Man vs. Mannion (Man Edition)

As an ordinary American from the Midwest, pizza to me has always been the go-to meal for when my parents didn’t feel like cooking. I spent my childhood only ever enjoying the Neapolitan delights from Pizza Hut and Papa John’s; to be honest, these are still the pies I prefer. Gastronomes with palettes much more refined than mine debate the merits of the various styles of pizza as if they were on opposing sides of a gruesome civil war; some espouse Chicago deep dish as “Mama’s true creation” (okay, no they don’t, I made this up), whereas New Yorkers defend their long, flat slices as the only good way to enjoy this particular combination of bread, cheese, and tomato sauce.

I do not understand this debate, nor do I really understand the true cultural intricacies of pizza. However, I do understand that pizza is pizza, and pizza is good, so when Tom invited me out to try Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana on Lake, I of course said yes. Arriving at the restaurant, my first impression was that the place had to be expensive. Settebello is decorated in a very hipster-like industrial manner with hints of modernism. Every wall is lined with exposed brick, and ductwork peeks through the open ceiling, which, in the year 2024, are signs that this place is meant for twenty-seven year old software engineers on a date night. In the center of the restaurant stands a bar with a large marble countertop, but I cannot speak to the quality of their drinks.

The booth we were seated at was notably comfortable for a restaurant, and the table was large enough to fit the large amount of food we would soon consume. At this point, I noticed that Settebello was a little loud—not outrageously so, but I wouldn’t recommend trying to have any super intimate conversations here. The service was completely fine, although it took a little while to get our food ordered and water to come out.

The first dish served was called involtini, arugula and goat cheese wrapped in prosciutto with a balsamic glaze. The involtini was very herby, and while I enjoyed the freshness of the greens, especially with the balsamic glaze, I wish there had been a higher meat and cheese to arugula ratio. I’d call this food fine, but not something I’d order again. Next, I tried the focaccia, which had some herbs rubbed on it (or something like that). Honestly, the focaccia was just that: focaccia. It was completely unnoteworthy, just bread. Unfortunately, I fear that this sentiment towards Settebello’s food continued with the large majority of what I ate; while the food here is not bad, it’s also not anything to write home about. One dish that was quite good, however, was the arancini, fried risotto balls with mozzarella stuffed inside. The arancini was hearty and tasted very comforting, by far my favorite food I ate at Settebello. I followed up the arancini with the caprese, although I won’t cast any judgment on this because I hate tomatoes and don’t feel like my assessment would be fair. The last appetizer I tried was the polpette (meatballs). While the meatballs were cooked quite nicely and were incredibly juicy, they lacked seasoning, and I was disappointed with the all-too-sweet tomato sauce they were served with.

Of course, the pizza was the main attraction here at Settebello, so I made sure to give every pie a try. I first tasted the margherita pizza, and, to be honest, was a little disappointed. While this is a perfectly serviceable pizza, and I would eat this if served to me gladly, it, again, was just fine. The sauce was a little too sweet, and the dough was incredibly oily. In fact, with every pizza, the dough was far too slippery, and all of the toppings would just slide off as though they were children on a waterslide. Simply trying to take a piece of pizza was a Herculean task; the slices weren’t cut very well and had no structural integrity whatsoever, so each piece I grabbed fell apart like gravel in my hands. After the margherita, I set my sights on the Settebello, which had crushed tomatoes, pancetta, sausage, mushrooms, pine nuts, mozzarella, basil, and olio. This was my favorite pizza, although the same issues with the dough still stood. I enjoyed the toppings on this pie, though again, I don’t know if it’s something I’d go out of my way to eat again. The last slice I tried was from the vico pizza, with sausage, roasted fennel, red onions, mascarpone, mozzarella, basil, and olio. I will say that I did not enjoy this pizza; I found the mascarpone overwhelmed the rest of the toppings in a negative way.

Overall, Settebello Pizzeria Napoletana was just okay. I didn’t find anything to be notably awful, but with so many amazing Italian offerings in the LA area, I can’t think of many reasons to choose to go here. Settebello has a nice atmosphere, and its price point is actually quite reasonable, but I would probably not dine here again, simply because there are better options available.