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Since I’ve been devoting myself more and more to trying the top pizza’s in the city, I figured it was only right to also mention some great pizza sites, so here they are:
SliceNY.com: An amazing site written by someone who’s tried seemingly hundreds if not thousands of New York pizzas. I use this site from time to time when I’m looking for my next slice or pie, and so should you!

New York Pizza Blog: While not strictly about pizza in New York City, this blog has been reveling in the glory of New York style pizza wherever it is available. If you’re on the go and need a good slice, check out this site.

CitySearch: It’s not a blog, but it is a great way to find delicious NYC Pizza.

That ought to give everyone something to chew on, so enjoy until next week, when I plan to check out Murder at The Met! I can’t wait!

This weekend wasn’t a big production really, just a lot of walking around downtown and incidentally running into a couple of landmarks, like Ice T doing an episode of SVU in Tribeca, and the Ghostbusters firehouse from the movie. Okay, I have to admit, the firehouse was pretty awesome to finally see, even if it was basically just a firehouse. It did have the Ghostbusters sign up inside though, so you know it’s authentic

I also checked out another pizzeria, John’s on Bleecker, so here’s the lowdown:

The Pizza: 6
John’s pizza is definitely a good, solid brick oven pie (no individual slices). This pie put, in my opinion, greater emphasis on the cheese than the sauce, and while neither aspect of the pizza was jaw droppingly wonderful, I did enjoy the combination and ratio. The crust was on the thinner end of the spectrum as I’ve come to expect from most brick oven pizza’s, and was nicely charred, with a distinct ring of crispiness around the edges while the middle remained soft and delicious. Foldability was high as well, but overall this pizza wasn’t quite what I have come to expect from the city’s top pizza joints.

The Toppings: 7
We got some fairly extensive toppings on this pie, including peppers, mushrooms and sausage, all of which score excellently for quality as well as for making a distinct contribution to the pizza’s flavor. You could tell that the ingredients were really fresh, and they were baked into the cheese, integrating nicely into the overall scheme of the pizza.

Other: 8
I’d heard that this pizzeria would be exceptionally packed, with a long wait at the door and no reservations possible. Pretty much par for the course with the pizza greats of NYC. But when I arrived, I found quite the opposite was true. There was no line, and we were seated immediately. Once we ordered, the pizza came out in an almost absurdly short period of time, and the waiter was very nice and helpful. For the specialty pizza, two drinks and the rapid and responsive service, we dropped a little over $30 bucks, which I consider quite reasonable.

The Bottom Line
This place seems like a top neighborhood pizza place, but is not necessarily worth a trip to the Village in its own right. Good service and a tasty pizza will draw me back if i’m in the area again, but probably not before.

As I mentioned in the Grimaldi’s post, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge to continue my pursuit of the perfect New York Slice. You can get on the bridge at city hall (take the R,J,M,Z,4,5,6) and walk or bike across it, but be prepared cause it’ll take you maybe 15-20 minutes (estimated) to get across on foot.

The New York City Boardwalk
The first thought that occured to me as I started walking over the wooden slats that suspended us over the traffic zooming below was that the Brooklyn Bridge is a lot like a boardwalk on a beach. You get a great, unobstructed scenic view of both Manhattan and Brooklyn as you walk across, as well as a view up and down the East river and Governor’s Island. There are people selling bottled water on the bridge for a dollar a pop when it’s hot, but be aware that it can get pretty windy and cool up on the bridge, even in the summer.

Getting Off
The weird part of the excursion happens when you reach the Brooklyn side of the bridge. It’s walled in by traffic on either side, so they give you a choice: walk straight ahead and into what I like to think of as The Mystery Tunnel of Doom, or veer off to the right and nearly double the distance of the trip as you walk between concrete barriers separating you from high speed traffic. We chose to take the long, above-ground route and finally were spilled out on an unfamiliar cross street. Fortunately there was a map. Unfortunately, we were totally unfamiliar with the area, so we couldn’t effectively read it, so we wandered off until we found our final destination, Grimaldi’s!

The Bottom Line
The Brooklyn Bridge is a pretty cool site seeing adventure, but also a relatively short one if you don’t count the long additional penalty walk for not taking The Mystery Tunnel of Doom at the Brooklyn end. If you want to feel really touristy/boardwalky, grab a hotdog or pretzel at the City Hall end and munch as you look out over the river and take in the sites. It’s free, so it’s definitely worth a look if you’ve got a do-nothing Saturday afternoon planned. Just make sure the weather is going to hold up, or you might find yourself unpleasantly stranded in the middle of a thunderstorm.

Because I was so dejected over the painfully overrated pies at Una Pizza Napoletana, a good friend suggested that I try a more down-to-earth pizza that’s grown quite famous in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge: Grimaldi’s. Now in addition to the pizza, I was convinced to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge to get there, which was worth it for the experience, even if my feet were crying afterwards.

The Pizza: 10
Definitely a cut above the norm, this pizza is somehow thin but still filling. The crust is a little more on the chewy side, and it makes for perfect foldability, though you probably don’t have to since the slices are already a fairly manageable size and seem to stay together well. The pizza chef’s use a generous amount of fresh mozzarella to cover a tasty sauce that features a perfect helping of basil, and the overall taste is quite worth the trip.
Thus far, this has actually been the best pizza I’ve tried in the city, so I’m bumping it straight up to a 10.

The Toppings: 9
I’m not sure what it was about the toppings on this pizza (mushroom and pepperoni, my favorite) but they enhanced the slices to a whole new level of flavor and, dare I coin a phrase(?), deliciousity. The pepperoni was just the right kind of crispy around the edges and the meaty flavor was infused throughout the slice giving the topping slices great taste and a big texture bonus. The mushrooms were also fresh and delicious, baked into the cheese with love and care.

Other: 4
While I feel a little bad knocking off a point from average on the “Other” rating, the place was completely packed and a line had formed at the door when we arrived at 4:50, which seems to me like a pretty early dinner. I can’t even imagine how hectic it would be at 6:30. The line did move quickly and we were probably only standing there for about 10-15 minutes, which is less than you might wait at a casual dining restaurant on a saturday night, so I can’t fault them too much.
Once inside, we were directed to a table near the back where we could watch the Pizza chefs ply their craft. The seating was a little tight, and it took a little while to get a waiter’s attention, but even all that was forgivable when the delicious pie of delight was brought to our table.

The Bottom Line
This place is 100% worth it. Maybe 200% worth it if you go the easy route and just take the A train. The pizza isn’t cheap ($14 for a large, plus $2 per topping) but unlike Una Pizza Napoletana, you get a good-sized, filling pizza that you can really sink your teeth into. This pizza deserves every bit of adoration it’s loving fans lavish upon it, so if you haven’t been here yet, it’s high time. Walk over the Brooklyn Bridge if you’re up to it and want the scenic view, or just hop the A train and walk a couple of blocks, but either way, you can’t fail to enjoy this pie.

This past Friday I trekked from my office all the way across town to try a pizza that’s gotten a lot of buzz, and many excellent reviews: Una Pizza Napoletana. I am about to contradict those rave reviews.

Other: 1
I’m placing the “Other” category (usually the last topic I consider) at the top of my list today to make a point. Pizza is not typically, and in my opinion never should be a pricey meal, so I’m just going to come right out and say that this pizza is an unscrupulous gouge. Una Pizza Napoletana currently sets its prices at $21 per 12″ pie. For those of you who might have a little trouble visualizing this, the pie I ultimately received was about as large as a vynil record, perhaps a little smaller, and was only fit to satisfy one person, if that. The fact that I was being forced to pay such exhorbitant prices to enjoy this much talked about pizza definitely detracted from my enjoyment of the experience.
Additionally, efforts to make the restaurant space as much like a European cafe as possible were misplaced at best. Since you’re paying the same as you would at a fairly nice restaraunt, you might expect certain amenities to make your dining experience more pleasant. What I got was New York City tap water served in a wine bottle, and a table where I was literally rubbing shoulders with the couple next to me. As you may have realized, I don’t hold most restaurants to overly high standards, but when the price is so obviously inflated, I definitely expect a premium dining experience and this was not it.

The Pizza: 7
For all my criticism, the pizza was actually quite good. It wasn’t $21 bucks good, but that point has already been treated. Basically you get a choice of 4 pies with slight variances in what I would consider condiments (garlic, sea salt, basil), all priced at $21. I asked for a recommendation from my server and before I had even finished my sentence he was saying “Margherita” so that’s what I ordered. When this apparent piece of art came out of the oven and onto my table it was piping hot with a crunchy, nicely charred crust. The additions of sea salt and olive oil to the pizza came out loud and clear in the taste and were points that I greatly appreciated, but the dirth of mozzarella got me down, as I believe a good spread of cheese is extremely important to a quality New York Pizza. The Pie still earns a high rating for its uniqueness and quality, but i can’t give it top marks due to the scarcity of the cheese.

Toppings: 0
This one is easy. There are no toppings! You can only order one of the 4 variations on the menu and are explicitly told not to deviate from them in any way. You can’t rate what you can’t eat, so Una Pizza Napoletana scores a straight 0 in this category.

The Bottom Line
Just don’t bother. When it comes down to it, it’s simple math: you’re paying fine dining prices for a decent, albeit unique pizza in a cafe atmosphere. I’m sorry, but I’m just not buying it. I’ve had a lot of great pizza’s at much more reasonable prices, even at sit down restaurants, and while this one is no joke, at $21 bucks per person, pre tax and tip, without even ordering drinks, I can’t find any way to justify the trip. Save you’re money and go to Lazzara’s, Grimaldi’s or Two Boots, all of which have delicious, unique, good-sized pies at reasonable prices.

I picked up the Lazzara’s tip from a dedicated pizza article in Time Out New York and decided to give it a whirl. So after work on Thursday, the Last NYC Hero and I got on the 1 train and headed up to 38th street and 7th avenue to enjoy some delicious pizza. I couldn’t have been happier with the results!

The Pizza: 7
This particular restaurant (and it is an actual sit-down restaurant btw) doesn’t make pizza by the slice, so Malcolm and I ended up deciding on the Lazzara’s Special pie. This means that I didn’t get to try a pure, unadulterated slice of cheese pizza, but I can infer from the pie we did get that this place has a pretty solid slice. The pizza itself is square and comes with six slices, each with a flavorful, flaky, even crackery crust, a slightly salty sauce, and an individual square of mozzarella baked onto each slice. Altogether, the basics make for what I’d imagine to be a very good cheese pizza.

The Toppings: 10
I’d easily say this place has the best toppings I’ve tasted out of all the places I’ve been thus far. The special pie we ordered came with a perfect combination of prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, and black olives. It’s a salty slice to be sure, but if you’re down with that, then this pizza is going to be one of the best you’ve tasted. Seriously.

Other: 7
This place may be famous for its pizza (the pizza section dominates half the menu) but it’s a full-blown Italian restaurant with white table clothes and great service. The only potential drawback is that you have to buy a full pie, but the plain pie is reasonably priced (around $10) and while the specialty pies are more expensive, they’re still reasonable for the ingredients and are WELL worth it.

The Bottom Line
I have to say that the pizza I had at Lazzara’s easily ranks in my top 5, and I’ve had quite a few pizza’s in my day. It was an $18 pie, so it wasn’t cheap, but this basically would have covered the cost of the three premium ingredients on it at any other pizza place anyway. Unlike at other pizza places however, after splitting the Lazzara’s Special with Malcolm, I was so pleased that I was actually considering getting another half-pie! It’s probably a good thing that Malcolm dissuaded me from the indulgence, but the fact remains that I can’t recommend this place highly enough. Even though it’s out of the way for me, I can see myself going back for this amazing pizza again in the near future.