Gothamist: NYC Pizza Rules, But Does Anyone Really Know Why?

monsur

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 11:30:28 -0500

The Wired article mentions Arturo's, and it is damn good.

Tim N.

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:29:59 -0500

Purely personal preference, take it with a grain of (garlic) salt: Fascati's in Brooklyn Full Moon in the Bronx Is pizza better here than in Italy? Well, it is different. Bear in mind it's not an Italian dish, but an Italian-American dish. It's really an apples and oranges comparison. While my earlier post may be guilty of the same over-generalization I was criticizing, I will say that in my experience, the only decent flat-crust pizza I've found outside the Five Boroughs was usually made by someone from the Five Boroughs.

Mott the Hoople

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:10:34 -0500

so, just to put this fascinating discourse in perspective, exactly how fat are you people?

Matt415

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:57:46 -0500

I'm visiting NYC, and from SF (usually read SFist). This post is totally helpful, as I'm still hoping to have my first slice fo NY pizza this weekend. Everyone says to head to Lombardi's, but is it really that good?

Rfive

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:03:13 -0500

no good nyc pizza? try difara's, grimaldi's, GRUPPO (my favorite), even frannie's or any other other of the suggestions. there's good food to be had. want a good burrito or mexican? try matamoros on 5th avenue in sunset park. they or any of the crowded eateries will put the mission to shame.

nerdkiller

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 05:03:11 -0500

the hyperbole in here is killing me! (rim shot) And not a single mention of Joe's, ridiculous.

Antonio

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 01:42:12 -0500

"Difara cooks his pizza at 900? No wonder it's burnt and shitty. OVERRATED." duane "my parents didn't love me enough" reade, is a detriment to this estimable site. It has probably learned its lesson and i would be surprised if it ever posted again. DiFara now and forever!

jibbly

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:31:43 -0500

Edgeland you're out of your mind. Impossible to find bad pizza in Rochester? Wings? Sorry, Rochester contributes only two things to the junk food culinary world: Trash Plates Garbage Plates Western NY pizza is atrocious, utterly devoid of any merit whatsoever.

shovel

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:39:08 -0500

I can't comment on pizza outside NYC since as a native New Yorker I'm naturally inclined to think they all suck ass. Really? New Yorkers insist NY pizza is better than what you will find in...Italy?? Ohhhh-kaaay.

lucyvanpelt

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 21:18:55 -0500

(16) and (19), here's your answer for good-as-SF burritos in the metro area: http://idlewords.com/2007/04/the_alameda-weehawken_burrito_tunnel.htm

Ace

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:00:16 -0500

I just took my sweetie (who lives in Brooklyn) to Lombardi's today. We both agreed that it is by far, the best pizza in New York! We loved it.

Fritzdecat

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:53:35 -0500

Best pizza I ever had was in Glen Cove NY . The absolute worst pizza on the face of the earth is in St Louis Mizzourha...

matty

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:40:13 -0500

New Haven style thin crust is better than anything anywhere. You people need to get your head out of your collective asses and try new things. It will rock your socks off!

edgeland

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:38:49 -0500

most pizza i've had in manhattan and brooklyn is terrible. you've gotta search hard for something good. in rochester it's almost impossible to get bad pizza. same goes for wings.

sourus

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 18:01:56 -0500

L&B greatest Pizza in NY

SP

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:28:35 -0500

Best slice of NY style neapolitan pizza is on the Upper West Side. Not telling all you assholes where though.

SikBug

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:06:17 -0500

The best slices I've ever had were in BK but Franks on East 23rd St I still get about once a week.

Sir Jimbob

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:44:29 -0500

grimaldi's + graziella's

nivek

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:28:18 -0500

Patsy's and Viva Herbal. Those are the only pizzerias I willingly go to.

poopmast

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:27:37 -0500

I like Dani's in Kew Gardens

JenChungsBra

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:17:26 -0500

I can't comment on pizza outside NYC since as a native New Yorker I'm naturally inclined to think they all suck ass. I know it's not true (there some good stuff in New Haven) but I'm obliged to think that way. It is however totally true that in general you have to get out of Manhattan for good NYC pizza. My three faves all happen to be in Queens these days: New Park in Howard Beach, Amore in Whitestone and for whole pies only there's Nick's in Forest Hills.

Toby von Meistersinger

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:11:05 -0500

Once you get out of the NYC metro area, the pizza does suck, or at least it is not recognizable as pizza. Some of the variations on the standard pizza are good, such as the Northeastern Pennsylvania tavern and bakery pizza (which we have seen spelled "pitza" or some such), Trenton tomato pie and Chicago deep dish, but they are not really pizza. We have gone in search of good pizza elsewhere, and have basically come up empty, getting something worse than your average slice joint in the city. As a rule of thumb, leave the tri-state, the pizza sucks. They think Domino's is pizza in places like a small town in Wisconsin. There are places as close as New Jersey that look like you are going to get a decent slice there, but you get something that seems more like a coal tar byproduct than pizza.

zodak

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:10:57 -0500

enzo's pizza ftw. i order from him so much, he recognizes my voice!

jenchungsgrammar

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:04:47 -0500

Luzzo's pizza on 1st ave between 12 and 13th is awesome. Great margherita pie with the best crust. Wood fired oven, too.

MT

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:02:25 -0500

Right on rtd2101! No burrito in New York compares to a Chabela burrito!

jibbly

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:47:36 -0500

Once you go west of the Hudson, it's not pizza, it's crap. I consider myself NYC centric but that's a false statement. I've had pizza in NJ that was on par with most local joints within the five boroughs, not to mention some excellent old school italian joints in the lower hudson valley towns. Worst pizzas I've had was in western NY. Crusts as thick as rolls and a cheese/sauce combination straight from Kraft. Just awful.

thedroog

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:43:20 -0500

'Once you go west of the Hudson, it's not pizza, it's crap.' What a profound statement. Now tell me you've had pizza everywhere west of the Hudson. No? Didn't think so.

rtd2101

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:40:36 -0500

I sandwiched 3 years in the Bay Area between my time here in NYC. And I always found it funny that, despite the globalized world we live in, you can't get a decent slice in San Francisco and you still can't get a halfway decent burrito in New York. If I could just import one real, authentic Mission District burrito joint to NYC, I'd be in heaven. That's pretty much the only thing I miss about the Bay Area.

ihateallbrokers

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:32:14 -0500

soon there will be no good pizza in nyc since all the transplanted hipsters living in nyc on daddy's dime will just come to accept the medicore mall food which reminds them of home... lets go to nyc, yeah, what do we eat, sbarros, lets go to an exciting ny destination, hard rock cafe, im hungry where should be get a quick bite hotdog cart or mcdonalds need some coffee, oh i know how about starbucks time to go home, wow nyc was fun!!! ********** real nyc slice is like the bronx back in the days, real smartasses would check the bottom and throw the hot slice back if it was burnt! extra anything meant extra! not little pieces of something scattered around if you can still see alot of red & white that shit aint no extra nothing... might as well just ask for some _____ sprinkled on top...

RevWaldo

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:28:19 -0500

Here's another take on west coast pizza. The URL sez it all. And it's a different kind of gestalt that adds da flava to east coast pizza. http://wfmu.org/LCD/22/sucky_pizza.html

EastRiver

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:17:37 -0500

Once you go west of the Hudson, it's not pizza, it's crap. Yet another of your New York-centric rants. We're not number one in everything no matter how many times you say so.

MT

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:11:10 -0500

If you ever get off the ferry on Staten Island there is a pizza place on Stuyvesant place near the courthouse called A&S that has the most amazing pizza. It's a hole in the wall but it's ovens have 30 years of gesalt to make the most delicious pizza. It's worth a look.

Steven

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:07:00 -0500

There is also some good pizza places to the be found out of the city in Westchester and Orange County along with Long Island.

tingo

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:01:07 -0500

I think Lombardi's is as much a suburbanized cliche as Magnolia Bakery cupcakes. I don't know why, or how, or if it even makes any sense - but that place Karavas on 7th avenue has the tastiest slices I've had, and I've been here my whole life.

NYer

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:00:36 -0500

Patsy's in E. Harlem is awesome, and luckily devoid of any tourists. Lombardi's, Una Pizza, Artichoke, Otto...all great, all in Manhattan.

roxxan23

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:48:00 -0500

Lombardi's is the only decent pizza i've ever got in manhattan. brooklyn is where it's at. i've had a few mediocre brooklyn pizzas, but brooklyn mediocre is still a LOT better than any pizza i had while living in the midwest.

diabolix

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:47:58 -0500

I agree, NY pizza as a whole is awful! I can't tell how many slices I've had that are extra floppy from both the over-abundance of sauce and saturation of oil in this town. Last night, my husband and I had a frozen pizza from Fresh Direct that was better than any of our local purveyors. I've also had most of the "famous" places and generally speaking, they are good but not worth the effort required to get it.

JP Lynch

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:46:52 -0500

The best pizza IS in NYC but as the post states, you have to go to the outer boroughs.

drewo

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:45:19 -0500

Lombardi's (in Manhattan) is still good, even if packed with tourists. It's even better a day later.

Tim N.

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:43:22 -0500

While the best pizza I've had has in fact been in Brooklyn and the Bronx, it's a gross overstatement to say there's no good pizza in Manhattan. You just have to seek them out. And even mediocre NY pizza is still better than anything that passes for pizza anywhere else in the other 50. Once you go west of the Hudson, it's not pizza, it's crap.

Blairy Blair

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:35:19 -0500

I really don't know why this "NY has the best pizza" legend is still soldiering on. It hasn't been true for a long time. Yes, NY has some great pizza. So does SF. So does Seattle. So does Rome and Florence. The average NY slice of pizza isn't remarkable in the slightest. To get good pizza, you have to wait in hour-long lines with guidos and tourists, after hour-long subway rides.

duanereade

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:27:21 -0500

Difara cooks his pizza at 900? No wonder it's burnt and shitty. OVERRATED.

babyhitler

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 14:21:23 -0500

patsy's is good pizza. I just had grimaldi's the other day and it was shit!