Even New Yorkers like Johnnie's pizza.

SANTA MONICA - Transplanted New Yorkers kvetch about a lot things about living in L.A. One of the top complaints is that you just can't get good pizza.

In 1984, three entrepreneurs opened Johnnie's New York in Malibu, a take-out place with a basic Italian menu, spaghetti and meatballs, linguini marinara and the classic New York cheese pie with thin crust.

In the first year of business, eight employees toiled in Johnnie's 500-square-foot establishment. The one-restaurant company did about $250,000 in sales that first year.

Today, Johnnie's New York Cafe Pizzeria has five locations - in Malibu, Marina del Rey, Century City, Sherman Oaks and Malibu - and employs 150.

The privately held, Santa Monica-based restaurant company posted revenues of $3.4 million in 1995, says Andre Neyrey, vice president and one of three corporate officers at Johnnie's. He projects the company will do about $4.2 million this year.

A lot has changed since 1984, says Will Karges III, president and co-owner of Johnnie's. His father, William Jr., was one of the three original founders. But he bought out the other two partners in 1987, and his son Will has run the company since then.

Patterned on New York

Instead of just being a take-out joint, all of the Johnnie's are sit-down Italian bistros now. The restaurants are modeled after New York pizzerias, with brick walls and hexagonal tile floors, Karges says.

The menu has been expanded, too, to include numerous pastas, calzones and, yes, some California-style pizzas (barbecued chicken pizza, shrimp pesto pizza, etc.).

"You can't survive on cheese pizza alone," explains the younger Karges. He is a Malibu native who checked out pizzerias in Brooklyn and Manhattan after he became president of the company in 1987.

Even though Johnnie's sells California pizza, transplanted New Yorkers coming in for the New York original pizza comprise Johnnie's bread and butter business, Karges says.

Michael Kagan, a Brooklyn native who has looked for real New York pizza since he moved to L.A. in the 1970s, says Johnnie's pizza is "right on the money."

"The only thing missing is the sound of the subway," says Kagan, an actor and resident of Woodland Hills.

Critic gives blah review

But for others, Johnnie's doesn't quite cut it.

L.A. restaurant critic Merrill Shindler, who has a show on KABC radio and writes for numerous publications, says Johnnie's is "a noble attempt" at New York pizza.

For New Yorkers who are 3,000 miles away from real New York pizza, Johnnie's is "OK," Shindler says.

"If you're a New Yorker, it's a reasonable taste of New York pizza," says Shindler, a Bronx native. But if you flew a Johnnie's pizza on a Lear jet to New York and laid it side by side with a pizza from one of the great New York pizzerias, "it doesn't compare."

Whether Johnnie's pizza is the real thing or just real close, it plans to spread all over the Southland, according to Karges. The company plans to open one more restaurant in 1996 and two more in 1997, Karges says.

The grand plan is to open 15 more restaurants over the next five years, which would make Johnnie's a 20-restaurant chain, Karges says. And he says he is looking at upscale areas of the South Bay and Orange County for new sites.

The company also plans to expand the size of its existing Malibu, Marina del Rey and Santa Monica restaurants by year-end, Karges says.

He adds that blue collar guys love Johnnies pizza. But "our target market isn't blue collar, it's white," Karges says.

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Year founded: 1984 Employees then: 8 Employees now: 150 Revenues then: $250,000 Revenues now: $4.2 million (1996 est.)