July 28, 2008
Acclaimed Di Fara Pizza Still "Filthy" After Last Year's DOH
Di Fara Pizza in Midwood may be revered by everyone from Brian Chase from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs to New York Mag’s Josh Ozersky – who makes a point of living within walking distance of the joint – but Gotham City Insider is not impressed. After a recent visit, she slams the thin crust pizza mecca as “a spot for tourists to take pictures of an old man cutting basil onto a pizza.” And furthermore:
The shit people will put up with when they're told its "hip" is really unbelievable. The place was absolutely filthy - as its known to be - and I left with my eyes burning and my hair and clothes smelling like a burnt piece of crust. Clean the ovens, you old bat! When I worked in a pizzeria as a kid every night before closing we had to scrape the ovens and clean them out with hot water and rags. Is that too much to ask?To be sure, this isn’t the first sign of a backlash against Di Fara; when the pizzeria was closed last year by the DOH, Slice’s Adam Kuban took the opportunity to bemoan their consistently burnt pies.For me the last straw was when these two girls who were dressed like Cyndi Lauper pulled out their cameras to document Dom cutting the basil on their pies. Like it was the big money shot.
Photo of Dom cutting the basil on pies courtesy Adam Kuban.
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This pizza is and always was ridiculously overrated. Go to Spumoni Gardens for pizza, but don't get the horrible food in the restaurant area.
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Oh, god, people are ridiculous, and cue a long comment string of people insulting each other's pizza choices in 3, 2, 1...
I can't believe that so many people see their choice of PIZZA as some sort of status symbol/claim to NY authenticity. It's pizza folks. I know there are many many good slices, and some sublime slices here in the city, but it's crazy how people use something as silly as this to put each other down. "You like xxx's slices? Uh, you would."
If you like the pizza, eat it. If you don't...don't eat it. Get over yourselves already.
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I'm with duanereade, L&Bs does a nice sicilian.
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L&B's and Di Fara's is nothing compared to the fresh taste and awesome flavor of DiGiorno's masterful oven pizza. If only I can convince my 'hip' friends to try some. But it looks like they'll stick to their usual holier than tho garbage eateries.
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DiFara's is good but overrated. Shlep out to Midwood to stand around for an hour for a chance that someone who works there might some day get around to making your often soggy pie so that you can eat it on the sidewalk or at a table surrounded by filth in an overpriced hole that's been closed multiple times by the Health Department? Sounds great.
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One thing I always take issue with is the claim that DiFara's has been overhyped by "hipsters" (or, in this case, the because people think it's "hip.") Usually when I'm there I see one other party of young people (let's say, under 35), and the rest of the crowd looks quite normal. Heck, cops even eat there.
Simply put, people go there because they believe it's the best pizza in NYC. Sometimes, I think, it really is.
This guy is ranting about the negatives of Difara, the long waits, the complete lack of "service" (stand at the counter or he'll forget your order), and the sloppiness. Yeah, we know.
I don't get the impression that he even stayed and ate the pizza. He doesn't mention it.
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not cleaning the oven for 20 years is probably why it tastes good!
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New Yorkers are as good at overrating their pizza as Philadelphians are at overrating their cheesesteaks. In both instances it's a really, really simple dish that you can prepare in many different ways, most of which are pretty tasty, but none of which are any kind of divine, must-have life experience.
And yes, I've lived in both cities and been to many of the "best" places to get a slice or a steak.
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cwbuecheler, I completely agree. I'm a big advocate that what's special about cheap NYC food is actually its burgers, not its pizza.
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My family and I have been dragged there by friends. Burnt, bitter tasting crust. Yes, fresh cheese is nice, but if I'm going to wait an hour for terrible, rude service in a dirty setting, it better be a slice and a foot rub. There are other unpretentious places to get terrific slices. My son and I think that Luigi's, on 5th Avenue and 20th Street (or near 20th?) south of Park Slope is the best single slice, especially good after baseball practice when we're looking to "take the edge off." It's not pretty, but the owner, Gio, makes fantastic pizza AND he's friendly. As others have written, it's pizza. Everyone has a favorite, it's all good.
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"I don't get the impression that he even stayed and ate the pizza. He doesn't mention it."
it's almost as though the pizza wasn't even worth mentioning.
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People, people.
It is what goes into the pizza that makes it. I don't know his secret, but Dom creates a perfectly balanced pizza with an incredible sauce. It gets a bit overdone from time to time, but it is a heavenly slice.
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Yeah, no, he didn't eat it. He says in the comments "I'm sure the pizza is deelish."
You wouldn't listen to some jackass who says "I went there but it looked annoying, so I left." But point the finger at gullible people who are (gasp) not native NYkers and you've got a swingin' blog post.
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I applaud the reporting in this Gotham City Insider article!
...anything to to get you wimps out of line and make the wait shorter for those of us who agree it's the best in the city is a welcome sight.
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She bitches about them taking a photo of him putting the basil on the pizza and then she... TAKES HER OWN PHOTO OF THE SAME THING?
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DiFaras is freaking gross. I still think L'asso in SoHo and Grandpa's in Inwood make better pies. DiFaras has a known critter problem.
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@WorksInDUMBO: That's actually *MY* photo that Gothamist has mistakenly credited to GCI. If you click thru to her entry, you'll see she attributes that photo to me.
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There's much better pizza in Brooklyn and easier to get to than DiFara's, but I won't share the info because I am selfish.
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DiFara's is very good pizza. Saying a good slice is no different from a crappy slice is like saying a good wine is no different from a crappy wine...it's just not true. In some sense you have to appreciate it though and there aren't a lot of pizza-nerds here.
DiFara's isn't a rats-nest either. It has the same level of cleanliness as most other highly-trafficked restaurants. It's not fine dining and isn't meant to be.
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The photo was not credited earlier on Gotham City Insider; I've updated to credit Adam.
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@smokedgouda -
I agree with this completely, for the record. All I'm saying is: it's not hard to make a good slice, and there are places all over the city that do it. Devotees to a particular place are often people who've gotten caught up in the idea of being devoted to a particular place.
See also: Shake Shack.
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Me again. The pizza @ DiFara's was so poor when we were there we didn't even finish it. Maybe it was an off day, but the burnt crust thing was really a turn-off. Thin and crisp=good; charred and bitter=not good. Truth is, there's so much good pizza in NYC, I'll never understand this kind of passionate debate. In addition to my favorite Luigi's (see above), Nino's on Henry Street is very good. Yes, ownership has changed again and it's now called Francesco's, and yes, the pizza was better in the 90s, but the slices are still delicious. The real takeaway from this discussion is that we're all REALLY lucky we live close to fantastic pizza. Consider the poor bastards in Iowa or Tennessee, etc. "Taking the edge off" there means going to the drive-thru at Wendy's! My wife doesn't eat cheese, (I love her regardless) but the kids and I really enjoy a good slice, and it's yet another reaon we feel so fortunate to live in Brooklyn.
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You should all stop going to DiFara, so that those of us who like going there because the pizza tastes awesome, not because it's hip, don't have to wait so long.
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I will guarantee that there is pizza that tastes just as good somewhere closer to you. The person above that said there's no difference between a good and bad slice has never had a good slice. However, there's not MUCH different between various good slices.
Calling any place "the best in the city" is stupid. If you stop trying different places because you think you found the Mecca of Pizza then you're limiting yourself.
Best pizza I've had in the city currently rests with Maffei's at 22nd and 6th.
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Never assume that anyone taking a picture of anything in New York City is a tourist or a dreaded "transplant from the Midwest" (because everyone who lives in New York City was born here, right?). For example, bloggers do tend to photograph the things they write about, and who doesn't have a blog these days? I mean, even Gotham City Insider can write about a single instance of bad restaurant service and turn it into a rabid rant about things that are allegedly hip and overrated instead of, you know, letting it roll off their backs and moving on with their lives and going back to posting pictures of brownie pans. If a lousy photograph was the final straw for Gotham City Insider, then somebody needs to chill out. I've never even eaten at DiFara's, but think it's pretty stupid to fly off the handle because something turns out to be a "tourist trap." It's New York. Lots of places are tourist traps. You'd think an alleged Brooklyn native would know that by now.
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Well it seems like some people love the pizza there, and other people don't, everyone has different opinions about everything in NYC.
I don't see what the big deal is about 2 girls taking a picture of the pizza being made?
that really shouldn't bother her that much (she should definitely lighten up a little there). :)
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What's really important here is not whether DiFara's is the best pizza in NYC, or even whether it's a decent slice. It doesn't matter whether you think it's transcendent, average, dirty, a waste of time, what have you.
It matters that there are people like Dom, and the other great pizza makers mentioned in these comments, in NYC. It matters that he devotes himself to making what he believes is a quality pie. That he uses fresh ingredients, that he takes his time, that he doesn't sacrifice for convenience.
The fact that tourists or newcomers to the city will trek all the way to Midwood to wait in line for his pizza shouldn't annoy you. It's what makes this city beautiful, and we should hope that places like DiFara survive and inspire others, so that our city doesn't become a wasteland of corporate same-ness.
If you don't like Dom's pizza, don't go to DiFara. If you do go, and wait in line, and are disappointed, don't go again. Find a place you like better. But don't be angry that Dom exists, or that other people celebrate him.
(For the record, I'm not a native. I've lived in Brooklyn for about 3 years. I do happen to think DiFara is the best pizza in the city, and I enjoy watching him while I wait. Sometimes I take pictures.)
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Fair enough.
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Another pizza war? What is this? Buffalo?
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Square foot for square foot, DiFara is the most NY place in NY. The DiFara haters on this thread are conducting a master class in internet trollery.