Tight Pizza

I’m not posting many reviews on here much, I’m mostly over on Instagram but I wanted to make sure to link this video here! Preparing for this contest was a real hassle, and I only did it for a week. I basically ate one large meal a day with progressively larger sizes. That helped my stomach expand and also prepared me for what was about to come. I ended up taking 2nd place, and was very happy with that!

I’ve been dying to try Mama’s Too for a while, but its location on the elusive Upper West Side of Manhattan has kept it just out of arm’s reach for me. This pizzeria has had a buzz around it for a while, and it’s only been open a little over a year at this point. I finally decided to make the trek to the small pizza shop that everyone’s been talking about with some friends on a Friday night. By the end we were all very happy that we made the schlep!

Mama’s Too’s interesting names comes from the fact that it was created by a son from a family that runs another pizzeria in the area called Mama’s. As the New York Times writes:

He didn’t open Mama’s Too a block away to outdo his parents; he’s bringing their product into a new era.

Mama’s Too is tiny inside, but you’ll be stunned by how many people are willing to wait in the cramped area for their precious pizza. On a cold Friday night the inside of Mama’s Too was bustling with people waiting to eat-in, take-out, and deliver food. They were selling pizzas so fast that they could barely keep any on their small display counter. It was truly a sight to behold how fast their new slices were doled out!

The Pizza

On top we have a vodka slice, this is not something I would ordinarily get but it was the only slice available when we initially ordered. About 2 seconds into my first bite I was supremely happy I didn’t pass this up. The sauce was incredible, truly packed with flavor. There’s also ricotta cheese topping this slice, which combines with the vodka sauce to create a creamy tomato flavor that’s out of this world. I also think this might be the best picture of a pizza slice I’ve ever taken, so it’s going to be in my heart for a long time. I would travel far to have this slice again.

Next we had their pepperoni. Interesting to note on this slice that the sides are burnt, which is a specialty of Mama’s Too and sets it apart from other ‘roni cup Sicilian slices. I really enjoyed the burnt edges on this slice, which were packed with flavor and added an incredible unique texture to the pizza. The rest of the slice was (obviously) great. Good CSR, crust cooked well, ‘roni cups on point, great slice. Would I take this pepperoni slice over a Spicy Spring from Prince St pizza however? No. This is great, but Prince St’s incarnation is at the top.

Final Words

Typically I’m pretty lazy about making new reviews, but I went to an amazing place last night that I’m so excited to tell you about. Joe and Pat’s is a Staten Island insitution, and they semi-recently opened a new location in the East Village section of Manhattan. They’ve been serving up thin crust pies at their original location since the 60s, so they know what they’re doing. Their Staten Island location makes top NYC pizza lists all the time, so I was very happy to be visiting a friend who lived a few blocks from their Manhattan incarnation.

I was impressed by the interior. The quality of the decor of a pizzeria is not always up to par with their pizza, not so here! It was packed at 11pm on a Friday, a great indicator of pizza popularity. Joe and Pat’s is also a full Italian restaurant, for any picky eaters who for some reason do not want pizza. I also have to compliment the staff for being so nice to us, which is not expected in the city at a busy restaurant. Kudos to them.

The Pizza

We ordered the ‘Original 60s’, with half pepperoni. It’s as basic as you can get, with just sauce and cheese on the topping-less portion.

This is very much an old school NY pie, before the slice started trending towards shredded mozz cheese which creates that cheese roof on the slice we all love. As you can see this is similarly using low moisture mozz, but it’s not shredded so the cheese comes in little patches on the surface of the pie

The first thing you’ll notice when you eat a Joe and Pat’s is that the slices are thin crust. Most folks from outside of NYC consider a regular slice to be thin crust, well this is even thinner than that, while not being a cracker crust like on a bar pie. The bottom had a fantastic char to it while not being burnt and gave it a most satisfying crunch. This is not really foldin’ za, but in this case it’s on purpose so no need to deduct points. Though they use coal ovens for this pizza at their original location I saw gas ovens in the back so it’s going to be a slightly different experience. Coal ovens add a very distinct taste to the slice.

Moving on, the CSR is on point for this thing. It is a saucy slice, but the sauce does not overwhelm at all. I loved the sauce, which was sweet and kept me returning for more slices. The cheese wasn’t a standout but was your standard mozz cheese. I was a fan of the roni cups on the side that had them.

When you take it all in together, the crunch of the crust somehow really enhances what is already a great slice.

Final Words

L&B is one of the most popular pizzerias in NY, so I was thrilled I had the chance to return to these hallowed pizza grounds after a trip to the NY aquarium last week. I had already tasted these saucy slices a few times before so I was fully prepared for an awesome experience.

Even on a rainy day in December, the pizzeria was totally packed, with cars double parked in front to pickup their precious pizzas. L&B has a pretty large dining area, both inside and outside, and they’re also a full Italian restaurant if you don’t just want pizza (I guess those people exist?).

Their specialty is the upside down Sicilian pizza, flipping the order of cheese and sauce on the slice. There’s not a whole lot of information on where this variety was invented, but it was most definitely popularized by L&B, and now you can find it in a ton of other pizzerias around NY. As the name suggests, they’ve also got great spumoni ice cream here, but you know why we’re here, so let’s check out...

The Pizza

L&B is consistently regarded as one of the best slices in NYC, and just one bite will prove why. This pizza is absolutely delicious. First off, as you can see it’s a saucy slice, you will need napkins for this, but that’s not a bad thing! The sauce is so tasty, slightly sweet, well seasoned, and I loved how prominent it is on these slices. You can also notice they use a hard cheese (probably Parmesan) in the sauce to amp of the flavor even more. I have heard before that you eat food first with your eyes, so I think even just observing all of this sauce really makes a difference when tasting.

If the sauce is the standout on this slice, then the dough is a close second. This portion was almost like eating a cake but without being too dense. It’s truly easy to put back 3-4 slices without getting full! The bread and the cheese both work together to cut the acidity of the sauce on top and deliver a fully realized ultimate slice. The bottom was perfectly cooked, and whether or not you like the charring at the ends is subjective, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Final Words

L&B’s pizza is simply put one of the best slices you’ll ever have. I could easily eat one of these pies every day, but I might not last very long if I did that. Their upside down Sicilian slices have been co-opted by many other pizza establishments and cemented their reputation in the pizza world forever. The quality hasn’t changed in the decade of so since the last time I went, and it’s a sure thing that you’ll have an experience to remember when you order a pie here.

Even before I was curious about moving to Brooklyn, I had heard about Artichoke Pizza, a chain restaurant that has spread to 10+ locations mostly located in NYC. A chain restaurant made me dubious, but I was told that I had to try their signature slice and I would not be disappointed. So on a day where I found my local pizzeria Rosa’s closed for renovations I decided to take a pizza detour to Artichoke for a review.

Artichoke Pizza features a decent selection of pizza, with the caveat that you can’t customize a pie, you have to order from their menu of 8 choices. Only two of these pizzas featured a meat, which is bad news if you’re trying to get some protein with your za. These slices are bigger than your average pizzeria, and require two plates to hold them, but the price certainly reflects that fact. Of the choices available, I sampled the titular artichoke slice, as well as the plain.

The Pizza

First I’ll get into the artichoke slice, their signature and most expensive slice coming in at $6.00 which is more than most would expect to spend on a slice. For all that cold hard cash, you’re getting a pizza with spinach and artichoke dip on it, nothing more, nothing less. If you like spinach and artichoke dip, you will like this pizza, if you don’t, you won’t. Pretty simple. For me, I definitely enjoyed it and thought that the combo of pizza and dip worked marvelously. The crust was crispy, maybe a bit dry for my liking. The problem with a pizza this large is that it’s very hard to fold it, and maintaining balance on this slice without a fold was difficult. That definitely detracted from the experience, I don’t like food that is hard to eat.

Next we move onto the plain slice, which I had a few issues with. It is not your typical NY plain, which is obvious from the picture and that’s fine, different styles are totally within reason. CSR is tending towards the saucy side here, but I enjoyed the sauce and the cheese overall, it was the best part of this slice. My issues came with the fold, this time it was not due to how large it was but because of the state of the crust. As you can see from the picture, there were large cracks that formed when a tried to do it. The crust was dry and definitely burnt, not charred, in certain spots. I like some char on my crust, but this was different. The slice was simply overcooked and the crust dried out at some point. This really hurt the experience and I wasn’t that happy about it.

Final Words

It’s national pizza month, so I would be remiss if I didn’t write about my recent pilgrimage to Di Fara pizza in Brooklyn. This establishment is legendary for a few reasons even besides the great pizza. The owner Dom De Marco has been crowned as the prince of pizza in New York after running Di Fara since 1964. He is involved with the making of every single pizza in this place, so you know when you get a pie, you get it from the person who has been making it that way for 70 years.

The master himself

This brings us to the other legendary aspect of Di Fara, the wait. Since one man (in his later years) is making every pie, it can take an extremely long time to get your pizza. We put in an order for two pies, and didn’t get the first until an hour and a half had elapsed.  The second came out around the two hour mark. All the while we were waited on by one extremely brave and friendly human who was running pizzas to and fro the busy storefront. Dom’s family helps run the restaurant and despite it being crowded and New York, everyone was so nice! It really added to the experience.

We ordered a margherita pie, and one with pepperoni and mushrooms.

The Pizza

In my opinion Di Fara pizza really did live up to the hype. I liked most of all the first pizza we got which was just a regular margherita. I found the CSR to be on point and moreover the sauce was absolutely delicious. I found the crust to be a bit dry, but it did taste of a higher quality than most pizzas. They drizzle olive oil on top of the pizzas before serving, and give it some parmesan cheese as well. I really liked both of those, it made each bite feel so full and satisfying.

Then we come to the mushroom and pepperoni pie. I still liked this one, but not as much. Best part by far were the ‘ronis, curled up towards the heavens and holding their pool of grease. I didn’t detect enough sauce on this one, and I just felt like the flavor was not as good.

Final Words

Pizza fans, so sorry to leave you in limbo. It’s been a month since my big move to the pizza capital of the world and in that time I have been absolutely overwhelmed with the amount of places in the area. I figured I’d give a review of the first place I went to after my move, a pizzeria located 2 minutes from my apartment called Rosa’s Pizza (formerly La Bella Mariella II).

This pizzeria has all the hallmarks of a NY slice joint, good selection, fast counter service, and a small eating area. When I went there the day after my move, I was absolutely exhausted. Luckily however, this pizza was good enough to revive me and keep me going.

The Pizza

In the top right we have a sicilian slice next to a reliable plain slice. In the next photo there’s the grandma slice next to a buffalo chicken slice. All of these slices were peak pizza, if I do say so. So many different styles, and they’re all amazing. I especially liked the buffalo chicken slice, they didn’t overdo it with the buffalo sauce like a lot of other places.

Final Words

In my last month in Ann Arbor, I’ve had to give up cooking, which has made having decent meals at home a bit difficult. I thought this would be a great time to try a bunch of frozen pizzas, which I would normally NEVER allow to enter my home. I tried to more or less get their pepperoni pizza version, so that things would be consistent. All of the pizzas were prepared correctly according to their instructions using a regular gas oven. Let’s begin!

Digiorno Primo Pepperoni

Well I had to start with the most popular frozen pizza brand out there. I picked their hand-tossed pizza because I thought the crust looked a bit thinner than their traditional. The crust wasn’t very tasty, and I couldn’t get a good fold on it, it was almost like eating stale bread. As I ate more of the pizza, I was realizing that all of my fullness was coming from this subpar dough. The sauce was all but non-existent, I could see it, but I couldn’t taste it. I thought the pepperoni was actually quite good, and the cheese was decent. I would never recommend this pizza over going out, it was mediocre, but surprisingly to me, not terrible.

Screamin’ Sicilian Holy Pepperoni

This pizza really surprised me, it was truly good in a way I was not expecting at all. Screamin’ is not a well known brand, but with some decent advertising I think this frozen pizza is going places. Everything tasted great, however the crust was pretty chewy and not as good as the other components. My other complaint about this pizza was that there was an insane amount of cheese on it, which could not be held in by my fold attempt. Definitely my favorite pizza of the group.

California Pizza Kitchen Signature Pepperoni

CPK is pretty well known for their frozen pizzas, so I was a bit disappointed and underwhelmed by this one. As usual for CPK, it wasn’t your standard pepperoni pizza, they put their own unique spin on it, but I wasn’t that into it. It had a good CSR, but it was heavily spiced and the taste of the pepperoni was lacking. It had an extra thin cracker crust which I thought was pretty good. It’s possible that a thin crust comes out better with a frozen pizza, but it’s just speculation.

Amy’s Margherita

Amy’s brand items are sold as being from higher quality ingredients, so I was interested to see how their pizza was going to taste. I thought this pizza had the best tasting crust out of all the frozen pizzas I tried, it was light and flaky. Unfortunately, that’s about all that this pizza had going for it. The sauce and cheese were not great, the sauce itself was very watery and was falling off my slices. Most of the bites you can only taste the crust, so this was a disappointment overall.

Trader Joe’s BBQ Pizza

I had heard great things about Trader Joe’s frozen pizza, so I was excited to try this one. However all of my joy turned to ash in my mouth upon attempting to eat this. The taste was just terrible, and I got no further than one slice before deciding that it wasn’t worth continuing. This pizza is horrible, and it was the only pizza from this review that I did not fully finish.

Trader Joe’s Pizza Margherita

Thankfully I had a backup from Trader Joe’s so they could at least have the chance to redeem themselves. My pizza didn’t end up looking like the picture at all, the mozzarella patties sitting like that aren’t very appetizing. The crust on this one was very hard, there was no chance for a fold, However the crust was crispy and actually tasted pretty good. The sauce and cheese on the other hand were very bland, having little taste. Overall, a very mediocre pizza.

Tombstone Pepperoni Pizza

Strangely, this pizza folded up in the oven for reasons I cannot explain. It had a very crunchy crust, the crunchiest of the group, but unfortunately it was not a standout in terms of taste. The sauce and the cheese actually tasted decent, not great, but there was a lot of cheese. Overall I thought that this pizza exceeded expectations and may actually be a good value for the price it is sold at.

Red Baron Brick Oven Pepperoni

Red Baron had the most hefty, substantial crust of the bunch. You could get a good fold on it which I was happy to see. The toppings however were not great, the overall taste was mediocre, yet not terrible. The cheese tasted off, and I think it ruined the rest of the pizza. I also noted that you taste a lot of crust in each bite. 

Overall Thoughts

I am glad my journey to the center of the freezer aisle is over. Obviously, I don’t think anyone expects frozen pizza to be anything like what you’ll find at an actual pizzeria, but what is being sold here is a cheap imitation of pizza.

The hardest thing to get right with these by far was the crust. I don’t know if it’s truly possible to prepare a pizza crust for the freezer aisle and have it come out of the oven like a real pizza crust. The frozen pizza crusts I ate mostly tasted like stale bread, and there’s no way I would ever mistake them for something fresh from the oven. Something in the way the dough unthaws in the oven makes it overpower the other components of the pizza. The sauce, cheese, and pepperoni on each pizza were typically bland, with a few standouts.

My favorite pizza by far out of all of these was the Screamin’ brand pizza, which I thought had all of their components tasting pretty good. If I had to pick a number two, I would go with the Digiorno, but I would be wary of anything other than their hand tossed varieties.

I’m certainly not going to be stocking up on frozen pizza anytime soon, and I’m happy to be done with this once and for all!

Other Pizza Products

I had to make sure two of the most popular pizza products too!

Pizza Bagels

Pizza Bagels were a favorite of mine growing up. We never had them in our house, so I could only have them when hanging out with friends. That all changed in college of course, for better or for worse. I still quite enjoyed having these even now. They have certainly lost some of their luster but the bagel part of the pizza bagel is very satisfying to eat and fills you up. I’ll never be ok with what the surface of one of these things looks like, though.

Pizza Rolls

Pizza Rolls are what I regarded as the lesser cousin of Pizza Bagels. The pocket of dough that contains them, is very bland to me even when properly toasted in an oven, never a microwave! Also, it’s very hard to get to these during the short window when they are still warm and the cheese and sauce are ooey gooey delicious. Taking a bite too soon after they come out of the oven may be disastrous, as the insides are said to be as hot as lava. Wait too long, and you’re eating cold sauce. Pizza Rolls can stay in the supermarket, as far as I’m concerned.

EDIT:

Ellios Pizza

Jolly Pumpkin isn’t just your run-of-the-mill bistro. This Main St favorite of Ann Arbor is consistently said to be one of the best restaurants in Ann Arbor. Their unique takes on classic dishes never ceases to amaze my taste buds. They also apparently brew excellent beer, though I can’t comment on that.

I’ve always known that Jolly Pumpkin serves pizza, but I’m always very skeptical of non-pizzerias that do this. For a lot, it’s an afterthought menu item. However after having a bit of their pizza with some friends, I wanted to make sure I gave them the full review.

I ordered their Fire & Smoke pizza which is their spin on a BBQ chicken pizza which has smoked chicken, charred red peppers, smoked Mozzarella, chipotle tomato sauce, scallions, and basil.

The Pizza

I thought this pizza was definitely good, but it didn’t knock it out of the park for me. Firstly, it was very cheese heavy, which made it difficult to handle because the hot cheese was going everywhere. Fortunately, the cheese was supremely delicious. Overall though, I didn’t get a lot of flavor from the sauce partially because there was just so much cheese on this. It’s a bit of a shame because when I did get a good bite with sauce, I could tell that it wasn’t your typical BBQ sauce, it was instead spicy and I would have liked to taste more of it on each slice.

The toppings were fresh and tasted great, especially the charred red peppers which I love. The chicken wasn’t dry and could be found in very reasonable amounts on the pie. Finally I was impressed with the crust of this pizza which was akin to a NY pie, thin on the bottom with about an inch at the end to handle. It was cooked well, tasted great, and had a good fold to boot! Usually I can take or leave the ends of a slice, but in this case it all went down.

Final Thoughts

Overall, while this pizza was certain above average, it wasn’t my favorite and I would not get it again. Jolly Pumpkin does however have very good pizza fundamentals and I would expect a more normal red sauce pizza to satisfy me a bit more.

People speak about the Costco food court like it’s a magical place and have high reverence for their hotdog combo, as well as their pizza. I wanted to see for myself if the wholesale chain could wholly-sell me on their pizza.

This pizza is dirt cheap coming in at $2 per slice. They list the calorie content next to the prices, and I was surprised to find that their cheese slices actually had more calories in them than their pepperoni slices. Very strange.

The Pizza

If there’s one word to describe Costco pizza, it is greasy, and in a bad way. The soft, doughy crust and grease are going to be what you taste for the most part when you eat this pizza. The cheese and the sauce on the other hand do not stand out very much, which makes for a disappointing slice.

Final Words

Pizza e Vino, located in downtown Plymouth, is a place I made sure I visited before I left the mitten. According to their website, it’s the first and only Michigan pizzeria to be certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana. What this means is their pizza conforms to a certain set of standards that qualify it as ‘authentic’ Neapolitan pizza. A good sign to be sure, but not the end all of pizza quality. I had to see for myself if this was the real deal!

The front of house at Pizza e Vino is nicely decorated and comfy with low lighting, making for a great atmosphere. You can watch them preparing and cooking the pizza in their wood fired oven if you’re close enough to the back of the restaurant. We ordered a classic margherita, a sausage and salami based pizza, and one with goat cheese and arugula.

The Pizza

I think it should be clear from the pictures, but this pizza was the real deal. The crust, CSR, and overall ingredient quality were all fantastic. One thing I noticed was that the underside of the crust was very soft, indicating a more moist dough. I was impressed with the taste of the sauce and especially liked the sausage based pie.

Final Words

This weekend I was playing board games with some friends at Null Taphouse in Dexter and it was time to order food. Once we saw the menu for Classic Pizza with its odd name and dapper penguin mascot, we couldn’t say no. We got a pepperoni and mushroom pizza, and a bbq chicken pizza delivered.

The Pizza

This pizza certainly wasn’t the worst pizza I’ve ever had, but it was your typical midwestern pizza. Soft thick crust, generic marinara sauce, and a heaping of cheese. Luckily all the ingredients tasted good so I cannot say I hated eating this pizza, but it was nothing special.

Not pictured is the BBQ chicken pizza, which honestly was bad. The chicken looked anemic. Tiny little bits of grey matter. I don’t think they seasoned it at all, it was so boring. The BBQ sauce itself was pretty lame too, it was just overall a very poor attempt at a BBQ chicken pizza.

Final Words

All throughout our meetup in San Diego I had my eye on a local pizzeria that claimed to do a NY slice right. Their menu and pictures seemed to confirm this and so I was thrilled to finally go on our last night for dinner.

Pizza on Pearl as its name suggests is located on Pearl St in La Jolla, the ritzy part of San Diego. Despite this you’ll find food across all price ranges and cultures. Pizza on Pearl seems to be the only slice joint in the area though, so I was hoping it was bringing great pizza to all. I was a bit saddened to see that this was mostly a carryout operation, even though there were some tables set up to eat-in. I have mentioned it before but to me, a pizzeria should be a place of gathering.

We got a standard pepperoni pie, and a pie with meatballs on one side and a hodgepodge on veggies on the other for our part-time vegan. Note they had garlic “knots” but it was really just bread slathered with butter and garlic. I’ve now found quite a few places that claim they are selling garlic knots when it is something clearly different.

The Pizza

This pizza looked, smelled, and tasted like the real thing! I was happy to find that the fold was easily executed and grease amount resembled a real NY slice. Ingredient quality was good, even on the veggie side I really enjoyed how fresh everything tasted. But the standout was the classic pepperoni where all the sizing proportions were correct, with cheese all the way to the ends, and the classic mottled cheese and sauce look. CSR on point! One area where I’ll have to deduct points is the bottom of the crust, which was strangely a bit crisp, and did not have the same texture of what you would find in NY. However this is easily overlooked.

Final Words

Last week I was travelling to San Diego with my coworkers for a meetup. After completing an escape room (11 minutes to spare) we found ourselves in a place called Avalon Plaza and hungry! We lucked out to find a very highly regarded pizzeria nearby that curiously only serves square slices. I had to find out if it was as good as the reviews promised.

Square Pizza Co serves 3 types of square slices, something called Boston Beach which I’ve never heard of, Detroit style, and one of my favorites, Sicilian. Boston Beach style is apparently a thinner crust than your typical pan pizza and has a sweeter sauce. I didn’t have the chance to try it out though, I sampled their Sicilian because I wanted to see how it would fair against what I grew up with in NY

The Pizza 

Sicilian 

Detroit

Boston Beach

Immediately it was obvious to me that this looked nothing like the Sicilian that I knew from home, but I was still interested to give it a shot. I found that my slice had a very light and flaky crust but was well cooked. I would have liked a bit more sauce on the top, I’m not totally sure why it was doled out so sparingly. The quality of the ingredients however were very good and overall thought this was a great slice. My coworkers also thought the slice was right!

Final Words

Silvio’s Organic Pizza is a strange name, but one that certainly seeks to appeal to a certain crowd in Ann Arbor. I’ve only ever been here once before and do remember liking it, but it was time for the proper review! Silvio’s is a restaurant, so no slices unfortuately. The seating area has some very funky decor, but it’s got cool vibes. I ordered a pie with my classic toppings of pepperoni and mushrooms.

The Pizza

I did get this delivered which took an astounding hour and a half to reach me. By the time it did the pizza was lukewarm and the cheese has started to congeal. With the help of modern microwave technology though, this was countered.

This pizza was a bit hard to figure out. Firstly, the crust stood out to me as being thin and crunchy, but it was cooked well and overall tasty. Next the cheese and sauce definitely tasted a bit different from the typical flavors, but in a good way. I think I tasted more spices than I usually do when eating a slice, but they certainly did a good job spicing things up. The sauce in particular... did not taste like pizza sauce. It was interesting, but the CSR was great! Toppings were also very flavorful and fresh. Overall I did like this pizza, even though it’s a different from what I expect. They definitely have done a good job with their own original ideas of how a pizza should taste.

Final Words

While traveling to NY to visit some family, my Dad told me that I had to try a place that he had started going to recently. La Bottega is a combo restaurant pizzeria located in Great Neck, and while they did sport a good looking glass case, we were here for their margherita pie.

The Pizza

Damn this was some good pizza. Just looking at these pictures has me wanting to have some right now. These slices come with a lot of cheese on them but it never seemed like too much, and they also had plenty of sauce to make the CSR particularly good. Basil, the most essential ingredient for a margherita pizza was topped aplenty and tasted very fresh. I would definitely come back here again for another one of these.

Final Words

La Bottega definitely impressed me with their margherita pie, and leaves me wanting more. As a side note, we also ordered a caesar salad and a chicken parm hero, both were very good as well. I’m definitely looking forward to coming back again!

Bonus

If you’ve ever watched The Pizza Show then you know about Best Pizza located in Williamsburg. Its owner Frank Pinello hosts the show and takes you all around the world showcasing many different types of pizzas. I’ve been wanting to head to his pizzeria ever since I started watching and finally I had a chance.

Located just a few blocks from the heart of Williamsburg, this unassuming pizzeria has a ton of charm and a ton of great pizza. From the simple menu with only a few choices to the customer decorated paper plates that hang on the walls, Best PIzza feels comforting, not corporate.

The Pizza

Best Pizza does things a bit differently than your typical NY slice joint. Firstly, they use a wood burning oven instead of gas which really helps to give the crust that nice charred flavoring. Secondly, there’s a very unique topology to the surface of the slice. You’ll notice that there is not the usual roof of cheese with sauce underneath, but rather the two prime ingredients are allowed to intermingle with each other directly. Sauce pools in little cheese craters, and the slice ends up looking like something wholly unique. The CSR is spot on, and I actually think that I could eat a few of these slices without the typical pizza stomachache because they appear to be a bit lighter on the cheese than usual.

Finally, Best Pizza tops their slice with a leaf of fresh basil. I gotta say this is a small touch that goes a long way. I love the taste of basil on a margherita, so of course I want that on my NY slice as well! The flavor this injects into the pizza is very apparent and is a detail that I wouldn’t mind seeing more of.

I want to briefly call out how good the crust of this pizza tastes. It’s pretty hit or miss whether I finish the crust of a pizza. On a lot of slices you get to the end and the crust is dried out, or plain tasting, and just not worth the effort. Not so with these slices. The wood burning oven gives it a distinct taste and you’ll truly enjoy every last bite.

All of these factors come together to create a pizza that is worthy of the name ‘Best’. 

Final Words