December 4th, 2016
Elmont, NY
We spent Sunday morning decorating the house for Christmas, and by noon we were getting antsy (OK, I was getting antsy). So we decided to take another unplanned pizza road trip. This time, we picked one of the new 2016 pizza places that was close to NYC, King Umberto. This is not to be confused with Umberto’s in New Hyde Park, or Galleria Umberto in Boston’s North End (both of which we have been to, and will include in future posts). Or any of the other million pizza places named after the Italian king.
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King Umberto is part restaurant/part pizzeria. We only went in the pizzeria, so we can’t comment personally on the other food. But if the pizza is any indication, the rest of the food served is probably pretty good. We had pretty big appetites from that drive up past Manhattan, through the Bronx, and down the lovely Cross Island Parkway, so we didn’t hold back with the number of slices we ordered. Also, we like to give fair reviews here on 101pizzaplaces.com, so we wanted to try as many different styles as possible.
To start with, we each ordered a veggie slice. The crust on these slices was thick, almost as thick as the Sicilian style slices. Loaded with veggies and a generous portion of cheese on top of the veggies. That slice alone would make a good meal. Then, we had to try the Elmont slice. The Elmont is a rectanglular Focaccia-style pan pizza topped with garlic, tomato sauce, and homemade fresh and shredded mozzarella. We also tried one of the Grandma slices – the King of Hearts slice: whole wheat crust topped with sun-dried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and artichoke hearts. To round it all off, we ordered one of the stuffed slices as an afterthought. That was a double crusted pizza filled with mozz, ricotta, broccoli, and spinach. Eric ate most of that one.
We have to say that we loved the service here also. It wasn’t super busy and the server at the desk was happy to listen to us debate which slices to order and threw in his own two cents, which was appreciated.
On our way out, we both commented that we wished this place was closer to downtown, because it had a slice selection comparable to the best in NYC, and good prices too. We were happily full as we drove back to NJ.
To visit:
King Umberto
1343 Hempstead Turnpike
Elmont, NY 11003