(212) 664-7670

This was my last pizza stop in NYC. It’s been a real fun one, and I loved so many parts of the city. I can’t wait to come back!

The pizzaiolo that served me my slice was from Estonia. He’s lived there for five years, and wants to drive a car badly. I guess in less urban cities, you can take driving a car for granted. He tells me he’s seen some celebs pop in every now and again as they stay in the hotel across the street. Usher cam in to grab a snapple, lead singer for Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Madonna. He told me a little bit about how Manhattan used to be a dangerous place in the 80’s.

Now, am I real glad i made this last stop. Because Bella Vita surprised me and ended up being where I had my favorite slice in NYC during this trip. Words can’t really describe how great this pizza was. You look at it, it’s just giant blobs of mozzarella on a balanced coat of sauce. But there-in are just small details that summed up to a perfect, delicious slice. Take a look closely at the underside crust and notice how it just cracks on the outside, like a thin cracker blanketing a warm dough inside. Notice the herbs gently sprinkled all over atop the pizza. Notice the sauce lathered on delicately and yet covers the entire slice while leaving a good amount of edge crust. The mozzarella was also the finest I’ve had, and the fact that they’re sizable chunks makes you really taste the exploding flavors of the cheese.

What a way to end the pizza tour! Thanks Bella Vita!

(212) 777-7781

www.piola.it

Went here after not being able to get to Una Pizza Napoletana. I wasn’t really feeling the ambience. Too much color and overly dim. Plasma screens over the place. The pizza? Sauce not that great, mozzarella not as tasty and rich as others I’d had. And crust was too salty. Texture of the pizza was great, it was crisp though the very edges were very burnt.

Papou’s Pizza

112 E 23rd St
(between Lexington Ave & S Park Ave)
New York, NY 10010

www.papouspizzany.com

I had their version of a Margherita, which had garlic and giant circular slices of mozzarella, and just sprinkles of herbs. The garlic was a nice touch to the pizza flavor. Crust was very crisp which I liked, yet soft inside. Tasty mozzarella. A little heavy on sauce. Overall pretty good. It’s hard to top the basic cheese slices I’ve had so far!

A Random Pizza Shop on 23rd and Lexington

This was a random pizza place I rolled into, I don’t remember the full name so I tried looking it up. All I remember was the location and it started with “Gramercy”.

Anyhow, this was pretty bad pizza. Overly-soft crust made bad texture feel in my mouth. It’s like those old-school Jiffy pizza crust dough they put in a cardboard box. Mozzarella was overdone and unflavorful, and the pizza too greasy. Worst pizza so far.

Famous Original Ray’s

77 Lexington Ave

(between 25th St & 26th St)

(212) 686-2349

OriginalRaysNYC.com

I’m getting a real good feel on the NYC standard cheese slice. Famous Ray’s got a dough flavor, maybe not enough cheese or sauce. But it’s got great taste like the ones at Abitino’s and Little Italy. Here’s to hoping for pizza like this in Austin…

(212) 228-2004

www.artichokepizza.com

Artichoke was recommended by a friend here in NYC. It seems to a popular spot.

Coming in, it’s a tiny little space. But they still have stretch of table directly mounted on the wall that you just stand and eat on. Maybe 3 people at most could fit there. I don’t know what this place used to be before the pizzeria was here, but the ceiling was deep-red and had fancy ball-room like texture to it.

The guy at the front is named Tommy. He takes orders and with his powerful, firm voice just calls out “Margherita to stay!” (another way of saying  ”for here”). Tommy told me how the recession is really hitting home as he runs this business.

As I was eating my pizza, a dog was licking the floor near my feet. And chatted with the guy next to me who recommended another place on Bleak St.

So as you can see from the photos, the slices at Artichoke area beastly chunks of awesome. Definitely a man’s pizza. It tasted different than the other pizzas i had so far, which is not a bad thing. Taste was definitely there, but still prefer those thinner cheese slices. Check out the great charred underside!

(212) 674-0707

www.vinnyvincenz.com

It was a little stark in this pizza joint, but I really enjoyed the artwork of Mafioso-type portraits. Had their margherita slice, and it pretty good. Compared to the plain cheese slices I had so far, I’d still rather have those. Something about simplicity. Anyhow, the pizza did look great just not completely impressed.

New Amici

(212) 979-9686

amicinyc.com

This place had a sign out front: “Recession Sale – Two cheese and soda for $4.75″

Friends, that is a whopping good deal. I’ve had slices that cost that much in other places.

This had lots of cheese taste, but light on sauce. Dough texture good but lacks flavor. Almost like Little Italy and Abitino.

(212) 730-7575

www.littleitalypizzany.com/

This pizzeria was on the same street as the hotel I stayed at. They served pizza til late, a good evening snack. Very similar to Abitino’s that I ate earlier, very good stuff! I think I’m getting a feel for the basic NYC cheese slice.

Abitino’s Pizza

(212) 768-0043

www.abitinospizza.com/

Went here after perusing Times Square. Crossing Broadway was really fun, you don’t see streets like that many other places!

This looks like one of your basic pizza joints, but their cheese slice was freaking good. It doesn’t look like anything fancy, but we don’t even get stuff like this in Austin (even the ones we call new-york style over there).