Category Archives: Pizza

Luigi’s Gourmet

December 5, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

My wife and I ordered a pie from here for delivery once and we were happy with it. Not overjoyed, but happy. It was a good, fair price ($12), and the shit was crispy instead of runny and floppy, DESPITE being stuck in a pizza box and stuffed in a padded bag where the shit can get steamier than a night in the jungle with the Penthouse Pets. So I made it a point to come back and try a proper slice from under the glass, reheated.

Here’s the verdict: I liked it very much. The sauce was robust, a little spicy kick to it. The crust was crispy and durable, yet soft to bite down. The cheese was properly layered and just the right amount. I also tried a fresh mozz slice (I am a sucker for these). This one had basil and fresh sliced tomatoes on it as well. However, I thought that this lacked flavor when eaten side-by-side with the regular slice. I found myself wanting to add salt or something. Oh well. At least we know the regular slice is legit.

Oh and check out these garlic knots. They look delicious. Next time I will try:

LUIGI’S GOURMET
936 8th Ave
New York, NY 10019

Midtown West, Pizza

99¢ Fresh Pizza

December 5, 2014 Johnny Prime 2 Comments

This little hole-in-the-wall is on Broadway and 55th Street.

I love the idea of a cheap slice of pizza, so I made it my mission to try a bunch of these places to find the best one. This category-3 pizza shop is actually okay.

They are a little bit shy on the cheese and sauce, but if you’re in a rush and want to save a few bucks on your food, this joint will suffice once in a while.

The crust is usually crispy, though a little dry due to lack of enough sauce. You can always throw on a little hot sauce if you need that wetness:

Sometimes the crust can be softer if you get a more fresh pie. There’s not too much grease fall-off when you fold the slice to eat it, which is good on the waist, and nothing will drip down your face as you go to bit it. Sauce is basic – nothing nuanced or great about it. Cheese is just your basic shredded medley, if not all mozz. Standing room only inside, so get comfortable at a ledge on the side of the shop, or eat while you walk down the streets of midtown.

99¢ FRESH PIZZA
1723 Broadway
New York, NY 10019

East Village, Flash Deals, Pizza

Motorino

December 3, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Motorino is one of those over-hyped pizza joints that non-native New Yorker’s think is a great New York pizza. Let me preface this review with this though: I did enjoy the food – ate every last scrap of it (I was starving). However, I felt that the crust was a little too soft. Th router edges were crispy and burnt, which was nice, but ultimately it was a floppy pizza. The sauce was weak (needed herbs or salt or something), and the cheese was sparse. My wife tried a no sauce-based pizza, with mushrooms, cheese, garlic, olives and soppressata. I found myself liking that better than my margherita pie. That’s a bad sign. When you are eating a pizza for the toppings and not for the basics of the pizza pie, then you are in the territory of “go somewhere else.”

Here’s the margherita pie. It’s mostly bread – very sparse on sauce, herbs and cheese. That may be fine for some people, but we needed to order a side of sauce just to dip the bread into. Despite generally liking the flavor of the bread/crust, I though the center of the crust (under the toppings) was way too wet and soggy. Perhaps they should pop this in the oven atop a grill so that the heat can get underneath the crust a bit, and make for a more solid foundation. When I make my pizza, I use a perforated pizza pan that allows for heat to directly hit the bottom of the pie, and I elevate the pizza off the surface of the heat.

Here’s the other pie – much better, but only because it had interesting toppings:

The highlight of the meal was the appetizer, an octopus salad with capers, potatoes, red onion, lemon and parsley. The octopus was really tender and flavorful.

Luckily our deal came with a bottle of wine – we picked this one from the Montepulciano region of Italy. It was great.

MOTORINO
349 E 12th St
New York, NY 10003

Pizza, Tribeca

Saluggi’s

September 24, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

Best pizza in NYC. Yup, I said that shit. I’m a full-blooded Italian from Long Island who grew up eating mom’s homemade pizza, and friends’ grandmothers’ homemade pizza, and all the great spots on Long Island like Little Vincent’s, Agean, Sayville, and all the rest. Fuck them all, except for mom’s. Saluggi’s uses fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, and a really light yet flavorful tomato sauce that makes their slices really shine out among a sea of shit in the city. Yes, yes, yes – everyone knows the big named pizza places in NYC and Brooklyn. Fuck those too. I’m TELLING you… GO HERE. You won’t be disappointed. I ate here for years and I still go out of my way for a slice whenever the mood strikes me.

After your slice, you should check out the owner’s other joint, just around the corner – a great dive bar called “The Nancy Whiskey.” Here are some shots of it:

They serve food too – burgers and wings seem like solid choices, and there’s even a little upstairs seating area if the bar is too noisy for you.

SALUGGI’S
325 Church St
New York, NY 10013

American, Burgers, Downtown, Pizza, Restaurant Reviews

Charly’s

September 18, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

NOTE: THIS PLACE IS CURRENTLY CLOSED

This little joint is fantastic for lunch if you work in the area, or for super late night eats if you live or party nearby. I used to both work and live around the corner from this place, and I can suggest the right stuff to get. In fact, this place was such a staple in my life that coming here used to be part of what my roommate and I called the “Trifecta” of nightlife. I won’t mention the other two parts of that, but it did involve copious amounts of tits and ass, as well as pizza… Let your imagination run wild with that.

First, they make an amazing chicken burrito. It’s jam packed with nicely grilled chicken breast and all the works (which you can see and even select from behind the glass counter). It comes with a side of tortilla chips and a little plastic tub of salsa. Best part of the way they make these: they slap a few slices of cheddar on the tortilla as it is warming up on the flat top, and then they add shredded cheese along with the toppings as they fill it. Also – I’ve never had a rip in my tortilla when they make it. These guys are fucking pros.

Bite my tongue! I just went back for a visit and the guy ripped my burrito a little and didn’t bother to fix it. They also didn’t do the “slap on the sliced cheese and toast it on the flat top” method either this time. It was still jerk worthy though:

Next item to get: the Charly burger. These things are fucking awesome. No bullshit – 6oz patties grilled to perfection on a nice flavor-filled flat top griddle, and topped with whatever goodness you want; they have everything from a variety of cheeses to onions to mushrooms, etc. They offer single, double, and “grand slam” burger sizes (grand slam = four 6oz patties). On one of our early dates, my wife put down a grand slam burger and fries all by her lonesome. I knew then she was magical. The fries are legit too – they used to be a little greasy, but they did stay crisp and flavorful. NOW they use a battered fry (it used to be a natural type cut), which is a million times better. Crisp, flavorful, and they hold up even when enclosed in a clamshell for a 30 minute subway ride.

Another good item: the ice cream shakes. I always stuck with vanilla but you used to be able to have one made from any flavor tub they had in the bin: they have a small freezer unit like Baskin Robbins, with several interesting flavors.

What NOT to get: the pizza – “Steve’s Pizza” is part of the same building – connected – but they are NOT the same restaurant. The pizza there is not that great, so skip it. It’s soggy, floppy, and generally just not that good.

Also the tacos at Charly’s are way too greasy, so skip those too. And I never did the cold cut sandwiches either. Stick with a chicken burrito or a burger and you are good to go.

Also – don’t get your hopes up for a nice looking place when you get there. This is essentially just a counter where you order food, and one or two stools facing the street/windows. But this little spot survived 9/11, and served food up to all the great firemen and construction workers who worked that mess, and who built the new freedom tower. Eating here is patriotic.

They even added an upstairs dining area, unless it was always there and I was too drunk to realize?

CHARLY’S
110 Trinity Pl.
New York, NY 10006

STEVE’S PIZZA
110 Cedar St.
New York, NY 10006

Italian, Long Island, Pizza

Mamma Santina’s

June 13, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

This is some of the best pizza you will ever taste on Long Island. It’s too bad I just found out about it 2 or 3 months before moving back to NYC. In that short time I have been back at least 4 times. I’ve tried the white pizza, the margherita pizza, and the prosciutto & arugula pizza – all brick oven styles. I haven’t tried a regular PIE yet, but the regular SLICE was excellent (reheated from under the glass – the best way to eat a slice, in my opinion). Good cheese to sauce ratio, good crispy crust with a little bit of softness when you bite down. Really well done stuff here, with simple and high quality ingredients like fresh mozz, basil, and bright flavorful sauce. CLICK HERE to visit their fucking website.

Some pizzaporn food porn below:

MAMMA SANTINA’S
201 Orinoco Dr
Brightwaters, NY 11718

Italian, Midtown West, Pizza, Press Reviews, Restaurant Reviews

Capizzi Pizzeria Italiana

May 23, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

I recently became aware of Capizzi when I was invited for a couple of press dinners. It is situated right between my wife and my work places, so it was an easy spot to try out on a whim.

This cozy little joint is tucked away under the bridge on 9th Avenue at Port Authority.

When you walk in, you feel like you’re at someone’s house that has been temporarily transformed into a dining room. The old tube TV and the floor-standing, old timey radio have been moved aside to make room for guests. They even have and old school fridge and ice box along the cabinetry on one side of the room…

…and dried peppers hanging from the ceiling, just like at grandma’s house.

Which they crush into their own house crushed red pepper, served alongside dried oregano that is still on the stems. Just like home!

By 6pm on the Friday before Memorial Day, when people are itching to vacate the city, this place was already jumping WITH A LINE OUT THE DOOR AND DOWN THE STREET. Completely full. Wow!

The plates mirror this cozy home feeling, and it’s no wonder Capizzi was jammed up from such an early time… because everything was awesome. And it boasts an extensive Wine selection for all you wine drinking folks out there. In my two visits, I got to taste pretty much all their wines by the glass. The montepulciano, nero d’avola, lambrusco, chianti, and muscato were all great.

Our waiter Andre started us off with a couple of glasses of sangiovese on our first visit, which is one of my favorite varietals. The cool thing about the second visit was that he was there again, but this time just visiting on his off-day to say hello to friends, which I thought was pretty cool. He remembered us too! Great guy. On the second trip we had the pleasure of being served by Sami as our waitress, and Javier as bus boy. Service here is impeccable! Javier was fast, attentive, and very nice. Sami was a sweetheart, and made excellent suggestions for what to order. The people running Capizzi definitely know how to choose good quality staff.

We had a plate of soft, tasty burrata cheese that was garnished with basil, artichoke hearts, sliced grape tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and prosciutto – all lightly drizzled with olive oil. It was excellent. Simple and delicious.

Next came the antipasto misto: a plate of Italian meats, cheese, olives, mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and eggplant. A nice way to double down on our starter plate. As you can see in the pic, Andre again served us from the main plate. Top notch service here!

The antipasto came with a basket of toasted, lightly cheesed flatbread. Naked pizza, if you will. Really airy and crispy. We took this home with us since we couldn’t finish it all, and wanted to save room for pizza.

On trip number two we tried two salads – HUGE portion sizes. Definitely can split these. These were both very simple dishes that showcased incredible, fresh ingredients. In the first case, cucumber, roasted red peppers, and really top quality olive oil.

The other salad was a simple, refreshing fennel and orange salad. Again massive portion size, and very tasty.

Then comes the pizza. We ordered a regular Margherita pie with some arugula and prosciutto on top. The pie was doughy yet crisped and lightly charred on the surfaces and crust. This kind of perfection can only be achieved with an authentic wood burning brick oven.

The sauce was deftly applied with just the right volume and ratio to the crust and cheese. It had a very slight sweetness to it, which was cut nicely by the peppery arugula and salty prosciutto. The cheese was fresh and melty, and on top there was some fresh grated parmesan cheese for that earthy kick. We devoured every bite of this masterpiece.

On a second visit we tried two pies. First the margherita pie – your basic cheese and sauce pizza. It was fucking PERFECT. Words escape me right now as I try to describe it. It was crisp, yet soft. It was savory, fresh, and juicy from point to crust. Honestly this is now my favorite pizza in New York, and I grew up a spoiled pizza brat.

The other pie we tried was on special for the night, and was topped with speck, prosciutto, arugula and mozzarella. This was really great. In fact, pretty much every pizza on the menu sounds enticing. My wife and I plan to move back into the city this summer, and this area is one of or top choices for location. Needless to say, Capizzi will be our go-to pizza joint, no question. Look at how amazing the pizza is…

We finished off the meal with my wife’s favorite classic dessert, tiramisu, on our first visit. It was good – nice and light, not too boozy; a great ending to a wonderful meal.

On the second visit, we took advice from our waitress Sami to try the Oreo truffle cannoli. She hit the nail on the head. It was just the right amount of sweet without being overpowering. It was flavorfully unique, but with enough tribute paid to the classic cannoli dessert not to offend any traditionalist sensibilities. And as always, the plating was beautiful to boot.

As a pizza aficionado, I definitely recommend this place to those looking for a great pie (no single slices here – for that you need to go to Saluggis). Do yourself a favor and go here ASAP. I think for sit-down, full-pie pizza, this is absolutely my new favorite place to go.

An interesting side note about this place:

“They got an old-fashion’ toilet… You know… The box, and, and, and, ah the chain-thing… We might be able to tape the gun behind it.”

– Tessio

CAPIZZI
547 9th Ave
New York, NY 10018

Long Island, Pizza

Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza

February 1, 2014 Johnny Prime Leave a comment

You may not know it, but I happen to be a huge pizz-o-phile. Growing up, I was spoiled by having my mother’s homemade pizza available on a nearly daily basis, so I have pretty high standards when it comes to the old sauce, cheese & dough combo. There are lots of different styles of pizza out there. I prefer a very crispy dough/crust, thin, with fresh mozzarella and a nice flavorful tomato sauce. Currently my absolute favorite, outside of my own and my mother’s, is Saluggi’s in Tribeca NY. Thin, crispy, fresh, and fucking delicious.

So anyway – the point of this quick post is to say that ALL New Yorkers are spoiled when it comes to pizza – not just the eye-talians who grew up with great home made shit. We have it made here for food in general, and when it comes to pizza, we are the best (FUCK Chicago – that’s right – I said it…).

That said, I recently became aware of Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza, a budding pizza (and wings) chain. I was fascinated by the pics I saw, and by the method of cooking (mounds of ember-glowing coals roasting the pizza BBQ style in huge ovens), so I had to give it a try.

I must say – I am impressed. This is good pizza. Great sauce, nice crispy crust but with enough depth to satisfy those who like a little more chew or substance to the dough, and good bubbly, quality cheese. If this is the standard that the rest of the country can expect at these establishments, then pizza is finally going to be good outside of NY/NJ/CT/FL. FINALLY the rest of the country will get a taste of what REAL pizza is like. Not Dominos, not Pizza Hut, not California Pizza Kitchen, not Chicago deep dish garbage, which requires a fucking fork and knife instead of a one-hand fold… REAL NY PIZZA.

I wish them great success, and I hope they spread to more states. This is good news for the middle-of-nowhere places that get one of these chains in their strip malls. They will understand finally what pizza really means.

The wings are pretty good to boot. They taste like they’re fresh off the BBQ grill, roasty, crispy, and a little char. Very nice.

Check out the pics: