Reigniting an old thread – pizza never gets old, right? – with a new (to me) place a bit further afield. I was in Providence over the weekend and when hunger struck I stopped into Pizza Marvin for a slice. (Edit: Just saw that Digga mentioned the exact same place in the prior reply, so I guess I’m in good company here.)
The slices, it turns out, are square. I’m not sure precisely which style they’re going for; I’ve never been 100% clear on the subtle distinctions between Grandma and Sicilian, but it’s not edge-to-edge cheese so I know Detroit is out. In any case my slice – pepperoni with added honey – sported tender and fairly airy crumb, extremely crispy and well-caramelized undercrust, a very well balanced sauce, and a tremendous (maybe a touch too big) pile of pepperoni. Easily one of the best slices I’ve had in a long, long time.
They also have a number of interesting whole (round) pies, as well as ice cream. If you’re in Providence, I highly recommend checking it out. Couple of shots of my slice:
+1 and I grew up in northern NJ where I only heard “Sicilian pizza” and never heard of “Grandma Pizza” until many many many years later - though I was told it was from Long Island. . . What did Pizza Marvin call their pizza? just pizza?
I thought Grandma Pizza was some hipster Manhattan thing. I’ve only ever seen it for sale there, at a hipstery place in the East Village, so admittedly I’m inferring major conclusions from a minuscule sample size. The data analyst in me doesn’t like this, but the rest of me couldn’t care less and just wants to eat lots of crunchy cheesy bread-thing without having to get bogged down in nomenclature. Well that’s my rant for the day.
Anyway, to answer your question, Marvin just called it “slice.” I assumed it would be triangular and I was pleasantly surprised when I was served a rectangle instead. I’m definitely in the “more crust is better (as long as it’s crunchy and well-seasoned)” camp, so unlike a certain Yelp review I noticed – 2* because “the slices are too bready” (and also they didn’t like the music or something) – I think it’s perfection.
We ate at Otto, Brookline, the other day (pre- “Sinners” in 70mm at Coolidge Corner). The pizza is quite different from what I remember (from about three years ago),. The crust is more cracker-like now (quite different from the crust I remember and the picture in our dedicated Otto thread linked to below), the cheese mediocre, the sauce gloppy. Salads were never their strength, and they’ve kept that going, at least.
@fooddabbler I have no idea how I missed @GretchenS’s post from 2016… maybe because I had a 2-year-old and I was very very sleep deprived. I went through and dutifully liked everyone’s responses (not just going through the motions but because I actually like them).
Spring Onion and I used to go to the Otto Arlington spot a lot last year in between school and extracurricular stuff, but haven’t been in some time. He would always get a couple of slices and they were pretty good New York style. We’ll have to check them out again soon for a full pie.
Reply both to you and @GretchenS: I, too, was a fan in the past. They had interesting, off beat toppings – combinations that always worked. And I liked the crust, as well. That was why the Brookline experience was so disappointing. Perhaps it’s a branch thing.
