When it comes to pizza, Los Angeles has made eye-catching strides with all manner of New York, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Detroit, and Californian styles rising from every corner of the city. Southern California is undergoing a bona fide pizza renaissance, and the new Folks Pizzeria adds a strong contender in Culver City. Originally hailing from Costa Mesa and known for garnering big lines, Folks comes from former Cafe Birdie chef Joey Booterbaugh, who ventured to Orange County in 2019 to create puffy-crusted, modern Neapolitan-style pizzas using high-hydration dough and a Mozza-esque cornicione. The Los Angeles outpost opened earlier this year in Lustig’s former space, where it hums nightly with excited pizza aficionados (even those with day-of reservations often have to wait for their coveted table to free up). Don’t just fixate on the pizzas, though — other parts of the menu, like spicy chicken wings and Caesar salad, remain worth exploring.
People who love to debate the best kinds of pizza (and argue over regional supremacy); sports fans who want to catch a baseball game while having a top-flight pie; Los Angeles’s chicken wing obsessives, who can count Folks’ version among what the best sports bars and pochas in Los Angeles have to offer.
The restaurant doesn’t necessarily accept reservations ahead of time, but you can reserve tables on the Yelp app the day you plan to dine there. If you show up and put your name down, expect to wait at least 30 minutes for a table. The menu doesn’t really have any kid-friendly dishes (unless, of course, they enjoy fancy pizza), so it might be good to pick up a plate of pasta at Pasta Sisters next door afterward.
