Goal Update: Visit 10+ Famous Pizza Places
I was at a work conference in Manhattan for a week and decided to seize this opportunity to squeeze in a few more famous pizza places into my year.
Joe’s Pizza on Broadway.
All the pizza people have a consensus that this is an exemplary NY slice and I was curious to give it a shot. The first thing you notice is the line – this was a random Tuesday in February and it stretched down the block. A quick peek inside showed that there were only a handful of tables and most people were sitting on the benches outside eating their pizza in the cold. I did some quick mental math and saw the line was going to be at least 45 minutes at the pace it was moving at so I did the logical thing and called in an order. I used the time to wander around and poke into some stores that were open and when I came back I walked in an grabbed my pie. However all the benches were taken and there were no seats available inside so I did the needful and ate with the box perched on the trash can outside on the sidewalk. The pizza was good – a perfect balance of sauce and cheese with a crispy crust with zero flop. I wasn’t blown away like some people were (perhaps because I’ve eaten a lot of NY style pizza over the years) but it was a really good slice that is a true representation of NY Style
Score 9.7
Lombardi’s – Little Italy
There are mixed reviews of this place – some state that they used to be great but when the owners changed it all went downhill. I decided that since it’s been there forever and is a landmark it still needed a visit. It’s a quaint place in the heart of little Italy and had the requisite red and white checkered tablecloths and pictures of celebrities who came to eat there. I ordered the margherita style pizza and a root beer (classic pairing) and he brought me a 8 ounce fountain root beer (no free refill signs are all over the place, mind you) so that’s not a great start. If you’re going to charge 4 bucks for a fountain soda make it at least 20 ounces. Then the pizza came out and it was tiny – I re-read the menu and the size of the pizza is mentioned there but 28 bucks for a 12 inch pizza? It also was dry and the sauce was too salty and the cheese was barely there. It’s obvious whoever owns it now is trading on the reputation of the original and is cost cutting wherever possible. If it was 10 bucks I’d have been more charitable – I’ve had NY dollar slices that had more flavor. The fact I was the only one there during prime lunch hour should have been my first clue.
Score 4.7
Rubirosa – Little Italy
This one snuck up on me – I had no idea this place was here but every reddit thread and pizza forum that talked about NYC pizza said this was the go to thin crust spot. It’s a small corner spot in little Italy and when I went they were pretty crowded – I got a spot at the bar and was waffling between the tie dye pizza and classic cheese when the bartender offered up that I could get half and half. I decided to give it a try so i could try both options. The pizza came out and it was huge and the crust was super thin and shattered when you bit into it. The cheese pizza was tasty but I felt like the sauce was a bit one note and the pesto glaze on the tye dye was good but it felt like there was something else in the pesto that gave it an off flavor. I still enjoyed the pizza for what it was – a good example of thin crust pizza. While I was there I noticed a lot of people were actually getting the pasta. If I wasn’t pressed for time and have eaten have a giant pizza I’d have tried some because it looked amazing. Next time I’m in the area I might need to stop in for some.