A new East Coast inspired pizza spot, serving pizza pies alongside classics like cannolis and baked ziti, has taken over the corner of York Boulevard and Avenue 51 in Highland Park. Bub and Grandma’s Pizza opened Sept. 4 and is currently take-out only.
According to owner Andy Kadin, the seeds of his newest venture, Bub and Grandma’s Pizza, were planted 10 years ago. Kadin said he began Bub and Grandma’s (named after his two grandmothers) as a wholesale bakery in 2015, with a restaurant opening on Eagle Rock Boulevard in 2022.
Kadin said he knew the owners of Town Pizza, the pizza place formerly in this location. According to Kadin, before he opened his own bakery, he was invited to use their ovens during lunch, outside of Town’s operating hours. Kadin said the owners of Town moved out of LA and reached out to Kadin about taking over the pizza business.
“The very first place that I baked my bread outside of my house when I started getting a little more capacity was here,” Kadin said.
Kadin said he had not always imagined opening a pizza place, but that he decided to jump on the opportunity when it presented itself.
“It’s a great corner,” Kadin said. “Obviously, we’re a bread company, so pizza has been part of […] the way we eat at the bakery all the time with leftover dough, screwing around and making pizzas. Also, I’m from New Jersey. Pizza is a very big part of that […] universe, and it seemed appealing to take it for a spin.”
Kadin said his pregnant wife’s due date was mere days after the restaurant opened.
“It’s just absurdity, having a restaurant open within a week of when your wife is due, so that’s happening,” Kadin said. “I just want to focus on that for a little bit.”
Kadin said that the wholesale bakery already supplies pizza dough for Pizzeria Mozza. Kodin said that having a system already in place made it easier to open the pizza spot without the added labor of making dough.
Head chef Jeff Whittaker is from New York and said he’s worked at restaurants that have specialized in Neopolitan-style pizza. Whittaker said that since he and Kadin are both from the East Coast, some of the pizzas, especially the specialty ones, are based around those roots. According to Whittaker, his favorite specialty pizza is the potato pie.
“The Crispy Greens Pie is based off of a dish that’s very hyper–regional from where I’m from in upstate New York. It’s a dish called Utica greens, so it’s the flavors and ingredients of that, but on a pizza,” Whittaker said.
Whittaker said the dough for the classic cannoli on the menu is made in-house, and the ricotta, which is locally sourced, is made fresh each week. Christopher Leer, the head baker for Bub and Grandma’s, developed the cannoli recipe with his advanced pastry knowledge, Whittaker said.
“It’s a good example of everything we’re doing here, where it’s very approachable stuff, very recognizable food, but done with the intent and focus of someone with more of the fine dining background,” Whittaker said.
According to Kadin, besides the specialty pizzas, the toppings offered are very traditional.
“We’ll be expanding [topping options] and also adding vegan and gluten-free options for folks, hopefully soon,” Kadin said.
Kadin said, in East Coast fashion, the pizzas are fired in commercial ovens, which provide really high heat and a short bake, lending to crispy crusts with nice, chewy dough.
“There’s a lot of char, and that scares some people, but it doesn’t actually taste like burning,” Kadin said. “It adds flavor.”
The pizzas are 18 inches — big enough to sell slices, Kadin said.
Customer Sarah K. said she and a friend ordered two cannolis and a pizza with sausage, onion and olive oil.
“It’s very New York, which is great,” K. said.
Kadin said they are currently beginning the process of working on the space for a dine-in option, which will hopefully be done by spring. The restaurant is currently operating from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. daily and has an online order option.
“One of the nice things about this particular spot is it’s been a pizza place for almost 50 years,” Kadin said. “It was Pizza Man, and then Italianos, and then Town, and then us.”
For Kadin, it’s important that Bub and Grandma’s Pizza is bringing something authentic that the community needs, he said.
“I’ve lived 5 minutes from here for sixteen years,” Kadin said. “This is not a marketing project, or an Instagram clout project. […] Having pizza in this very small amount of walkable street that we have in northeast LA — it feels like a match.”
According to Kadin, the goal of Bub and Grandma’s is not to grow much larger.
“It just needs to be something that’s localized, important to the people who interact with it,” Kadin said. “It’s not important to me what happens outside of that.”
Contact Ava LaLonde at lalonde@oxy.edu
