{"id":261784,"date":"2026-05-07T09:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/261784\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T09:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T09:34:12","slug":"perlas-pizza-slices-up-the-winter-park-sushi-party-with-beats-and-flavor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/261784\/","title":{"rendered":"Perla’s Pizza slices up the Winter Park sushi party with beats and flavor"},"content":{"rendered":"

To say that I was skeptical about the Korean Luchador is an understatement.<\/p>\n

Like anyone else, I have preferences. Especially when it comes to pizza.<\/p>\n

But even before I had a job that demanded a culinary open mind, I was always up for anything.<\/p>\n

Even a cream-based pizza (strike one) with garlic aioli (strike two) and Takis on top (strike three).<\/p>\n

And yet, this bizarre take from Perla\u2019s Pizza<\/a> was a total grand slam.<\/p>\n

Atop a crisp, nicely charred \u201cring\u201d of crust, this elote-inspired pie is where corn, kimchi and cilantro throw down with an array of powdery, flauta-shaped Takis in a Fatal Four-Way match.<\/p>\n

Fuego. Nitro. Even the relatively inedible looking Blue Heat variety.<\/p>\n

Its finishing move: FLAVOR.<\/p>\n

\"Perla'sPerla’s Korean Luchador pie, with its elote and kimchi and yes, Takis, inspired much controversy on the internet. But then, what doesn’t? We liked it! (Photo courtesy Lisa Wilk\/TasteCookSip.com)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I thought bananas on pizza was going to piss everyone off,\u201d laughs Michael Collantes, owner of Perla\u2019s, a resurrection of his 2021 concept<\/a>. \u201cThis one infuriated the internet. People were so mad about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

But in the wake of the ire, messages began to trickle in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen are you bringing the Takis one back?\u201d<\/p>\n

Perla\u2019s Assistant General Manager and Chef Marcos Puglielli chuckles, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cLots of people think it\u2019s super weird,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"Salads,Salads, pastas and wings round out the menu for lunch and takeout options in particular. (Photo courtesy Lisa Wilk\/TasteCookSip.com)<\/p>\n

Puglieilli, a veteran of both the Lake Mary and Oviedo outposts of Mister 01 Extraordinary Pizza, has enjoyed the wide berth of creativity Perla\u2019s affords \u2013 regardless of whether everyone\u2019s onboard.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got some appropriation comments, but at the end of the day, food is meant to be shared,\u201d he offers. \u201cIt\u2019s a big fusion of collaboration. We have all these people from different cultures working here. Chef Mike is Filipino. I\u2019m originally from Brazil. I\u2019m going to combine flavors as I see fit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amen. To that and Puglielli\u2019s crust, itself a unique amalgam of bread flour, wheat flour and religiously fed sourdough starter that gets a 48-hour ferment. Once mixed and balled (250 of them in two and a half hours most days) it spends another 36 hours in the walk-in. Presumably not crying.<\/p>\n

\"CharChar always raises the bar when it comes to flavor. These beauts spend about 5 minutes at 590 degrees and the flavor stays, even when you eat it cold for breakfast. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The customers certainly aren\u2019t.<\/p>\n

On multiple visits, my guests and I were relegated to the last two open bar seats all the way in back. Kitchen door-adjacent, perhaps, but outstanding for watching the mixologists at work, pouring tiki drinks, espresso martinis, shots of Fernet Branca and more.<\/p>\n

Oh, yeah, and the DJ.<\/p>\n

Perla\u2019s, once ensconced in the intimate, local-joint space now occupied by Ziggie\u2019s Pizza, is a full-blown vinyl lounge, where on at least two occasions, I\u2019ve seen Collantes himself at the turntable.<\/p>\n

\"Perla'sPerla’s Pizza owner Michael Collantes often takes a turn behind the turntables on spin nights. (Photo courtesy Lisa Wilk\/TasteCookSip.com)<\/p>\n

Older sisters, the Michelin-starred Soseki<\/a> and temaki-centric Sushi Saint<\/a>, are right next door, which means the boss can flit from flower to flower, making sure the garden is in order.<\/p>\n

And if he can make the place bump with some funk in the process? Even better.<\/p>\n

\"Yes,Yes, there is pizza, but Perla’s, its cocktail program and music-forward programming, is a vibe. (Photo courtesy Michael Roddy)<\/p>\n

Late hours help. Perla\u2019s is open \u2018til midnight most nights, 1 a.m. on weekends. Top area DJs and selectors are in rotation on the reg. And the \u201cPower Hour,\u201d brings in folks from around Winter Park for midnight snacks and serious deals at the bar in the last hour of operation.<\/p>\n

Puglielli\u2019s chocolate cinnamon rolls, a monkey bread-like wad meant for pull apart fun, are a top seller alongside pizzas both conventional and quirky.<\/p>\n

\"DoughDough here does many jobs. Case in point: Perla’s Pizza’s cinnamon rolls. A late-night mop-up favorite. (Photo courtesy Fernando Delgado)<\/p>\n

These include the Hawaiian PUNCH! (bacon, pineapple jam, pickled jalapeno), Mom\u2019s Spaghetti & Meatballs (pink sauce, meatballs, lemon ricotta) and Piggy Smalls (pistachio pesto base with spinach, sausage, broccolini and cherry tomato with a green goddess ranch finish).<\/p>\n

All are 14-inch, and range from $15-20 each.<\/p>\n

\"Perla'sPerla’s Pizza’s Tikka the Hut gives a nod to India atop flavorful crust that gets a 36-hour cold ferment. (Amy Drew Thompson\/Orlando Sentinel)<\/p>\n

The chicken-topped Tikka the Hut ($17) is Indian-inspired. Pink sauce and garam masala mingle with pickled onion, garlic butter and lemon ricotta dollops. The It\u2019s Bananas ($18) seems to draw on Sweden\u2019s popular banana-topped stylings, which date back to the \u201880s, though it was inspired by a combo Collantes would craft in his toaster oven back in high school.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Fashion Square Mall\u2019s food court Sbarro is where the restaurateur cut his earliest chef\u2019s tooth.<\/p>\n

\"Drinks,Drinks, from tiki to traditional, are available at Perla’s Pizza, which does a last-hour happy hour every night of the week. (Photo courtesy Lisa Wilk\/TasteCookSip.com)<\/p>\n

The oven at Wolfgang Puck Bar & Grill, the famed Austrian chef\u2019s first Disney Springs outpost, was a post-culinary school stop, \u201cand what we can blame for all the crazy pizza combinations,\u201d Collantes laughs, giving a respectable nod to Puck\u2019s smoked salmon classic.<\/p>\n

Collaborations with other local favorites, like a recent partnership with craft cocktail mavens The Courtesy or a Deli Desires match-up that featured a pizza inspired by their beloved corned beef \u201cBig Mac\u201d sandwich, are regular, as is Saucy Sunday, a musical event that boasts DJ lineups along with specials that could include anything from merch vendors to free tequila shots.<\/p>\n

Best Pizza: 2026 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards<\/a><\/p>\n

Pastas and salads round out the menu and have proved super successful during the lunch hour. Wings do the heavy non-pizza lifting as the night rolls in. House buffalo, spiked with Calabrian chili, is the hot seller, but that house-made gorgonzola ranch makes them that much more finger-lickin\u2019.<\/p>\n

For the crust dippers among you, it\u2019s worth sampling.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a largely midwest-to-west concept, dunking pizza in ranch (I first tried it in 2019 in Santa Cruz, where a joint called Pizza My Heart<\/a> keeps ranch ramekins in the grab-and-go for customers to take before snatching their slices at the register) but like I said, I have an open mind.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a trait that brought the corny, kimchi-laden Korean Luchador to my table. And for this, I am grateful.<\/p>\n

\"Perla'sPerla’s Pizza’s “It’s Bananas!” And yes, there are bananas on it. I’m not mad about it, either. (Photo courtesy Lisa Wilk\/TasteCookSip.com)<\/p>\n

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram\u00a0@amydroo<\/a>\u00a0or on the OSFoodie Instagram account\u00a0@orlando.foodie<\/a>. Email:\u00a0amthompson@orlandosentinel.com<\/a>, For more foodie fun, join the\u00a0Let\u2019s Eat, Orlando Facebook group<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If you go<\/p>\n

Perla\u2019s Pizza: 959 W. Fairbanks Avenue in Winter Park, 689-444-7143; perlaspizzafl.com<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t