Sam’s Restaurant: A Wise Guy’s Pie

Despite a recent triumph for Carroll Gardens, an area that once hosted one of the city’s most concentrated Italian communities, there are few remaining vestiges of the neighborhood that was. Among them is Sam’s Restaurant, a quintessential red sauce joint and pizza destination helmed by Louie Migliaccio, the self-named “Son of Sam.”

Though the place isn’t exactly bustling, it is without the sense of doom that lingers over so many neighborhood relics that feel gentrification’s apocalyptic pinch. The Migliaccio family has owned the building, including the apartments above it, since the 30s; worries of mortgage payments or ascending rents haven’t been an issue for decades. Nor has the concept of modernizing, apparent in the dining room’s plastic poinsettias, wood paneling and plaster cast effigies bathed in an awkward florescent light. There’s also a kind of archaic sexism here (Sam’s menu reads “If your wife can’t cook, don’t divorce her, keep her and eat at Sam’s…you will both be happy”), but we forgive it the way we forgive our grandparents for their occasional lapses in political correctness.

The menu is vast—21 varieties of pasta, 12 veal dishes, 13 fish and half as many “fowls”—but the main event, the pizza, is relegated to a list of toppings. When pressed, Louie offered this morsel, “We’ve got two kinds of pizza—small and large.”

Sam’s serves a contentious pie. Some swear by the crust, others find the sauce too sweet and the cheese too sporadic. It hasn’t embraced the expensive flourishes of descendants like Fornino and doesn’t attract the kind of die-hards willing to queue outside Grimaldi’s. But the honest, brick-oven cooked pies achieve moments of greatness with toppings like simple minced garlic or shredded escarole and very occasionally fall short—on Gothamist’s recent visit the meatballs were noticeably dry.

The best of Sam’s might well be Louie, whose wise-cracking bravado ranges from bawdy one-liners to tales of the Carroll Gardens of yore. By 11 pm on a recent Friday night, when just blocks away, places like Brooklyn Social Club and Last Exit were beginning to pick up speed, Louie had cleared the tables and was finishing the last of the glasses behind a long, florescent-lit bar. “This place has been here for 75 years, I’ve been here for 49,” he said. “But I’ll take the neighborhood the way it was 30 years ago.”

Sam’s Restaurant
238 Court Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718-596-3458

Photos by Daniel Krieger

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jordana Rothman in Food, Food on March 6, 2007 10:27 AM

Comments [rss]

BrklynFiumara

Sam's is the best thing left in this neighborhood.

Their pizza is as good as anyones in my opinion and i love a lot of brooklyn pizza -for a change try the garlic-ricotta its to die for

I also love Lou and Mario they are terrific people

mika

I HEARD THE GIRL WHO WROTE THE ARTICLE IS REALLY HOT.

Daniel Krieger

cobblehead maybe you should start reviewing these other great restaurants and start your own website...then you wouldn't have to read gothamist anymore.. I'm sure they'd really miss you.

AT

Sam's is true Brooklyn deliciousness!! They make the most kick-ass chicken parm EVER!!! I LOVE Louie!!!!!!!!! This place is a true gem.

cobblehead

Gothamist-

Please stop giving lame restaurants that don't deserve it like this free advertising. There are many better options for dining a short walk from this joint

John

freaky.. seeing one of our tax clients on gothamist...

okbyme

Hot Pepper Pizza Face is gunna get slapped with a handful of floury pizza dough if he doesn't stop commenting so much.

To address another commenter, their prices are not "overpriced" I think it's like 16 bucks for a large pizza which is about average price anywhere in NYC.

luvsams

Calling Sam's "hideous" and complaining about its "cuisine" is simply hilarious. If you want some overdecorated monstrosity, the neighborhood is full of them. If you want unpretentious food (not "cuisine") in a place with real (not "designed") atmosphere, go to Sam's. In all the years I've been going (about 14 now, I think), I've never seen Louie be rude to anyone who didn't deserve it. He works his tail off and may not have time to fuss over you, but if you need that kind of hand-holding every time you step into a restaurant, go somewhere else.

Jordana Rothman

Just to clear up any confusion and stem the flow of any rumors, Sam's is NOT CLOSING. That was a misconception on the part of a commenter and not in any way reported in the story. Thanks for all of your comments/thoughts! ~Gothamist

gotsoup

The best home cooked Italian meal in Carroll Gardens used to be Helen's on Court st. , but sadly she is no longer cooking or breathing

Jo

Sam's is hideous. Amazing it has survived so long with such mediocre cuisine. There are a dozen better options within a 5 minute walk.

Don't Call It BOCOCA

I've been eating at Sam’s (sometimes referred to as “Louie’s”) since the crack-smoking 80's. My theory on why the place is not as crowded as the food might warrant is because Louie, who will never be mistaken for one of the financial services pod people overrunning the neighborhood, hasn't updated his material since then. If you’ve been there three times, you’ve heard his whole routine — twice.

As good as the foods is — and it ranges from just okay to truly outstanding — listening to Louie go on about his latest hunting trip (or was it the one before?) as you’re eating a plate of spaghetti and meatballs (truly outstanding) is enough to spoil any appetite.

But if I’m in the mood for pizza, I usually order from Sam’s and usually get it takeout.

brooklynbabe

I've only eaten at Sam's once, and I think it's the same boring Italian American food with too much tomato sauce and cheese, just like every other boring Italian American place. Won't be missed when it closes

hot pepper pizza face

hot pepper pizza face has been known to respond to himself sometimes.

I agree that the vibe of the hood has changed but I think an article like this should turn a few new people onto Sam's and let them see for themselves. There's really no place in the area like this and I hope it stays open forever. Long live hot pepper pizza face! (that's me)

miss m

Sam's has a great, old-time neighborhood vibe, but the reason it's never crowded is...the food just isn't that good.

5w30

Sam's is the best!

A nice, mellow, neighborhood place.

Everyplace should have at least one Sam's.

Just a place to sit, get a pie and a beer, and talk with friends, lovers or both.

No pretentions, just a pie.

Doesn't the world need more pie?

ellief

sam's is the best!!! btw

the "old" dude is Mario, Louie's father.

Fountain

Sam's is a) not that great and b) overpriced

[3] - the reason the color on the crust looks weird is because the image was taken under florescent tubes (the preferred lighting of fine dining).

I don't understand how that restaurant makes money. It makes me sad to dine there.

Qbertplaya

my brother and i like their eggplant parm a lot, but our favorite thing about sam's is the old dude in the back with whom you place the takeout orders. his voice is a hoot.

this is going to offend someon

Hot Pepper Pizza Face, you actually responded to yourself... more people aren't there because it's a neighborhood joint and it's the neighborhood vibe of the city that is losing out with all the different gentrifications and rising rents. I try to smile at someone in my building while I'm checking the mail and all I get is a dirty look.