Apollonia's Pizzeria has spent more than a decade building a cult following from a tiny, cash-only storefront on Wilshire Boulevard, and now the family behind it has opened a second, larger shop in Crenshaw Square — a neighborhood with deep roots for co-owner Linda De Leon, who grew up nearby. The expansion gives the pizzeria room for indoor seating, a bigger kitchen and the kind of pop-up collaborations that were never possible in the original 5176 Wilshire Blvd. space.
Justin and Linda De Leon opened the new Crenshaw Square location, which measures just over 1,200 square feet with a larger kitchen and more indoor seating than the original shop, according to Larchmont Buzz. Justin De Leon signed the lease for the 3860 Crenshaw Blvd. address in October 2025, choosing a 1,250-square-foot footprint with an accompanying 200-space parking lot that allows for indoor dining, live events and food collaborations that were impossible at the Wilshire shop, per Fine Dining Lovers. Justin De Leon said the Crenshaw restaurant felt right the moment he walked into the space, and that he had not originally been planning to open a second restaurant, per Larchmont Buzz.
A Family Name and a Neighborhood Homecoming
Apollonia's is named after Linda De Leon's grandmother and shares its name with the middle name of the couple's daughter, Rio, according to Larchmont Buzz. Linda De Leon grew up in the West Adams/Crenshaw area and remembered riding the bus along Crenshaw while the mall there was still thriving, the outlet reports. She also recalled the neighborhood's transformation and rebuilding after the 1992 LA riots. Justin De Leon, for his part, grew up in the neighborhood surrounding the Wilshire restaurant and lived nearby with Linda when that original shop opened, per the same account.
The Crenshaw Square complex itself carries its own layered history. Built in the mid-20th century, it was once known as the Little Tokyo of Crenshaw, featuring Japanese courtyard gardens and Nisei-owned businesses before evolving into a South LA Black entrepreneurial hub, according to Angels Walk LA. Longstanding community anchors including Earle's and Tak's Coffee Shop still operate in the complex today, the guidebook notes. The new Apollonia's sits in that same historic complex, situated behind Earle's on Crenshaw between Coliseum Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, per Fine Dining Lovers.
From a Teenage Pizza Job to a World Ranking
Justin De Leon got his first pizza job at age 13, and he went on to study art and photography, assisting his father, a professional photographer who worked with the Natural History Museum and documented the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Larchmont Buzz reports. Linda De Leon worked in the music industry with record labels, management companies and concert promoters before leaving to co-run Apollonia's full time, according to the outlet. The original Wilshire shop still features tile floors, artwork, a jukebox and a mural by Los Angeles artist Gronk, the Chicano painter and co-founder of the 1970s art collective ASCO whose work is held in institutions including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and LACMA, according to LA Magazine.
That blend of art-world background and pizza obsession has translated into serious international recognition. Justin De Leon ranked No. 76 on the 2026 Best Pizza Awards list of the world's top 100 pizza chefs, marking his third consecutive year on the list, according to Larchmont Buzz. He had previously ranked No. 58 globally on the organization's 2025 list, per Secret Los Angeles, with the Milan-based awards judged by hundreds of international chefs, critics and food journalists. Linda De Leon said the ranking lets the staff know their work is being acknowledged, Larchmont Buzz reports. The 2025 list was also an international milestone for the city more broadly, as both Apollonia's and West LA's Pizzeria Sei ranked among the world's top 60 pizzerias, according to Time Out.
Square Pies, Vodka Sauce and a Menu That Evolved
The pizzeria's signature square pie — thicker than its round pizzas, with an airy interior and crisp, cheesy edges — has become one of its defining dishes, per Larchmont Buzz. Justin De Leon introduced that Detroit-inspired square pie in 2018, built around an airy, focaccia-like interior ringed by a frico crown of crispy, caramelized cheese baked directly against the pan, according to the Los Angeles Times. The off-menu square pie was initially limited to weekends because of its extended baking and pan-prep time, the Times reported at the time. Both the round and square pies rely on the same starter-based dough, formulated at roughly mid-70% hydration with bulk fermentation and a 24- to 48-hour proofing cycle, according to Pizza Today.
Apollonia's vodka pie, made with the restaurant's house vodka sauce, has become especially popular at the Crenshaw location, Larchmont Buzz reports. Justin De Leon said customers either already know about the square and vodka pies or they do not, according to the outlet. The menu has shifted over the years toward more traditional options, a change from the restaurant's early days, when pizzas were topped with rattlesnake and alligator sausage, per Larchmont Buzz. Today's menu still leans adventurous in places, with options like the Acapulco Gold pie topped with ricotta, mozzarella, pecorino romano, arugula and truffle oil, and the Dirty Agent pie loaded with organic red onion, tomato, duck sausage and bacon sausage, alongside classics like the Mayor's Mistress, topped with pepperoni, Italian sausage, garlic, tomato and basil. The pizzeria's pepperoni pies use Ezzo cup-and-char pepperoni from Ohio, which curls into crisp, oil-holding cups under intense oven heat, and customers frequently customize their pies with off-menu burrata cheese and Mike's Hot Honey, according to Apollonia's Pizzeria.
Subway Access and a Loyal, Sticker-Covered Crowd
For years, the Wilshire shop's survival depended on neighborhood loyalty while Metro construction disrupted the surrounding blocks. Linda De Leon said that customer loyalty helped sustain the restaurant through years of Metro construction, and she and Justin recalled the uncertainty over whether Wilshire or Sycamore streets were actually closed at any given time, according to Larchmont Buzz. That disruption gave way to new opportunity in May 2026, when Metro's D Line Subway Extension Section 1 officially opened for passenger service, launching three new underground stations along Wilshire Boulevard including a stop at Wilshire/La Brea directly adjacent to Apollonia's original location, according to LA Metro. The $10 billion transit expansion extends heavy rail service from Koreatown through Miracle Mile to Beverly Hills, per the same agency.
The new subway line now brings customers from around Los Angeles directly to the pizzeria's door, Larchmont Buzz reports. Linda De Leon said customers ride the Metro D from LACMA and arrive still wearing their museum stickers, according to the outlet. The Wilshire shop, which occupies a long-vacant storefront just east of La Brea, draws a wide mix of regulars and visitors — museum-goers, tourists, Angelenos, Dodger fans, entertainment industry staff, retirees and families — and Korean tour groups have recently shown up with TikTok screenshots pointing out exactly which items they want to try, per Larchmont Buzz. A line typically forms around the building before the noon opening, the outlet reports, and Justin De Leon said the restaurant still sees customers who first visited in its early days, some of whom now return with their own children or grandchildren.
Staying Independent While Growing
Despite the expansion and the global accolades, the De Leons have been clear about what they are not changing. Linda De Leon described Apollonia's as a true mom-and-pop business, and the couple said they built it together without partners or outside funding and plan to keep operating that way going forward, according to Larchmont Buzz. Apollonia's earned its following mostly through online channels and word of mouth, the outlet notes, including pop-ups with Mike's Hot Honey and appearances serving pies at FamilyStyle Fest and Pizza City Fest.
The Crenshaw location also sits close to one of the largest community gatherings in Southern California. The annual Taste of Soul family festival, which took place on Crenshaw Boulevard the weekend before Larchmont Buzz's report, draws an estimated 350,000 attendees each October, making it the region's largest one-day free street festival, according to LAist. Founded in 2005 by Danny Bakewell Sr., the festival spans nearly three miles of Crenshaw Boulevard with more than 100 food vendors, LAist reports. Both Apollonia's locations are open Wednesday through Sunday, with the original Wilshire shop running noon to 2:30 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. and remaining cash-only, according to Larchmont Buzz. Apollonia's merchandise, including t-shirts, hoodies and hats, is available at both locations, and menus and updates are posted at apolloniaspizzeria.com and on Instagram at @apolloniaspizza, the outlet notes.
