porch though, as it has more character.
Cornmeal crust pizzas are everywhere now, but I still like theirs the best. Other than the sausage and corn pizza stated in the previous review, I highly recommend their potato pancetta pizza when they have it! It’s a great amalgamation of a cornmeal crust pizza and baked potato chips with a hint of rosemary, smothered in gooey cheese. Who cares about too much carbs?! Treat yo self!
I’ve also grown to love their pastas as well, mostly The Works pasta or their meatball anything (sandwich, with spaghetti, by itself), since there is nothing tastier than secret home made recipes! The veggie lasagna is also delicious if I’m trying to trick myself that I’m eating healthy. The garlic bread is always toasted to perfection and smothered in their addicting garlic spread.
Whatever you order, always get a large beet salad with extra beets with the meal. I still stand my ground on it being the best beet salad I’ve ever had. With that said, you can pass on the other salads (or their half roasted chicken, for that matter. It’s not bad but why would you get that in the presence of other exciting items?)
And always finish with their homemade zucotto cake, which is a divine whipped chocolate cake with ladyfinger cookie crust. It’s so light and delicious you can almost convince yourself it’s not that bad for you.
Again, as I mentioned already, who cares about too much carbs?! Treat yo self when you’re at Zelo’s.

This place is amazing! Our friend was driving in from out of town and she is vegan. This is the only place I could find that had a pizza option for her. I called ahead and ordered so it would be ready for pickup and it was waiting for me when I got there. Very friendly service on the phone and in person.
The restaurant is actually very nice and modern. Has a cool family owned vibe (not sure if it actually is) The pizza I got was amazing! It was packed with all sorts of veggies and the crust was fantastic! The pizza is not very big in diameter, but it is very thick like a true Chicago style pie. I normally eat 4 pieces of pizza and I think I had 1 ½ pieces of this. The price might be higher than your average pizza chain but it’s 100% worth it! Make sure to check this place out. I will definitely be going back!

Excellent pizza. Nice casual atmosphere. Highly recommend you try this corn meal crust

We are from Seattle and while visiting family in Arcadia, CA, ZELO pizza was highly recommend. I am so glad we had lunch at ZELO. As a professionally Chef I highly recommend you make this a must for excelent food when you’re in the area. The crust was an exceptional flavor and texture expierence that complimented the topping perfectly. I had the corn pizza with roasted garlic and their fresh beat salad. The ingredients are fresh and the dough is made by hand in house every day. You can even order your pizza by the slice and it’s fresh out of the oven not reheated. If I could get one of their pizzas through TSA I get one to take back home with me. *Giggle*. The price of the food was a deal especially for the quality of the food and service. Speaking of service… Travis and Eric (Aka John and Charley) know their food, are a joy to chat with and provide impeccable customer service.
Thanks for everything guys. We will be back the next time we are in town.
:-)
Chef Smile
Kelley Elder

I grew tired of reading reviews with 2 – 3 stars complaining about the crust…
Listen, the guy who owns the place built it based on his rendition of a pizza. If you don’t like corn meal crust, that’s not his fault. He makes a damn fine pizza!
Book marked this place a while back. I drive past it before and after the gym. Needed a carb load night so I ordered the half chicken sausage pizza, a unique taste beyond comparison of other pizzas. This pizza stands alone. The crust is crunchy (my personal preference, so I was delighted) then it’s a little thick, so u get that soft chewiness too, which totally works! Couldn’t taste the cornmeal till the second and third bite and I was tickled.
The sauces are made from scratch, from fresh ingredients, in store, every day. Same goes for dressings and of course the dough. This place is independently owned and operated, another major plus for me. No water down BS at this place. You can taste the love for this mans business. I ordered a side salad and the vinaigrette dressing was perfect! Just enough season, oil, and vinegar.
Listen if your looking for him to compete with Poppa Johns or Pizza Hut… just go there! Those places are full of pre-​made garbage preservatives and such, this is not that place, this is «gourmet pizza» not fast food for fight night.
I respect this mans craft! I appreciate his and his friends customer service (it is obvious he and his friends run the place and that’s another perk for me).
Be open minded about difference and go try a slice!
If your expecting fast food or some pizza you have had before, then only come here when your ready to get out of your small box!

I love this place. This is a Monrovia «destination par excellence» a: must see” spot.
This is not your typical Chicago style «greasy spoon» pepporini and cheese joint guysOK?
Like Monty Python said,
«And now for something completely different!!!»
In a word gang, this is a corn meal crust based pizza. So word up, if you don;t dig tortillla chips, sopes, hard shell tacos, quarachas, corn fritters, corn bread, this aint gonna be your thing,
But if you are a corn maided or a corn king, this pie will put your in PA ROH DICE, paradise
Paradise, I really love these guys cause they a consistantly good, they have great staff who are friendly, alert and competant and the price is right for the great meal youre getting
You can get outta there for about $ 14.00 for half a pie take,
Dont scream, try it first, this aint no Dominos OK? This here is another planet and another galaxy not so far away Luke Skywalker,

Probably one of the more unique pizza joints out there! Their crust is made of cornmeal! The cornmeal surprisingly compliments the toppings well and makes for a great vehicle to hold the abundance of delicious toppings and ooey-​gooey cheese.
You’re allowed to order a half /​half pizza which is awesome if you’re indecisive but really I’ve tried 3 of their pizzas and I’ve been pretty darn satisfied each time!
This time around I ordered the corn pizza and added sausage and roasted garlic each slice was brimming with the toppings and it was pure heaven!
If you’re a pizza purest you should probably stay away, it’s too unique for you but if love all sorts of pizza and trying new things definitely give them a try, you can even wash it all down with beer and wine!

Sweet savory robust delicate celebration! Had the beet salad with the corn pizza, what a culinary adventure. You won’t be disappointed.

It’s too bad I came here craving a TMNT style pepperoni pizza because that’s not what you get when you order a pepperoni pizza here. It’s super cheesy but doesn’t have enough sauce but has delicious ripened tomatoes. I was skeptical about getting the corn pizza because it’s just not pizza. It’s pretty damn amazing. I don’t think we even needed to get it with the sausage added to it. I would have liked more caramelized onions. The combination of unexpected flavors just make your taste buds jump with excitement.
The meatballs are good but skip the spaghetti. The sauce is a bit watery and tasted a bit like it was from a cafeteria. I did end up dipping my pepperoni pizza into the spaghetti sauce to add a bit of flavor.
I’d come back when I’m craving the corn, onion, tomato flavor combination but who knows when that will be.
I did enjoy the skater/​surfer décor and vibe with the location. It made me feel like I was on the westside or even in a snow resort type place.

This place is great! This is my new favorite pizza. I can’t find anyone else who makes a thick crust pizza like these guys do. Staff is friendly and courteous. Try it you won’t regret it!
Jason

This place is so close to my old middle school stomping ground, I can’t believe I never tried it until now!
Parking is… something to be desired. I couldn’t find any designated parking lot, so parking on the street became a necessity. Not a terribly difficult task, but didn’t really with the visit.
The cornmeal crust is very good! It definitely made me want to eat crust and that almost never happens.
We tried half a much-​touted corn pizza and half a spinach pesto pizza (added sausage). The corn one was not bad. The corn one felt like it was missing something (probably why it has its own sausage addition pricing next to it on the menu. The spinach pesto was so flavorful, and the inclusion of sausage definitely made it even better. Much recommended!

I’ve been here twice so far. I remember the experience of my first visit being far more positive than my second visit.
The staff was friendly during both my visits, but the service could be best described as «absentee» during my more recent visit (which I did not remember being the case during my first visit). After bringing us water, taking our order, and delivering our pizza, we were pretty much abandoned.
I had to go up to the counter twice to request service: once to replace our clearly empty bottle of water (which had been sitting empty for several minutes), and a second time to request the check, after no one came to see if we needed anything else after our pizza was long devoured (although I suppose it beat having them bring the check without request).
This has apparently become a restaurant where the customer must be the one to take the initiative in getting service for his/​her table. I’d expect this from a Vietnamese restaurant, but not an Italian one.
During both visits, I ordered a half-​pepperoni/​half-​sausage pizza. The quality of the pizza seems high, and the cornmeal crust adds an interesting and unique dimension to the pizza. However, I’m not entirely convinced that it was worth the $ 25 price tag. Part of me suspects that I may have been happier just grabbing a pizza from Papa John’s instead.
Their zuccotto is delicious. If you have a sweet tooth, I do recommend leaving room for it. It is truly a splendid way to conclude you meal here.
There is plenty of curb parking available across the street. The restroom was not quite scary, but it could definitely be cleaner.
All in all, I am likely to return here again one day … but if I do, it will be to give their pasta a try, and not to dine on their pizza again (whose novelty has already worn out with me). And I do hope the service is more attentive during my 3^rd visit. This place really does have 4/​5-​star potential, but they need to work on earning it again.

Whoops, that was not meant to be. Their use of the term «Italian pizza» is using it loosely.
The texture and taste of crunchy cornmeal is something I love on the bottom of a traditional pizza crust, but a «gourmet» cornmeal crust was simply not right. I find myself leaning towards tradition. Yeast crust = good. Cornmeal dough crust = not.
The crust was hard, what I would imagine a hardtack biscuit would be. It did not break my teeth, but it was dense, heavy, over handled, and tasteless as compared to the more light, NY style, thin cracker crust. More importantly, I missed the soft doughy insides of a thicker yeast crust with the crusty outside and magnificent bready essence.
We ordered one pizza @ $ 24 a pop, 12 inches = 6 slices. This was experimental pizza in my estimation, so we tried two different toppings, the corn, and the sausage. If I had to choose, the sausage was the better.
The corn component reminded me of Trader Joe’s corn out of a can. Not that that is bad, I like TJ corn. The cheeses and marinated red onions were all good. But I would rather have my corn in some other form. Hey, at least I tried what was touted as «the pizza that put them on the map».
The ground sausage topping had good flavor but was not exactly generous in the meat department. It was combined with plenty of tomatoes, onion, bell pepper, and herbs, and of course, cheese. I normally would not allow raw bell pepper on my pizza, but this time I went with the combination they offered just to see. The pepper was thinly sliced, marinated, cooked so it was limp, and not a pervasive flavor. I think it was a good combination… if only it was on the right bread.
We added a broccoli salad, sounded really good, but I found it unsatisfying without having to doctor it. Lots of romaine lettuce, lightly steamed broccoli, fresh mushrooms, black beans, and a rather lackluster garlicky oil dressing. My solution was to spike it with some red wine vinegar (which they graciously brought out for me) and salt and pepper. That helped. I like intense flavor on my greens.
The guys who served us were both extraordinary. I am guessing we encountered «Epic Beard Guy», as Laura S calls him. Slightly spacey, whatever trip he was on, he was still fun and very warm and friendly. The other, tall one, was very efficient and had a beautiful smile. Enjoyed their attentive service.
If this heavy cornmeal thing is considered good and hipster, then I will have to gracefully bow out. My taste buds just don’t get it.
One final straw. Parking is pathetic. You either find parking along the curb in front, which ironically is painted mostly red or green (and not with the intent to honor Italy’s flag), or try to squeeze into possibly 5 parking spots in the back alley. Well Fiddle-​dee-​dee to that.

I love new concepts when it comes to some of my favorites such as pizza. So cornmeal crust? Of course I had to give it a try and found it to be pretty good.
Me and my friends ordered the corn pizza and did a half & half with pepperoni on one side and sausage on the other. When it comes to the pizza as a whole, the crust and the corn isn’t what truly made the pizza delicious in my opinion… its the balsamic onions. Those onions were awesome and added so much flavor to the corn on the pizza. For the meats, I do prefer the sausage over the pepperoni. The corn tended to override the pepperoni while the sausage was able to stand out on its own blending well with the corn and those delicious balsamic onions haha. The service is also great and the pizza is prepared in a timely manner.
Now that I’ve tried the corn, I’m curious about their other pizza’s which will result to more visits. Looking forward to trying the Andouille and the Eggplant on that cornmeal crust.
Dinner 11/​28/​2015

My favorite pizza joint. I can’t live without their corn pizza. The guys who work at Zelo are super chill and attentive. Great service.
You can find me dining at Zelo or picking up my pizza to go at least once a month. I wouldn’t recommend their pastas because they’re pretty mediocre but their salads are generous and tasty.
Zelo is dog friendly!

Not a fan of pizza made out of corn meal. Photo looks good on Unilocal but in actual crust is too thick and dry.
Ordered 3 large pizza, wanted to try all flavors so I ordered 6 half flavors; Sausage, Veggies, Corn, Spinach, Four Cheese and Pepperoni Pizza. However, none of the above flavors is my favorite. Pizza was expensive $ 23 for 6 slices and the largest pizza is not really large unlike some places.

I came here for lunch for the first time today and it will definitely not be my last.
Environment/​Location:
This restaurant looks like a small little place from the outside, but it’s actually a pretty decent sized space. Parking isn’t exactly ideal because you have to park on the street, but I drive by pretty frequently and it’s usually not to crowded. The whole place had a very welcoming vibe. They
Service:
Decent. Our server was great. He was extremely nice and helpful whenever we had questions for him. However, since the restaurant is divided in two, it was kind of hard to get their attention if they weren’t in our half of the restaurant. But overall they were great. They really know how to appeal to their customers (for example, only one of my coworkers ordered a salad, but he brought out extra plates and gave us extra salad so we could all have a little bit as well)
Food:
1 slice…$ 4
half pizza (3 slices)…$ 12
whole pizza (6 slices)…$ 23
–CORNMEAL CRUST! This is so unique and just amazing! All crust should be made of cornmeal! It has soft dough (near your toppings) and the same thickness of the deep dish pizza crusts with the crispy crunch you get from flatbread pizzas. I’m in awe!
–Corn Pizza: This was so good! The corn, eggplant, and onions were all so sweet and juicy! The toppings were also in great portions so it wasn’t too overwhelming. Although there is no marinara sauce on this pizza, it was surprisingly not dry.

–Sausage Pizza: This was ever better! If you’re a fan of sausage then this is the one! Super flavorful! Again, there’s no marinara sauce, yet it was tasted perfectly fine.