I’m a pizza snob.  I grew up in the New Haven, CT area, which is known for its very distinct and delicious pizza.  Nowhere in the world have I found pizza like I could get in my hometown.  It was a travesty for a great while, but over time I’ve come to accept it.  When I find a restaurant that serves a pie that comes anywhere near the piping hot, juicy, cheesy, fluffy bubbled crustiness of my youth, I celebrate it but it never measures up completely.

(If you’re just here for the pictures, keep scrolling down for more, but beware:  they’ll make you hungry!)

Lucky for Fresh Brothers, their pizza is nothing like New Haven pizza, so they don’t have to compete.  A family affair, Fresh Brothers is the west coast extension of Miller’s Pizza Company in Chicago.  As such, they serve Chicago-inspired pizzas – thin crust and deep dish.  Their menu includes the usual suspects of a Los Angeles pizza place:  buffalo wings, salads, create-your-own pizza and salad combinations, and pre-designed varieties like the margherita pizza.  But something about the pizza here makes it extra tasty.  They take great care with their dough – it’s not hand tossed, but something in the recipe gives it a light texture, not greasy like other deep dish versions.

Fresh Brothers’ newest location opened in Calabasas three weeks ago to great fanfare.  Last week, I was treated to a private pizza making party for me and the kids, and all the pizza I could fit in my gizzard in one hour.  (I got to take the rest home to share with the husband!)  First we decorated pizza boxes, then the kids assembled their own pizzas using pre-formed deep dish rounds.  They spread the sauce, sprinkled the cheese, and placed the toppings (or not).  While we waited for the pizzas to bake, they decorated aprons with fabric markers – where have fabric markers been all my life, by the way?

Mama was treated to tastings of several different varieties of pizza.  I’m not sure Debbie Goldberg, one of the store’s owners, knew what she was getting into when she invited this mommy blogger to sample their wares!  She had the kitchen make me a thin crust “Da Works” pizza (minus the onion), and a gluten-free vegetable pizza so I could taste the difference.

I tasted the kids’ deep dish pizza, too.  I also tasted the super secret recipe Fresh Kids Special pizza sauce.  Several vegetables are blended in, making this sauce extra healthy.  I couldn’t tell the difference!

After the pizza, the kids were treated to a little cupcake decorating session.  Their afternoon was a tiny version of what kids do at a birthday party at Fresh Brothers.  Party packages start at $195 for 12 kids.

You can’t drop into Fresh Brothers for a slice.  The smallest portion is a 7″ personal pizza.  Prices for a whole pie range from $10.95 for a medium thin crust cheese pizza to $25.95 for an extra-large deep dish Miller Pizza Special, described as “the massive meat pie.”  The takeout menu tries to tempt the hungry customer toward the healthy side with a gorgeous picture of a colorful fresh Farmer’s Market Salad, but let’s be honest.  I’m not going to a pizza place for the salad.

My overall judgment of Fresh Brothers Pizza?  Thumbs up.  The cheese is melty and gooey without being greasy.  Toppings taste fresh and were cooked evenly.  Both varieties of crust were perfect.  And the biggest stamp of approval:  my kids ate it.

I’m happy to support this family-owned business.  They have five locations here in So Cal, with two of them here, one in Calabasas and one in Westlake Village.  They deliver!