Tag: nypizza

Sorbillo

January 18th, 2018

Manhattan, NYC

One of the biggest pizzeria openings of this past year was the opening of Gino Sorbillo Pizzeria in NoHo in late November. Gino Sorbillo came to NYC straight from Naples, where his family has owned and operated the original Sorbillo in Napoli via Dei Tribunali since 1935. We knew that New York certainly has its share of good Neapolitan-style pizzerias, and also boasts a fair number of pizzerias that are run by pizzaiolis who worked in Naples, but we were excited because this is the first opening of a restaurant we could go to with a TRUE Napolitan Pizzaioli at the helm.

We finally had a chance to go to Sorbillo this afternoon for lunch. We also had the pleasure of being joined for lunch by Arthur Bovino, one of our “pizza heros” as the creator of the Daily Meal lists. So not only did we get to enjoy great pizza, but we got to pick his brain about pizza around the country and the fine details of how the list was created. We were especially excited to meet him so that we could ask him about his recommendations for pizza (among other food) in Buffalo, since we are currently planning a quick road trip up there in the next few weeks. He is the expert on restaurants in that area, and even has a book coming out in May, which will sadly be after our trip. In any case, it sounds like we will be eating a lot that weekend.

Now, let’s chat about this pizza. We tried three pizzas here. First, the traditional Margherita con bufala, because it is a classic and we always seem to order one margherita. We also tried the Calzone Napoletano, which was recommended to us by our server, and the Vecchia Roma. The calzone seems to have a growing following, so we needed to check it out.

Overall, we thought the pizzas were great.They definitely had a bit of soup in the middle, and were a bit heavier on the cheese than some other Neapolitan pizzas that we’ve had. They are also slightly bigger in diameter, which didn’t stop us from finishing all three pizzas (well, the two pizzas and the calzone, if we are being technical). And honestly, it was mostly me and Eric doing the eating. The only non-traditional thing about them was that they cut the pizzas for you. The calzone was good too, although we were a bit underwhelmed since we had heard the hype about it. We are always fans of ricotta stuffed dough, and we did like the char that was on the crust.

At the end of the day, though, we couldn’t say that we liked it any better than Kesté, or some of the other Neapolitan-style pies we’ve had around the city. It does have a good location, though, being close to Eric’s office, so we’d probably go again. It also wasn’t too busy for lunch and is pretty spacious inside, which was great.

We will have to come back again anyways to try some of the rest of the extensive menu. We probably didn’t give the pizza all of the attention that it deserved, as we were caught up in telling Arthur our (super exciting) stories from our pizza travels (we hope he didn’t get too bored) and getting some feedback on our future pizza adventure plans.  It’s pretty clear that we will have to get over to Italy at some point…and Alaska…

To visit:

Sorbillo Pizzeria
334 Bowery
New York, NY 10012

Barbara1 Comment

#48 Juliana’s Pizza

December 6th, 2017

Brooklyn, NY

When our grand plans to hit Totonno’s were busted yesterday, we decided to make another trip to Juliana’s instead.  I’ve mentioned Juliana’s before because we’ve been there several times now, but 2017 is the first year that it officially made it on to the 101 Best Pizza Places list since we’ve started traveling cross-country for pizza. We thought that we should go back to document it officially as part of our pizza journey.

As I previously mentioned, Juliana’s is located in Brooklyn right next door to the classic pizzeria Grimaldi’s. It’s Grimaldi’s fancier, more expensive, and somewhat less popular little sister pizzeria. It ranked in 2017 at #48, which is pretty high for a new appearance (although it DID make the previous list in 2014, but then it disappeared for two years). It ranks lower than Grimaldi’s, though, which usually falls around the top 25. Strangely, Juliana’s also came up as the top pizza place in the US according to TripAdvisor? We’d like someone to explain that to us.

The comparisons of this pizza with Grimaldi’s are valid, because Juliana’s was also opened by Patsy Grimaldi in 2012 after he had sold the rights to the original Grimaldi’s name. Juliana’s is named after Patsy Grimaldi’s mother, and is actually located in the original location of Grimaldi’s, using the original brick oven. So obviously, there is a sort of rivalry that has arisen between the two restaurants.

We usually go for the same order at Juliana’s – the Margherita. We alternate between a large and a small. Honestly, they are about the same size and almost the exact same price, so we usually go for the large. This time we went for the small, but only because we also ordered the meatballs for an appetizer, and we have way too many Christmas cookies sitting on the counter at home.

We end up at Juliana’s when we are either a) too tired or cold to wait in line for Grimaldi’s (although sometimes the line at Juliana’s can be just as long), or b) wanting a more romantic dinner.

Juliana’s is the nicer of the two restaurants, but is also smaller. The waiters are (generally) more friendly, and the options on the menu are trendier and less traditional. It is a great date-night restaurant. Grimaldi’s is more classic NY with it’s old school booths, crowded atmosphere, and the old Brooklyn man who makes you wait at the door until your seat is ready. The pizza is essentially the same, though. Both are good. Grimaldi’s is cheaper. This head-to-head review gives Juliana’s the edge, but honestly, we think that it depends on the day. We’ve been to both places multiple times now, and it is really hit or miss for both of them.

To visit:

Juliana’s Pizza
19 Old Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

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#21 Paulie Gee’s

December 4th, 2015

Brooklyn, NY

We see Paulie Gee’s on the list of best pizzas in NYC all the time, so it was near the top of our list to go to. It is tucked away in Greenpoint, although they also have locations all over the country now. I think Paulie Gee has opened at least two new restaurants (Chicago, Miami) since we started this quest. Apparently, he is also going to be opening a slice joint, which will be serving only traditional NY slices. We will have to add that to our list too!

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The restaurant was packed when we showed up with my sister and her boyfriend.  Be prepared for a wait if you come on a Friday evening!

The restaurant itself,  being tucked away in a corner of Brooklyn, is really cozy. You have to walk through a set of big wooden farm doors to enter the restaurant, and then you are seated at wooden farmhouse tables. It’s all very rustic Brooklyn and trendy.

We were able to get four pizzas between the four of us, including this white pizza with garlic and spinach, and the “Arugula Schmoogula”. We also got to try some of meat pizzas, and we’d recommend any of the pies with pepperoni. They probably have one of the best selections of pizzas and flavor combinations that we’ve seen (including vegan pies).

We’d like to go back to Paulie Gee’s, now that we’ve finished the list. We think there are many more good pizzas to try here, and we’d really like to compare them more to some of the others that we’ve been to since last year.

To visit:

Paulie Gee’s
60 Greenpoint Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222

 

Barbara1 Comment