Excerpt:
Some say that L.A. is having its pizza moment. Big Al's Halal Pizzeria entered the pizza fray on Saturday, Feb. 2 with a grand opening block party. Although, you might ask,"What exactly is halal pizza?"
The second question you may ask is "Why halal pizza and in Maywood of all places?"
Halal means permitted or lawful according to Sharia (Islamic) laws. Halal pizza is actually a pretty common fast food item in North Africa and Turkey; and their diasporic communities in Europe. North Africans and Turks have a range of traditional flat breads with various toppings such as Algerian-Spanish cocas and Turkish pide. And of course, there's Lebanese Manakish, flat bread topped with thyme, cheese or spiced ground meat. The culinary leap to pizza is not very far.