Thursday nights near college campuses are always unpleasant. Embarrassingly drunk students stumbling around, reeking of whatever cheap vodka they managed to sneak into the frat party.
But in darkness there is always light. And in the ugliness that is Thursday nights in Westwood, there is something beautiful called Bella Pita. Bella Pita is an unassuming little storefront on the block neighboring the traffic-causing In-n-out. Their menu is simple: pick your protein, and pick the medium in which it’ll be served. A pita, a wowshi (which, for our intents and purposes, means a pita cut in half), a salad, or a plate. All the goods are self-serve from their mini buffet next to the cashier, so you can load up with cucumbers and tomatoes and a whole host of dressings (when they say “really really hot sauce”, by the way, they mean it).
Bella Pita is an all-time favorite, one of the few places that will occasionally inspire a detour into memory lane these days. Just, probably not on a Thursday night.
the details
| Address | 960 Gayley Ave, Los Angeles, CA |
| Website | http://bellapita.com/ |
| Yelp | https://www.yelp.com/biz/bella-pita-los-angeles |
| Hours | 11am to 3am every day (yes, that’s 3am) |
| Price | $ – wowshis/pita sandwiches start at around $6 |
| Aesthetic | it looks like the perfect nondescript hole in wall pita place every college town deserves |
good to know
Go here for: mediterranean-ish counter-serve fast food, LA style
Order this: chicken wowshi and fried cauliflower. It really hits the spot, especially at 2am after ditching a house party.
Amount of time to spend: you’ll likely be in and out within 15 minutes (much faster than In-n-out, let’s be real)
When to come: any time before midnight, unless you want to deal with drunk college students… unless you are a drunk college student 😏
Parking: ha don’t bother. Ok if you have to do this to yourself, there’s meters along Gayley and Weyburn (though some are 15 min only). Avoid going into where all the apartments are, parking there is a nightmare (steep, everyone is boxed in, and there’s trash everywhere). There’s a public lot on Broxton that is free (for an hour maybe?) before 5pm. If old habits die hard, there’s unlimited (time not space) street parking on Veteran (do not recommend), and there’s 2 hour validated parking at Target (but we’re past that, right?).
Other things to note:
- This place is practically counter-serve only. There’s a couple chairs along the window for “dining in” but most people get it to go.
- Students get a 10% discount with a student ID. Not sure if this is just for UCLA students or not…
Last visited: September 2020
Last updated: May 2022
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