Carlos Pizza House

I ordered a pastramy pizza for the first time in trying this place.
Where i live its really hard to find parking close by the house, if i get lucky ill find one a block away, for this reason on some sundays i refuse to move my car and order food for delivery.
This time i wanted a place that delivered drinks. Big plus for me!
The reason i give out a 4 rating, because the bread under one pizza was soggy, other than that it was delish!
Will def have them in my contacts list.

It would be 4 stars but the wings were not good at all. We ordered 10 wings and all of them were fatty. We couldn’t eat them. It was like eating lard. Pizza is 5 stars. Go for pizza not wings.

First time in Downey. and my friend took me. I a very picky when it comes to pizza, this pizza pleased. Sausage, green pepper and mushroom was very good. It was cooked evenly and you could taste each ingredient.
The atmosphere was warm and inviting, with low lights. The feeling in the house was homey and staff was friendly and helpful. I love the family that owned the business, they since, passed away. Their photo adornes the wall.
I can’t wait to visit you again soon.

Carlo’s Pizza has been a standout place to eat for over 60 years. You can have pizza if you want but no one comes close to their sandwiches. Forget about five dollars footloose and get a real sandwich with fresh ingredients. I recommend the hot sub. If pizza or a sandwich isn’t what you are looking for try a full dinner or a calzone. I’ve had nearly everything on the menu and have never been disappointed. To go or dine in. You will enjoy looking at all of the old photos if you dine in. Nostalgia galore.

First time eating here,
Just ordered for delivery tonight since it started raining and I have to say it is the best pizza ever!!!

Great pizza and excellent service. Just had lunch there and the pizza couldnt have been better. If you blink when you drive by, you’d miss it, its tucked away inside a small mall, so just pay attention when trying to find it.
Today we ordered the Carlos Special and i can honestly say was probably the best pizza we’ve had in the Downey area in quite a while!
Two of us had a decent sized pizza and a couple of Peroni’s for about $ 26, tax and tip included.

Review based on a series of visits, including the recent issue which included, Carlos, I believe he is the owner/owner’s son. Up to now, I would say the food had been good, consistent, and affordable. My issue is that we ordered two large pizza’s (one cheese only the second w/​pepperoni) for my nephew’s school birthday party. I called in to place the order, I was told by the gentleman on the phone, Carlos, that the pizzas would be available for pick-​up in approximately 25 – 30 mins, great, no problem, I was there within the next 20 minutes.
When I entered the store, I was greeted and asked if I needed help, I told them that I had placed a phone order and was there for a pickup. I waited another 10 minutes before I was called to the front cashier to pay, great, right on time. I always check the pizza, especially if its for the kids, simply because of the toppings, elementary kids are quite picky! As I open the top box, which included pepperonis, it smelled and looked great; as I opened the second one, cheese only, I noticed an odd black line in the center of the pizza. After a closer look, I lift a slice of the pizza in front of Carlos asking him if it looked a bit odd, WE BOTH looked as PIECES of tangled hair, stretched from the pizza, as it was a piece of mozzarella cheese. I immediately dropped the cheese pizza slice back down and told Carlos that the odd line was hair and that I did not want the pizza anymore.
To parraphrase, he immediately looked away and said, «I dont know what you’re talking about.» What do you mean you don’t know?! We just saw the hair melted/​cooked within the pizza slice, on multiple slices which was handed to me within no more than a few minutes and the boxes never left our sight. He then says, «that’s not us, you must have put it there.» I was shocked. It was always comical, how is it that you hand me something, I inspect it in front of you, I notice something odd, we then look at it together, you see it, deny you saw it, then acknowledge that there’s something there but that I must have somehow placed it there? Really? Not logical. When I asked for my money back, he refused to and did not offer any other solution.
I told him to keep the pizzas, told him I would not be returning, and thanked for his wonderful service. He told me go f’myself. Thanks Carlos.

Called in an order yet had to wait another 10 – 15 minutes. It was so hot inside I should have stayed in my car. For the price the portions were small but decent. Probably won’t go back.

The food is okay, and the service is good. I still prefer Corleons italiian food. However if you like to watch the dodgers Game, than this place is for you

First time here. When we walked in it smelled AMAZING! The waitress is beyond attentive and the food is DELICIOUS! Other than the loud guy cheering like he’s in a huge sports bar it’s a pretty cool little spot. We will definitely be back :)

The giant square pizza I think its called the party size for some reason comes out better then the regular sizes.

Pizza is delicious! Got a meat lovers and a half cheese and half pineapple and bell pepper. Yummy crust, service was great and fast. Got a pitcher of Stella (large) for 12.50 and it’s all reasonable priced. I would come back for sure!

Carlos pizza is the best. It has been a staple in the community for 50 years probably because the ingredients are so fresh, the flavor is amazing, and the quality is top notch. My family and I Drive for 20 minutes about once a week because we wouldn’t dream of going anywhere else. Thank you Carlo for having such a fine establishment and congratulations on 50 years.

3.5. Overall, pretty good. I went in last night and ordered a pepperoni, sausage, & mushroom pizza. The crust could use some work in the softness and quality department, and the sauce could DEFINITELY use some work (tasted like spaghetti sauce out the jar) but the toppings were good, especially the cheese.
I like going to local hole in the walls as much as possible, but the downside is that the customer service is just NOT there. That is the main reason I cannot give 4 stars. Homeboy looked a little too bored and never smiled. He basically just looked at me when it was my turn to order, there was no «What can I get you?» or anything. He even wore a f$#!%!^ baseball cap as he helped make the pizzas. I mean it made him kind of cute, but where’s the professionalism lmao. He barely said goodbye to me. I know these types of places are locally owned, but the customer service should still be there no matter what. Just because you don’t answer to a big corporation doesn’t mean you can act like you’re just making food at your house. Btw, 14″ is NOT a large as it says, that’s a freaking medium. And the «giant» is really a small large. Prices are decent though so that gets a pass.
Nonetheless, I’d probably be back. There’s a dollar charge for cards, ranch costs 75 cents and was pretty thin. I should have gone with my first instinct and went to Tam’s for their ranch haha.

Regular Carlos customer!
Love their pizza && spaghetti. meatballs are delicious
Tried the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, it was really good… could’ve used more chicken ;/

We ordered delivery.
Our screaming child wasn’t going to allow us to all go out to dinner this evening.
It was $ 30 (including tip) for the smallest buffalo chicken pizza, a roast beef sandwich, and fried zucchini.
We very much enjoyed the pizza and sandwich. They looked appetizing… and were delicious! They were both bigger than we thought they’d be as far as portion size.
I took off one star because of the fried zucchini. I love fried zucchini, and unfortunately, the ones we got were just not good.
The service was quicker than expected.
Will we order from here again? Yes!

45 minute wait for order in store because guy forgot i paid. Pizza was fine. Horrible first impression though.
3 stars cause pizza wasnt as bad as that incident. Got a free soda so i guess…

Allow me to tell you why I think Carlo’s in Downey deserves 4 stars — which is a very good rating IMO.
My usual Friday lunch date with my daughter & best friend took place just before noon April 4, 2014. We were a little shocked by the area. I mean, it’s not ghetto but it’s not Downey Landing either. I grew up in a dirty old oilfield town, so this «scenery» doesn’t deter me… not even the liquor store next door & the small, strange parking lot deterred me.
We walked in and the place was completely empty. No sign of any workers. However, there is a blaring TV in the main seating area with the opening home game almost set to begin at Dodger Stadium. We hear a voice, but we weren’t sure what was said. So, we just found a place to sit including a highchair for my baby girl, then a large man, now known to be Carlo, came out to turn the blaring TV down. He apologized for the loudness, but my daughter and I both were deck out in Dodger gear so it bothered us hardly at all. In fact, I appreciate business owners who support their local teams. Carlo proceeds to give us some laminated menus. We both ordered some Henry Weinhard root beer. Carlo said that they would be served with ice cold mugs. Sure enough, the root beers came out quickly. And not only were the mugs ice cold, but the root beer was cold as well. Nice touch.
A couple of guys came in and ordered a pitcher of beer. The prices on pitchers of draft beer, by the way, are very affordable here! Then Carlo took our order. We both ordered calzones, but I opted for the three-​topping calzone which was $ 8.99… meatball, jalapeño, and onion. You could also get a 1-​topping or 2-​topping calzone, but that’s just boring.
I wanted to order a salad, but refrained from doing so. Good thing I didn’t because the calzones are huge. We did not wait longer than 10 minutes for our order to come out hot and fresh. The bottoms and edges were a little crispy and slightly burnt, but I didn’t mind that at all. I only hoped for two things: that there was a little more sauce and the jalapenos were a little more spicy and flavorful. Otherwise, this was a hearty lunch meal for both of us.
We took our time eating, then suddenly a few different small groups of people… all mostly Dodger fans! (By the way, I would only recommend groups of at most six people as the restaurant is fairly small.) During our meal, Carlo and another gentleman checked on us frequently. My friend and I both ended up taking some leftover calzones home. Normally I could probably eat one all by myself, but I’m currently almost 5 months pregnant and I tend to eat lots of small meals throughout the day. See the picture I posted of mine!
While I am not sure how the service is when the place is packed, we sure appreciated the small hometown restaurant feel at Carlo’s.
All of the pictures hanging on the walls were a nice touch as well.
The only real downside was the extra $ 1 charge for using a credit card when we paid out. Many places in the LA area tend to do this. It’s sort of a drag to me.
I can only recommend the calzone here as we did not try any of the baked pastas or pizzas, but there are also a few salads and sandwiches on the menu that I would like to try someday.
It does have a grade A poster by the Health Department.
Review #226

Homemade Italian with a homely feel. The pizza was not the best but the other dishes are great and the garlic bread is amazing!
Reasonably priced… 4 of us eating plus 6ish beers and our total was only 55

I wish there was a NO STAR RATING! This place is family owned its just too bad this particular family does not care for «people of color»!!
The BLATANT RACISM was shocking! I am a black female… I came to get some pizza on St. Patrick’s Day and was IGNORED by everyone my first 15 min… when the owner FINALLY opened her mouth she said, «Great, now we have BLACK IRISH what’s next?» I couldn’t believe my ears! Did she just say that to me… and truth is. YES, my grandpa is ½ Irish… this place USED to get my vote until their TRUE COLORS decided to shine brighter than the GREEN I was wearing! BOOO to this establishment and the RACISTS that run the place! Who’s STILL a racist in 2013? NOT COOL!
** So someone («Hip P»)from this establishment RECENTLY «contacted me» to inform me that Carlos is under «New Management»…and «suggested» that I REMOVE this review… This was MY EXPERIENCE so I will NOT remove it, but I will revisit and HOPE that things have changed for the BETTER, but I’m NOT holding my breath considering «HIP P» was RUDE as well… this time via « Unilocal”** if things are better I have NO problem saying so…