Ghisallo

Founded by chef David Rodriguez, who first cut his teeth in the kitchen at Pizzana, Ghisallo serves the best pizza in Santa Monica. These days, Casey Lane (an alum of Venice’s now-closed Tasting Kitchen and West Hollywood’s dearly departed Viale de Romani) offers two unique pizza styles here in conjunction with Jyan Isaac Bakery next door: a hybridized Neapolitan-style made with wild yeasted dough, whole and made to order, plus thin-crust New York-inspired slices available at the counter during lunch. Locals gravitate towards dining on the back patio, where pies come fresh from the oven and are topped with high-quality ingredients like buffalo mozzarella and peaches, but you could just as easily drop in for lunch and take a couple of slices to go for an afternoon at the beach.