I’d never make it past that steam rice roll specialist.
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Sacco and Don Antonio are my two favorites in Hell’s Kitchen after working in the area for 20 years.
I havent had better Diavola than Don Antonio in NYC
I used to like Capizzi as well but not so much these days
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Margherita, Jamaica Queens, NY
Location: 136-55 Roosevelt Avenue
History: https://yorkpbnews.net/local/margherita-pizza-joint-keeps-it-local-2/
Style: nyc slices
comments: In business since 1966, this is a great slice, overlooked by nyc best of lists. The cheese is about twice the thickness of the crust, there’s a video somewhere of a guy saying the grease should get on your hand and on a good day run down your arm, so don’t take the ride out to Jamaica if you’re a napkin blotter.
this is not the place for it, but there’s a theory of why pizza guys move out from nyc and stop making nyc pizza. The heavier cheese application at queens joints like Margherita, Amore and Lucia is often used to support that theory but that’s fodder for a different discussion and probably a different forum.
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I dont think soggy is usually a feature except with the margherita (at least in my experience). the fast bake and pile of ultra moist cheese in the center does it.
Perhaps "soggy"was a poor word choice. But unlike NYC slices, for example, the Neapolitan pies’ dough is what I would describe as soft/pillowy, so never a crunch on the bottom. Shouldn’t be wet on the bottom either, though, which is what “soggy” might imply. And definitely shouldn’t be raw (which was my point in the first place).
Just curious (OTS), but what do you think of Mama’s too pizza? Overall, I still think New haven has the best
rich, I love Mamas Too, they may have the best vodka square in nyc and I like all their square slices. They have a good round pie but the squares are where it’s at. It was just seven blocks from our apt, so I was there when they first opened and had lots of interesting conversations with the owner Frank. I lobbied to have it included on a pizza crawl with other pizza obsessives, and people in the pizza business, at that time no one had heard of it. It was voted the best pizza of the crawl.
Besides the pizza itself, I love that while a lot of new places are using better ingredients and technology to make better nyc slices, Frank created something entirely new, using something closer 10% oil (2% is probably the nyc standard) and high hydration dough.
But then pete wells named it one of the best new restaurants of the year and I stopped going cause I refuse to wait on lines for food. Not sure what the lines are like now. If you go you should know it’s self-service, outdoor seating and at peak times, it can be hard to find a table.
I love new haven style pizza too, we did a crawl there, I think I posted photos somewhere or other on this forum. We’ve probably exchanged bon mots on Pepe’s in yonkers, I’ve found it inconsistent. If I’m not mistaken, you like sally’s in stamford?
we did a project in stamford and our client was a devotee of the stamford hot oil pizza joints I came to appreciate the style, have you tried any of them?
best,
ps, I’ll probably ask a moderator to move our conversation to the mamas too post in the nyc pizza thread.
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I’m still big on pepperoni, and I think Sally’s with extra cheese and pepperoni is excellent. Even though with the type of cheese they use, “extra cheese” is kind of an oxymoron as it will never have that cheesey chew. But I do think Sally’s Stamford is as good as the New Haven location. If you can find the local newspaper picture of stamford opening day, you’ll see a picture of me sleeping out front before they opened . Not a long line per se but I was sitting on my rollator (walker) and dozed off . I don’t think anyone realised I was sleeping though. As for hot oil, I’m assuming you mean colony. I like their sausage pie, not a fan of hot oil. As an aside - at Colony ,on the far right wall by the bar is my father’s pic in uniform from ww ll. Not sure how he would have felt about it as he never would discuss his war-time experience
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thats right, I think the classic neapolitan pizza dough has an exceptionally nice fermentation and is very light and tender, I think of it as really fine bread, which I prefer to the crisp cracker doughs elsewhere. and yeah, it never should be wet on the bottom. Thats a flaw - either than or it sat too long before being eaten with a really wet cheese topping.
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Scarrs - Lower East Side
Officially a tourist trap now in the new location and after the inclusion in the NYT top 100
Meh slices second time in a row. Today was barely warm, timid, and just average. No sitting today when they opened at least. Not sure what the sitting deal there is but regardless, I’m done. Used to be my favorite slice.
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Sam’s, Cobble Hill, NY
Location: 238 court st
Style: nyc pies, no slices
comments:
In business since 1930(!), walking down the stairs and through the vestibule is like moving through a portal to another time. The decor is as I remember it when I first ate there in 1982 and the pizza is excellent. To my mind, it provides a window into what my father, growing up in Brooklyn, must have eaten.
every time I walk up to Sams I half expect to see that the owner sold the building and it’s now another cobble hill coffee shop. As a famous pizzaiola said to me over a meal here, once it’s gone, it’s gone, no one is making pizza like this anymore.
Get thee to Sams!
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Freshly baked from Eater
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Ulivo - NoMad
Underrated Neapolitan. Cooked just right, not of the soupy variety. Pastas are usually solid as well. They make 12 fresh ones with the machine in the basement, but dry ones like the Busiate alla Trapanese not too shabby. Sister of Mercato in Hell’s Kitchen
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Looks amazing! I’m headed to NYC tonight & that pizza & pasta is surely beckoning! 
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RIP Fiorentina. I tried to go again this week, permanently closed.
DON ANTONIO (Hell’s Kitchen)
- Neapolitan
- Full restaurant, with a decent sized bar upfront
- Very good. No puddle in the middle!
We had some tomato sauce pies and some white pies, and they were all delicious. Salad was decent but small.
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How did I forget the roman pizza at SSB and Grandaisy?
It’s a toss-up between the cauliflower and the potato for my top spot.
Same shape and style – Farinella might be the worst bang for your buck in town, but that doesn’t mean it’s not delicious.
Speaking of SSB – has anyone been since they revived Co in the afternoon/evening?
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if you haven’t done so, it’s worth trying their montanara (fried pizza), it’s polarizing but I love it. We did a tour of Neapolitan pizza joints a while back, montanara was voted the best pizza of the tour, received high marks from most of us but low marks from several people.
overall don Antonio was the favorite of the tour, but this was before today’s more competitive market.
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I wanted to – overruled by friend and her teen daughter because CALORIES! (for pete’s sake, we’re already mainlining pizza…)
I’ll be back, though.
One of the things that still surprises me is the base price of a personal-size pie.
(Makes that $8 uws hh pie even more of a bargain 
)
I havent had the Montanara in a while because I can not go there without ordering the Diavola. Great hot Soppressata
