Pizza makes me think anything is possible ~ Henry Rollins
The Pizza Page – Pizza IS Happiness!
The pizza page, how has it taken me so long to add this to my site? For those who know me well, they know one of my absolute loves in life is a slice of NY style pizza. I’ve traveled a lot, have had the benefit of eating fantastic meals, in fantastic restaurants all over the world. But to me there are few food experiences better than that first bite of a perfect slice of NY style pizza. The closest thing to that experience is my first bite of the Rabbit and Dumplings at Cochon Restaurant in New Orleans.
As such, I search out pizza wherever I go looking for places for good slices. So the pizza page will be a reflection of just that, reviews of the pizza places I find in my life and travels. Hopefully it will give you a few good places to get a piece of pizza.
First, some clarification, who invented pizza? Salerno’s Pizza has a site which is one of the best histories of pizza on the web. What we recognize as pizza was invented in Italy, in Naples. But how and where pizza became what we truly know today was created when immigrants from Naples moved to the East Coast, in particular New York and Connecticut. The coal fired oven style of NY pizza is what I truly love and what I will use as my measuring stick for evaluating the pizza I discuss on the page.
What I won’t be discussing is Chicago or Detroit style pizza or even Sicilian style NY pizza. Please understand, these are all great food. I have certainly enjoyed my fair share of each, hell while in grad school I once had a friend buy and drive a pizza down from Chicago as he was returning from a conference. But these other styles of pizza are not what I love, so I’ll let others talk about them. When I say pizza, I’m only referring to NY Style pizza.
So what is NY style pizza? See the photo above, thin and crispy crust, real whole milk or buffalo milk mozzarella cheese and of course, the slice should be at least a little greasy and definitely foldable. A good pizza place will always have shakers available with granulated garlic and oregano. My perfect pairing for a slice is always a coke, that’s my bliss, but I don’t judge people on what they accompany their little slice of heaven with.
I’ve recently found a piece written on NY slices in San Francisco that does a wonderful job of describing all of the characteristics of a NY slice on a page called Serious Eats.
Toppings and gourmet pizza. I’m not a toppings snob, you won’t hear me scream, “no fruit on pizza!” Honestly, whoever came up with the Hawaiin pizza was a culinary genius, it shouldn’t work, seriously, ham and pineapple on pizza? But it definitely does. However, that’s about as exotic as I like my pizza. For me the standard toppings are pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms. I don’t like onions, but onion, garlic, peppers and olives are standard adjacent in my book. As soon as you see a menu with 20 different types of pizzas and topping combinations, and you’re not in NYC, you’re likely not in a pizza place that I would highly recommend. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between. Anything labeled “gourmet pizza” is immediately out of this conversation and belongs in the category with Chicago and other styles of pizza, it may be good food, but it ain’t pizza, not by my definition.
Pizza Places In Memoriam
First in my reviews let me start with pizza places in memoriam and I have three. The first, is the single greatest pizza place to ever have existed, I’ll accept no disagreement on this point and will fight you if you try.
The Pizza Pit (Hudson, NY)
I’m sure I’ll be accused of bias as this was my pizza place growing up. But I truly believe I just happen to be lucky enough to grow up 3 blocks from the greatest pizza ever. Every week the owners would drive to NYC to buy ingredients, and these hand tossed masterpieces were served up six nights a week. A tiny little hole in the wall, slices available of course, and they would open at 4PM and shut when they ran out of ingredients each night. On a weekend night, it was almost impossible to get a pie after 8PM. You always knew when it was over, because you dialed 828-1170 and kept getting a busy signal. Mr. Bijan had taken the phone off the hook, because they had all the orders they would take that night. The Pizza Pit closed because antique dealers from NYC found Hudson and starting opening storefronts for their businesses in Hudson, taking advantage of lower taxes and lower property values. As such, the owner of the building The Pizza Pit was in jacked up the rent and so The Pizza Pit owner retired. He has the pizza ovens in his garage and I have on more than one occasion begged him to make me one last pie.
A place I don’t know the name of
The second pizza place I will include in the in memoriam section I have no idea what the name of it was. The pizza place was located in a little strip mall that was located across from the current Planet Hollywood Hotel/Casino on the strip in Las Vegas. Next door to where the old Holiday Inn used to be. This little hole in the strip mall, was the first time outside of New York that I ever got a true NY slice. Of course, that part of the strip has undergone multiple changes and is now a massive hotel complex including Aria and the Cosmopolitan.
Arinell
The third one has been my go to pizza place since I moved to the San Francisco area. In the Mission, just off of the 18th street BART subway stop was a place call Arinell. Another hole in the wall, seeing a pattern yet, solid NY slices with an accompanying NY vibe. Arinell fell victim as many businesses did to the ravages of the pandemic. It was an easy BART ride into the city to get some good slices. There are supposedly other good NY slices in the city, but none as convenient for me. But I’m on the hunt and will have reviews up soon for a couple of those places.
Current Pizza Places and Reviews
My Little Pizzeria – Brooklyn Heights
My most recent excellent pizza experience came at My Little Pizzeria on Court Street in Brooklyn Heights. It’s near where my brother lives and so I hit it while I was visiting. As a matter of fact at one point, I hit it for five straight meals over two days. While in Brooklyn, I can’t walk past this place without going in for a slice. It’s the epitome of a classic NY slice place and the pizza perfectly represents what I described as a NY style pizza. The picture at the top of the page were my first two slices when I was last there.
F & F Pizzeria – Brooklyn Heights
Frank’s Pizza is ok. Definitely a place that has a standard NYC slice and I really liked their pepperoni. But the slice just wasn’t quite there and they seemed to be bordering a little too much on the gourmet side of things. They also likely suffered a bit from being in direct comparison with My Little Pizzeria.
Secret Pizza – Las Vegas
Secret Pizza has a great gimmick, no sign outside the restaurant. You basically have to sleuth it out on the web, or learn about it by word of mouth. Located on the third floor of the Cosmopolitan Hotel/Casino, they make a really decent slice. However, I have some caveats. First, it’s Vegas, on the strip, the slices are too expensive. Secondly, their pepperoni is terrible and I always have to remember to avoid ordering a slice with one of my favorite toppings when I go there. But if in Vegas on the strip, worth a visit, it’s a fun little adventure finding it, especially if you’re going for the first time.
They’ve opened a location in the Silver Legacy Casino in Reno, but it’s only open on weekends and so I haven’t had a chance to check it out yet.
Celestino’s – Chico, CA
Celestino’s has a number of locations in Northern California, two in Chico and one I lived near in Roseville. I’ll start with the Roseville location, really solid pizza, in the vein of NY style, close but not quite there. But I love this place and it was my go to place in the Roseville area.
About 15 years ago I was at a conference at the California State University at Chico. I wasn’t thrilled with what was on offer for lunch so I took a walk down campus looking for a restaurant. At the base of campus I saw for the first time, Celestino’s NY Pizza. There was a line out the door and a student came walking by eating a slice and it really looked right. And my friends it was, probably the closest I’ve had to a NYC slice in Northern California, it was glorious. Just a really solid slice and over the years when I’ve revisited, they’ve been consistently solid. I stopped in during the pandemic, while school wasn’t in session and the quality was down a bit. But I think that was a pandemic impact, and I imagine, and current online reviews seem to back it up, that the quality has returned.
San Francisco Pizza Places
As I mentioned in the in memoriam section above, recently Arinell my go to place for a NY slice has closed. So I’ve been wanting to get back into the city to find a new one. Today I did just that. I did some research on the web and even held up a meeting at work to thoroughly discuss the topic and get some recommendations. I went to three places today, here they are.
This slice house is a continuation of Tony’s Napoletana which is an Italian restaurant in North Beach (read Little Italy East Coasters). Of the places I visited today it was the least busy and took the longest to get my slice out. It was a decent slice, it had the right look, the crust was close, the cheese was great, the sauce was close. But it just didn’t really come together as well as a NY slice should. Plus they charged me twenty cents for a to go box I didn’t ask for, kind of annoying. I did see the pepperoni slices and their pepperoni looked really good. All in all a c-level NYC slice, if you’re hungry and want a slice definitely worth grabbing. If you have time and want something a little off the NY slice, going to the restaurant for a Margherita Pizza or something with fresh mozzarella, those pies looked really good and it makes sense, Tony’s has won the pizza world championship 13 times. So I’d say skip the slice and head for the restaurant.
Outta Sight Pizza is a fairly recent addition to the San Francisco pizza scene and it’s getting a lot of hype. Definitely the hip new pizza place in the Hayes Valley area of San Francisco. It shows up very often on the San Francisco top pizza lists. When I got there I had to stand in a decent line, both because it was popular and a bit because of the way they handle reheating the slices. And let’s address that right now, something I see a bit in SF that I rarely see in NY is using a small pizza oven to reheat slices. I’m not a fan, they just don’t come out as well, I think it’s because the small oven looses a bit of temperature when ever the door opens so the oven just doesn’t stay as hot.
The slice at Outta Sight was good, a bit like Tony’s and the fresh basil, oil drizzle and a little fresh grated cheese over the top was a really nice touch, but again a C-level NYC slice. I will say that some of their specialty slices looked really good, and yes, that’s me avoiding calling them gourmet pizza. So if you want something a little more fancy I’d recommend Outta Sight, but get a whole pizza so you get it out of the oven without the small oven reheat. A special note, they have a bathroom and it’s clean, a rare combination for any take out oriented place in the city.
A place I found off of a couple of best in SF lists I decided it was worth a shot. It’s a little place, one table to sit at inside and the cutest little glass bottles of diet coke for sale that I’ve ever seen. It was crowded when I got there but the line moved quickly. I immediately saw that the pepperoni was really right, the slices looked really good in the case. So I ordered two, when they came out I was absolutely thrilled. Everything you look for in a good NY slice was there. Well cooked but the cheese wasn’t overly brown. A great crispy mottled under crust with a crispy on first bite edge crust that gives way to soft and fluffy inside, good bread! The sauce was right on, not sweet, the cheese perfectly and fully melted. The pepperoni, cupped and at the edge of burnt and crunchy and the slice had just the right amount of grease flowing across the surface, a decent amount on the pepperoni slice and just a little on the cheese slice, a sign they use high quality full-fat cheese.
While the appearance was great, the slice was also perfectly heated and laid out nicely on a paper plate with a very smart marketing move, the wax paper shows their name. I was excited and had high expectations and the first bite was absolutely fantastic! A light crunch as I bit into it, the cheese was hot and melty with little stringers as I pulled back from the bite. The sauce was right on with a generous amount of basil in the sauce, the pepperoni perfect. These were easily the best two slices I’ve ever had outside of NYC and were on par with my favoritie place in Brooklyn that I talked about above. I definitely have a new go to pizza place in San Francisco. Gioia is relatively new, it opened in 2019, I hate that I’m just getting there. Another bonus, it’s not a very long walk from the UN Plaza/Civic Center BART stop.
I was really excited to check out The Pizza Shop, as I had mentioned in the memoriam section my favorite place had been in the Mission neighborhood of the city. It was super conveniently located near the 16th street BART station. The Pizza Shop is pretty close to the 24th BART station and had some great reviews so I was really hopeful. As I walked in the door I was excited, the case was full of great looking pizzas and the place felt like an east coast pizza place. The woman at the county had a solid Burning Man vibe and so I ordered a couple of slices. As you can see above, they looked great and this is the first pizza place in the city, since Arinell’s closed, to actually have granulated garlic shakers available. The slices had absolutely perfect crusts and the sauce and cheese were absolutely solid. These were solid NYC level slices and the second best slices I’ve had in the city.
I found out about Avellino through a website I really respect in regard to NY Pizza in San Francisco and they called it the place that most reminded them of the pizza place they grew up with in Brooklyn. So, although the nearest BART stop was three miles away and over a couple of series hills, I made the trek up to the edge of the Presidio to visit Avellino’s and grab some slices. As you can see from the image above, they look absolutely wonderful and I was excited to try them. I popped out to the outside tables and sat down to hit the slices. First bite and utter disappointment rang through my body, they were terrible. The problem was really the crust, it absolutely tasted like pre-made pizza crust giving the slice an overall frozen pizza taste. It was so disappointing, the fact is that I took a bite of each slice, and then maybe for the first time in my life, I didn’t finish the slices, a second bite was all I could do.
VEGAS PIZZA REVIEWS
So recently I was in Vegas for a few days and decided to visit several pizza places and do a few reviews.
On the strip
Pizza Cake gets some great write ups online, apparently the owner is a pretty famous pizza guy. I’ve never really cared about the fame of a pizza place owner, it’s all about the pizza. Pizza Cake is located in Harrah’s Casino. I had remembered there was a pizza place there and wondered to the food court. There was pizza there reviewed below, but I realized on the way out that in fact I had not gone to Pizza Cake.
So I returned later that day before I went to a Cirque de Soleil Show, Mystere and had a couple of slices for dinner. As you can see from the photo the slices looked right. And in fact they tasted as good as they look, these were solid NYC slices served on the Las Vegas strip. I was happy with them, just wished they’d been heated a little better, but definitely a solid slice. You can access Pizza Cake two ways, they have the shop inside or a street spot outside. I opted for the street side as the inside shop was always busy.
No name pizza at Harrah’s Casino
The fact is, the no-name pizza place in the Harrah’s food court was really solid. With a very Brooklyn-esque cashier checking out customers. In true Brooklyn fashion, “get your ice at that soda machine and your soda over in that one.”
Good solid slice, not quite as good as Pizza Cake but also a bit cheaper so an absolutely solid option if you’re at Harrah’s want to save a couple of bucks or don’t want to fight the lines at Pizza Cake.
Mulberry Street Pizza (Las Vegas Resort World)
I was initially really annoyed with this place. I was staying in the Conrad at Resort World and was excited the first night to actually get comfortable in the hotel and just get a pizza for dinner. I walked down and they were closed. The next morning I went down at opening and they weren’t open yet and there was already a line forming and the guy opening was not friendly.
I would eventually return later that afternoon for a couple of slices. Very good slices and absolutely huge, but also expensive, it is the Vegas Strip so that wasn’t a shock. The staff that afternoon was fantastic, the pizza was really good and it was very much on point as a NYC thin slice.
Downtown Las Vegas
Good Pie is a place I’ve been dancing around for quite some time. I have good friends who live within walking distance of this place. They’re New Yorkers and pizza lovers as well and they talk about this place incredibly positively. I’ve even hung out with the owner one night when we were out to dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Finally, I made it to Good Pie and of course the fact that it took so long meant the expectations had built up pretty high. First off, I love the set up, inside a basic neighborhood bar feel and there’s also a slice window with some outside seating. I was actually hitting this place as an appetizer before dinner with my friends. I was a little impatient, they only had one type of slice available, I ordered it then 2 minutes later they brought out cheese and pepperoni pizzas. So I ordered an uncharacteristically fancy slice for me, meatball and ricotta cheese. It was delicious, very solid NYC slices, well made, good sauce and the right level of thinness of dough with the right level of cheese. All in all, a little better than the slices on the strip and would be very at home in NYC.
The Ministry of Happiness 