Tag Archives: pizzeria

Luzzo

Check out my Ride & Review of this joint HERE first.

Long story short: you can kip this place! The pepperoni slice is fine, but at $5-$6 a slice, this place is a rip off.

I feel like you can do better at a good dollar slice joint. The toppings on this pesto and fresh mozz “Genovese” slice were nice, but the dough was a little gummy – maybe underbaked – and dense.

Finally, the official name of the restaurant is “Luzzo’s La Pizza Napoletana,” but there is nothing Neapolitan about this pizza. It’s a standard slice joint that’s oddly reminiscent of some national chain pizzerias, like Sbarro’s or Little Caesar’s.

LUZZO
15 Avenue B
New York, NY 10009

Zillions

This slice joint up by Times Square and Hell’s Kitchen serves up some solid NY style pizza. First, check out the Ride & Review HERE:

I really enjoyed both slices that I tried, and I’ll definitely be back for more. Their “any two slices for $6” lunch deal is pretty great, considering that no slice is off the table. Go big!

ZILLIONS
360 W 42nd St
New York, NY 10036

Leo

This joint slings some tasty sourdough pizza. I’ve always wanted to try a sourdough slice, and I was finally able to do so here at Leo.

I highly recommend this place; the slices have a distinct “freshly made at grandma’s house” kind of flavor to them.

I need to go back to try their potato slice, as well as their soft serve – apparently they’re famous for both, and I’m a huge sucker for soft serve.

My first visit was during a @NYCZoozClub food crawl. Check out the video below if you’re interested. And use code JOHNNYPRIME for $150 off your Zooz bike at www.zoozbikes.com.

My last visit was just this past weekend on January 2nd, 2023. I tried the pepperoni slice and it was incredible!

Check out the ride and review video:

LEO
123 Havemeyer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Fini Pizza

If you’d rather WATCH this review, check out my ride and review video. If you’d rather read it, then continue below.

That bike makes the city so small. I can get everywhere so fast now. If you’re interested in one for yourself, use my coupon code JOHNNYPRIME for $150 off at www.zoozbikes.com.

I tried two slices here, pepperoni and Sicilian.

The regular pepperoni slice was good. Great crust. The sauce was a little sweet so I was happy to have the pepperoni on there to balance it out with some spice.

The Sicilian was incredible. I highly recommend this. It has a homemade flavor to it, but with pro-quality amazing dough. Light. Airy. Crisp. PERFECT.

I’m usually not a fan of Sicilian because it can get heavy. But I can easily eat a bunch of slices of Fini’s Sicilian. Look at this:

I’ll definitely be back to try some more pies.

FINI PIZZA
305 Bedford Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Village Square Pizza

AWESOME square pepperoni slices at this joint. That’s really all there is to say!

VILLAGE SQUARE PIZZA
147 Avenue A
New York, NY 10009

Grand Street Pizza

Grand Street Pizza is a relatively new spot on Grand between Clinton and Essex. This joint is serving up crispy, thin crust, classic Brooklyn/NYC style pies that are as gorgeous as they are delicious.

I put this is the same realm as Scarr’s, Patsy’s, NY Pizza Suprema and Joe’s. Very good, and you can get it by the slice. I can’t wait to try more.

GRAND STREET PIZZA
384 Grand St
New York, NY 10002

Patsy’s Pizzeria

This joint serves up some of the best pizza by the slice in the city. It’s about time I made it here. Only took about 20 years. Go get this slice! It’s so good. Really simple: Bright tasty sauce; great cheese (just mozz); and a perfectly light and crisp crust.

PATSY’s PIZZERIA
2287 1st Ave
New York, NY 10035

Zazzy’s Pizza

In our exploration of all the great pizza joints here on the lower east side, my wife and I came across Zazzy’s. Their Instagram page had me salivating, so when my wife had a $10 off coupon from one of the food delivery services, we figured it was a good time to try it.

We went with the pepperoni Sicilian pie.

A thing of beauty. The crust was puffy and light, but crisped up nicely on the bottom without being burnt like so many others. The roni cups were thin and lean, with no oozing puddles of spicy grease. They were just right.

I really can’t wait to try more stuff from this place, especially since the menu is expanding. I know all of their ingredients are imported from Naples, with tomatoes coming from the foot of Vesuvius. I’m all in on this joint. And they’re already opening more locations throughout the city.

ZAZZY’S PIZZA
173 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

NY Pizza Suprema

NY Pizza Suprema is one of midtown Manhattan’s best pizza joints.

Patrons will grab slices and scarf them down at the counter before hitting MSG, just across the avenue, for a game, concert, or whatever. Well, they used to, before public events were put on lockdown. I stopped in after a wonderful visit to the DMV, and ate my slice while walking to the subway.

This is a great slice. Thin, crisp and flavorful. A great representation of the classic NYC style. At $4, though, it’s a hefty price for a slice. It is, however, extremely convenient to Penn Station, so if you’re in the area and in need of a great slice, this is the place to go.

NY PIZZA SUPREMA
413 8th Ave
New York, NY 10001

Razza

A wild hybrid that marries the best of both classic Neapolitan pizza and old school NYC/Brooklyn pizza, Razza in Jersey City is the kind of place where you just can’t stop eating.

The dough is bubble-charred, puffy and light, like Neapolitan pizza. But the formal requirements of noted Neapolitan rigor are quickly dispensed with and cast aside (San Marzano tomatoes, wheat flour, bufala mozz, etc).

Instead, chef/owner Dan Richer, who has been honing his pizza skills for 15 years, pulls ingredients from high quality local produce purveyors and makes a great deal of his own shit right there on site. “I’m not even close to being done,” he says of perfecting his craft.

If this is only the rising action in the first act, then I can’t wait for the denouement.

The tomatoes are bright, and left largely unadulterated. The cheese is fresh, smooth and creamy. The dough is airy yet crisp from crust to point, showing some backbone on the bottom: Like it’s New York neighbor, it doesn’t flop in the center. This magically allows the toppings to seem as if they’re suspended atop a pillow of edible air.

The crust also takes on a unique grey coloring from being allowed to cook a bit longer at a slightly cooler wood oven temperature than its motherland-cousin from Naples.

Neapolitan pies get real hot real fast. This allows a yeasty aroma to linger in the resulting khaki-colored, leopard-spotted crust, retaining a somewhat more chewy and more dense texture. Could that be called medium rare dough? Perhaps. Anyway the difference here may be slight in execution, but it is noticeable in appearance and flavor.

There’s also none of that soupy sauce or pooled melted cheese that can sometimes weigh heavy both in the center of a Neapolitan pie and in your belly after you eat it. To the contrary I felt light even after eating an entire pie’s worth of pizza all by myself. I could’ve easily had two more, but there was a steak dinner to be had nearby at Liberty Prime. I had to conserve stomach space.

In any case three of us each ate a third of three pies (two slices of each, each). We started with the Margherita, had a mid course of Fungi, and then a dessert of Burrata. I’m hard pressed to choose a favorite among these, but I think that last one left me floating. That deliciously silky burrata with tomato, olive oil and sliced garlic…

I’m fairly certain this is my new favorite pizza joint, possibly squeaking just ahead of the Coney Island stronghold Totonno’s. You really need to get over here to try this shit. But if my words and images don’t convince you to make the trip out here for this pizza, maybe Phil Rosenthal will. It was featured on  the Netflix show “Somebody Feed Phil.”

Check it out:

RAZZA
275 Grove Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302