As a pizza enthusiast and fan of Dave Portnoy’s One Bite pizza reviews, I thought I’d make my own NY pizza review. My friend’s like to call me a pizza expert – I’m so addicted to pizza that my friends and I even did a blind taste test to rank the 8 best pizzerias in my hometown. Coming from New York with the best pizza in the world, I’ve tried a ton of the top spots on Long Island, NYC, and Brooklyn.
First up is Salvatore’s Coal Oven Pizzeria in Port Washington, New York. Salvatore’s is probably one of my favorite pizza places on Long Island. What makes the pizza so good there is that the sauce is sweet and unlike any other pizza sauce I’ve ever had. I’m more of a plain pizza girl, but my friends love the pizza toppings they have. Some of the topping favorites are meatballs and sausage. The vibes of the store match the food – it’s a small restaurant, they take cash only, and literally everything on the menu is amazing.
Next is L&B Spumoni Gardens, another one of my personal favorites. Spumoni Gardens is located in Brooklyn and is home of the famous Sicilian-style square pizza. The dough is fluffy which is what makes this pizza so amazing. It definitely is on the saucier side, so if you’re not a fan of a lot of sauce this pizza may not be for you.
Eddie’s Pizza is located in New Hyde Park on Long Island and is home to the famous bar pie. If you’re not sure what a bar pie is, it’s a miraculous invention to make you feel skinnier while also eating real pizza. In other words, it is super thin crust pizza and at Eddie’s an entire bar pie is only 270 calories. The bar pie is good if you’re trying to make yourself feel healthy; it’s not my favorite pizza but it is by no means bad. It’s one of those meals that has an acquired taste and at first you bite into it and you think you don’t like it, but as you keep eating it you realize it’s actually pretty good. If you’re looking to spice it up a bit, the bar pie earns extra points when you put a little parmesan cheese on top.
Pizza Beach is on the Lower East Side of NYC and is great for a night out with the girls. The restaurant is fun with cute beach décor and their popular “Pizza. Beach. Sleep. Repeat” slogan printed on the wall. My friends and I ordered a bunch of pizzas and they were pretty average. The food isn’t incredible, but the experience was for sure worth the trip into the city. If you’re looking for a fun restaurant to go to with friends, this is for sure a great spot.
Up next is Joe’s Pizza, located in Greenwich Village in the city. Joe’s Pizza is the perfect place to grab a quick slice – it’s a classic example of the quality pizza that is available on every corner in NYC. One of my favorite things about the city is that you can walk into any hole-in-the-wall pizzeria on any corner and get cheap, fresh pizza that tastes great. The fresh mozzarella slice is seriously amazing and worth every single calorie. Joe’s also has a location in Ann Arbor and I’m so jealous of University of Michigan students who have this taste of NY in the heart of their college town.
Lastly, Umberto’s is one of the more well-known pizza places we have on the island. There are locations scattered across Long Island, but the New Hyde Park location is the original and therefore the best. There are a lot of great pizza options, and I’ve tried the regular slice, grandma slice, and the Sicilian. The regular slice is good; I wouldn’t say it is amazing, but it is good NY pizza. The grandma slice is above average – I’m harsh on the review of the grandma slices because that is one of my favorite kind of slices. It’s not my favorite grandma slice ever but it is very enjoyable. I’m not a huge Sicilian fan, but Umberto’s is famous for their Sicilian slices, so I of course had to try it. The Sicilian was unbelievable, and I was honestly shocked at how much I liked it. It’s cheesier than the very saucy Spumoni Gardens Sicilian slice. I personally prefer the Spumoni Gardens Sicilian, but Umberto’s had a close second.
I’ve only been in STL for about three weeks, but I have already tried out a few of the pizza places here. Dewey’s had a pretty quality slice – definitely doesn’t compare to New York but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t bad. I also had it the night I moved into my dorm room and was starving so that could have contributed to the relatively high rating of the slice. My friends and I ordered in pizza and wings from Peel Wood Fired Pizza which was actually very good. I’m a big fan of wood fired pizza and it lived up to my expectations. I would definitely order in Peel again (the wings were also great). Lastly, I went with some friends to try Pi Pizzeria on the Delmar Loop. We ordered one thin crust pie and one deep dish, and both were absolutely amazing. I’ve never had deep dish pizza before, and this certainly set the bar high. The crust is cornmeal which I have also never tried before and it was delicious. On top of the pizza being amazing, Pi is actually Obama’s favorite pizza place and therefore its’ status is automatically elevated. I’m looking forward to trying other pizza’s in STL and certainly exploring more options in NY.