Flickr/Bitman

Just look at all those nutritious veggies!

Those Democrats. They just won't drop that ridiculous "pizza is not a vegetable" thing. Fox News reports that Rep. Jared Polis, a Democrat from Colorado, has proposed legislation that would stop pizza being counted as a vegetable in public school lunches. The SLICE (School Lunch Improvements for Children's Education) Act also would allow the federal government to set nutritional standards for school lunches.

Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture proposed a similar rule that would have prevented pizza from being counted as a vegetable in meals, but Congress succumbed to lobbying from the frozen-food industry and blocked it. As a result, frozen-pizza manufacturers are still able to have their product counted as a "vegetable" in public school lunches because it contains tomato paste. (See also: "ketchup is a vegetable," from the Ronald Reagan days.)

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Domino's

Domino's new "gluten-free" crust

Domino's is proud to be the first national pizza delivery chain to introduce a gluten-free pizza crust for their "choice consumers." There's just one little hitch: They can't guarantee the pizza is actually gluten-free. So it's not recommended for those with celiac disease, but rather, only for those with "mild gluten sensitivity," Domino's said in a statement.

We're not sure what interest frat boys and stoners would have in a gluten-free crust anyway. It comes with the appetizing slogan: "Finally a gluten-free crust that doesn't taste like the box it comes in." (Apparently "doesn't taste like cardboard" was already taken.) The crust, made of water, rice starch, rice powder, potato starch and olive oil, will be offered in nearly all of Domino's 5,000 U.S. operations.

The pizza costs $12, about $3 more than the gluten-filled option (just lost the frat boy/stoner market). One slice of a 10-inch pepperoni pizza has 170 calories, 3.5 grams of saturated fat and 410 milligrams of sodium.

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G. Snyder

The Classic Chicago

Are you familiar with Hollywood Pies, the Chicago-style deep-dish pizza operation that operates in semi-secrecy? We were big fans when we got our first taste late last year outside a nondescript building west of downtown -- a crispy, cheesy, sauce-drenched pizza that weighed about as much as a manhole cover.

Since opening in early 2011, Hollywood Pies has changed locations thrice: First was a small space in West Hollywood just off La Cienega, then a downtown location, then another unmarked address near the intersection of Pico and Robertson that popped up about a month ago.

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Guzzle & Nosh

pizza at 800 Degrees

Can pizza be the cure to cancer? According to a new study by researchers at Long Island University, the herb oregano, a key ingredient in most pizza sauces, can potentially be used to treat prostate cancer.

"We know that oregano possesses antibacterial as well as anti-inflammatory properties, but its effects on cancer cells really elevate the spice to the level of a super-spice like turmeric," said Dr. Supriya Bavadekar, assistant professor of pharmacology.

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Anne Fishbein

Guanciale pizza at Sotto

Before they opened Sotto last year, Steve Samson and Zach Pollack went direct to Naples and hauled in all the raw materials to build a proper pizza oven -- that would be 15,000 pounds worth of cement, bricks and Vesuvian sand. So heavy were these building blocks that the delivery truck nearly toppled over when it came time to unload the parts. The truck eventually was righted, as was the world of Los Angeles pizza.

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SliceTruck

Running a food truck is somewhat like running a test kitchen. Based on popularity, the truck either dies off or becomes a trendy brick-and-mortar restaurant. Luckily for SliceTruck, which rolled out in 2009, it now has a sit-down restaurant on Sawtelle. "We looked at this space early on and weren't sure if we'd be rejected by the neighborhood due to the fact that it was Little Osaka and we might be eroding the culture of the area by coming in," said owner Dave Hanley.

The location was appealing to the owner because there's good foot traffic and a "real neighborhood feel," and it's less obvious than being on a major street such as Wilshire or Santa Monica Boulevard. The restaurant, which replaced a long-standing boba tea shop, is open Monday-Saturday from 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. and will be closed on Sundays (probably until football season starts). PR reps have announced that the pizza joint will now be making all of its pies with KAMUT brand khorasan wheat crusts.

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Amy Silverstein

Fresh Brothers matzah pizza

For people who have been observing Passover since Friday night, right about now you might be experiencing signs of pizza withdrawal. Fear not. Fresh Brothers Pizza has a fix for you --- a special matzah pizza, available until the holiday ends Saturday night. (We'll digress for a moment to note how many spellings there are for the traditional unleavened Passover bread substitute --- matzah, matza, matzo, matzoh, plural matzot...)

"When you keep Passover, it's difficult to eat out. We always end up eating in or bringing lunch to work. So now, those who like to eat out can still do it during the week of Pesach," says Fresh Brothers founder Adam Goldberg, who runs the company along with his brother Michael. (Third brother, Scott, a restaurateur in Chicago, develops the chain's recipes.)

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Guzzle & Nosh/Flickr

Chanterelles Squash Pizza at Olio Pizzeria and Cafe

So far in our food flowchart adventures, we've assembled diagrams to try to organize the many, many choices you have for Vietnamese food and fried chicken. Today, we tackle the pizza landscape of Los Angeles, with its fantastic variety of New York-style slices, Chicago pies and pizzas fashioned in the Italian tradition (Neapolitan and otherwise). Hopefully, this guide will point you in the right direction when you know you want a piece of a pie, but just don't know where to dough.

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Screenshot of Alton Brown's Twitter page

A car slammed into popular Echo Park restaurant Pizza Buona shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, shattering the glass window in front, smashing through tables and chairs and sending a pregnant woman to the hospital.

The dining room was empty at the time, but a 20-year-old pedestrian was dragged when a red Acura smashed into the pizzeria. She sustained minor injuries, reports NBC Los Angeles, which has pictures of the crash shot by Pizza Buona owner Israel Palacios.

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