Los Angeles where to shop

[TonyClifton]

Hey all,

I'm here in Los Angeles, the eastside, and been ordering my ezzo and even my grande cheese. I feel like my markets are definitely lacking in provolone and mozzarella options to make a cheese blend and what else can I do for pepperoni?

Anyone have any good suggestions for somewhere I can go local rather then ordering my cheese and ezzo products? Just it's more expensive and I really hate the excessive packaging that comes along with ordering food items.

Thanks so much!

[halfprice]

Hey all,

I'm here in Los Angeles, the eastside, and been ordering my ezzo and even my grande cheese. I feel like my markets are definitely lacking in provolone and mozzarella options to make a cheese blend and what else can I do for pepperoni?

Anyone have any good suggestions for somewhere I can go local rather then ordering my cheese and ezzo products? Just it's more expensive and I really hate the excessive packaging that comes along with ordering food items.

Thanks so much!

Wish I could find some enzo locally

[jvp123]

Hey all,

I'm here in Los Angeles, the eastside, and been ordering my ezzo and even my grande cheese. I feel like my markets are definitely lacking in provolone and mozzarella options to make a cheese blend and what else can I do for pepperoni?

Anyone have any good suggestions for somewhere I can go local rather then ordering my cheese and ezzo products? Just it's more expensive and I really hate the excessive packaging that comes along with ordering food items.

Thanks so much!

Would love to find some grande in LA too.

[PizzaEater101]

Would love to find some grande in LA too.

You can buy Grande in Los Angeles.

[pixelforest]

You can buy Grande in Los Angeles.

Can you share where you've found it?

my search so far led me to Tama Trading who carries the two things I'm looking for currently - hormel rosa grande (uncut) and grande WMM (loaves).  They seemed willing to deal with me for will-call, but they aren't able to do less than a case which in the case of the WMM means around 25 kilos of cheese which is simply outside my ability to refrigerate or freeze.  I asked if they could refer me to markets they sell those things to and got two leads:

Cortina's in Anaheim - https://cortinasitalianfood.com/anaheim
Cavaretta's in Canoga Park - https://www.cavarettasdeli.com/

I have an e-mail out to the person at Tama that I spoke with to see if he can find any other leads.

[PizzaEater101]

Can you share where you've found it?

my search so far led me to Tama Trading who carries the two things I'm looking for currently - hormel rosa grande (uncut) and grande WMM (loaves).  They seemed willing to deal with me for will-call, but they aren't able to do less than a case which in the case of the WMM means around 25 kilos of cheese which is simply outside my ability to refrigerate or freeze.  I asked if they could refer me to markets they sell those things to and got two leads:

Cortina's in Anaheim - https://cortinasitalianfood.com/anaheim
Cavaretta's in Canoga Park - https://www.cavarettasdeli.com/

I have an e-mail out to the person at Tama that I spoke with to see if he can find any other leads.

I can share with you.  You went to my go to place, Tama.  I don't think in terms of Kilos, I am American, but in pounds I recall they require you to spend something like $96 or so for loafs, how many that is I don't know but way more I need to spend and can use and store.  So my contact at Tama offered me shredded and all I needed to buy was one bag which was $20 for a 5 pound bag.  I would prefer a loaf and shred my own but I do like Grande so I just went with shredded.  My contact at Tama suggested I buy a box of pepperoni so I did.  This was like 7 months ago and I still have a lot.  It is Swiss brand and it's great. 

Recently I just bought a loaf of Bella Rosana LMWM at Costco Business.  I have used it in the past and it's very good.  I may go back to Tama and get some shrreded  Grande again.  I like the Bella tho so maybe stick with that.  I have to see if it melts the same as Grande.  I feel the Bella Rosana melts very nicely but I need to see if it melts with that orange color like Grande.  When it gets to the point of orange that is when the Grande classic flavor comes out.  Until you get that orange it's sort of bland.  i want to see if the Rosano gets that orange.  I made a pie with Rosano and didn't get the orange but tha'ts because I was doing a parbake experiment.  So I need to bake it like I do the Grande pies and see if I get the orange.

[pixelforest]

Wish I could find some enzo locally

Surfas in mid city sells pre-sliced vacuum packed ezzo, just picked some up from them a few days ago. 

[pixelforest]

It seems like there are enough of us in this thread that we could split off a case of Grande from Tama if everyone wanted to get a couple of the WMM loaves.  I believe one case is 8 loaves. 

[PizzaEater101]

It seems like there are enough of us in this thread that we could split off a case of Grande from Tama if everyone wanted to get a couple of the WMM loaves.  I believe one case is 8 loaves.

If we can find four of us here locally in So Cal then yes splitting a case of 8 is very reasonable. 

Let's take a head count.  I just bought a loaf of Bella Rosano so I am good for a month but if we were to buy a case who is in?

[PizzaEater101]

Here is Bella Rosano.  very good.  I will make a pie Saturday and see if I can get the same melt and flavor as Grande.  I know uncooked they taste a little different but cooked I want to see what I can get.

[pixelforest]

If we can find four of us here locally in So Cal then yes splitting a case of 8 is very reasonable. 

Let's take a head count.  I just bought a loaf of Bella Rosano so I am good for a month but if we were to buy a case who is in?

i'm in for 2 loaves of grande WMM if a split were to be arranged.  plus if someone wanted to go splits on hormel rosa grande i'd be all for it.

[pixelforest]

spoke to cavaretta's (canoga park) on the phone, they don't stock the rosa grande (they carry margherita sticks though) but they do have grande WMM loaves and will sell arbitrary sizes or slices - $6.99/lb. 

cortina's (anaheim) does not have the rosa grande either, but does have grande WMM loaves @ $41.39 for the full 7lb.  they normally stock rosa grande and expect it might be back in stock friday.

if we can manage a little mini LA group buy from tama the savings will be nice, and probably a much shorter drive for everyone since the two delis are way out in the sticks. 

[PizzaEater101]

spoke to cavaretta's (canoga park) on the phone, they don't stock the rosa grande (they carry margherita sticks though) but they do have grande WMM loaves and will sell arbitrary sizes or slices - $6.99/lb. 

cortina's (anaheim) does not have the rosa grande either, but does have grande WMM loaves @ $41.39 for the full 7lb.  they normally stock rosa grande and expect it might be back in stock friday.

if we can manage a little mini LA group buy from tama the savings will be nice, and probably a much shorter drive for everyone since the two delis are way out in the sticks.

That is a good idea.  As for me I can't now because I recently bought a loaf of Bella Rosano at Costco business that should last awhile plus I have no room in the freezer.  But you have a good idea.

[PizzaSean]

Looks like people have already mentioned Tama Trading a few times. I had luck with them selling me a case (10 lb) of Rosa Grande Stick a couple of months ago. They said there was a shortage and they charged $8.25/lb which seemed high to me compared to other resources that seemed to price it a little more like $6-7/lb that are located in the northeast US or for wholesale.

If you're looking for a quick fix and need some Rosa Grande Stick for a little more (maybe more like $10-13/lb, but I forget), there's a spot that seems to stock it in Culver City (they also are supplied by Tama Trading, according to Tama). It's called Sorrento Italian Market. They also had some LM mozz loaves that I tried that were good, but I forget the pricing.

Regarding Cheese:

Restaurant Depot is currently wide open to the public and there are so many locations scattered throughout LA county and beyond. User Jsaras advised me that Van Nuys, CA RD carries the Saputo Gold and I've been loving that option lately. I haven't had Grande to bake with in a long time, so I can't really compare it directly, but I'd say they both scratch a similar itch for me when it comes to NY style pies.

Wholesale not open to public:

I'm not really too informed when it comes to these options as I am just "public" and don't have accounts with any wholesalers. That said, I spoke with a helpful rep from Hormel when trying to source Rosa Grande and he pointed me to the following options for those of you who have restaurants: Jacmar, Sysco, Shamrock, PFG & Tama. Apparently Jacmar had been open to the public during early COVID and they have Grande Cheese, too. Bummer that they're no longer open to the public! I missed out.

[PizzaEater101]

I have seen Saputo Gold at RD in Pasadena (CA) but shredded.  Never saw the loaf at RD.  Was it shredded or loaf you saw?

[PizzaSean]

I have seen Saputo Gold at RD in Pasadena (CA) but shredded.  Never saw the loaf at RD.  Was it shredded or loaf you saw?

I've never seen shredded! I've been to Pasadena and all I've found was Supremo and Galbani and no Saputo of either type.

At RD Van Nuys it's always loaf. It's been in stock every single time except for once out of maybe 10 trips I've made there so far.

I also learned that if you go on instacart.com you can enter addresses in different locations and view the stock of the RD/Jetro in different locations. It's probably not fool proof but it gives you an idea if they have something in stock or not at least. I'm guessing phone calls probably do the same job, now that I type this out.


Price for Saputo Gold loaves seems to be higher every time I go. It was $3.20 in Sept and $3.89 yesterday. I think yesterdays case price was 3.71 if you bought a box of 6 loaves.

[PizzaEater101]

I've never seen shredded! I've been to Pasadena and all I've found was Supremo and Galbani and no Saputo of either type.

At RD Van Nuys it's always loaf. It's been in stock every single time except for once out of maybe 10 trips I've made there so far.

I also learned that if you go on instacart.com you can enter addresses in different locations and view the stock of the RD/Jetro in different locations. It's probably not fool proof but it gives you an idea if they have something in stock or not at least. I'm guessing phone calls probably do the same job, now that I type this out.

Thanks for the info on Instacart I will try it out.  If Van Nuys has it I will go there for it.  I can drive there in 30 minutes non-traffic conditions.  I have heard so much good about that cheese.  Although I did like Grande I found that Bella Rosano is just as good and easier to get.  So I am looking forward to trying Saputo Gold too.  Thanks.

[PizzaSean]

For those who are also noting the rising cheese prices, Walter posted this thread recently https://www.pizzamaking.com/forum/index.php?topic=66066.0

[PizzaEater101]

I went to Pasadena RD and asked if I wanted the Saputo Gold can they just order it for me since RD has it in their system but the manager said no.  They have the shredded but I prefer the loaf.  Manager was very nice.  He said they didn't sell it because they had it once but it didn't sell.  They took a loss by blowing it out just to unload it.  They said the big seller is the California Gold.  He said some brands sell more and different locations.  He also said that the Van Nuys store is the busiest RD in So Cal.  He said call Van Nuys before I go to make sure they have it in stock before I go.  I still have enough Bella Rosano so don't need any now. 

[pixelforest]

Looks like people have already mentioned Tama Trading a few times. I had luck with them selling me a case (10 lb) of Rosa Grande Stick a couple of months ago. They said there was a shortage and they charged $8.25/lb which seemed high to me compared to other resources that seemed to price it a little more like $6-7/lb that are located in the northeast US or for wholesale.

I ended up going to tama and grabbing a case of rosa grande and a case of grande WMM, the rosa grande was $7.50/lb x 10lbs, the case of grande WMM was $4.75/lb x 54.3lbs (8 loaves).  Cash sale, will-call, they had it pulled pretty quickly as I was there about 20 minutes after calling my order in.

I wouldn't hesitate to go there again, although it may be some time before I get through this purchase as I believe I've got about 70 pizzas worth of cheese on hand now.