Tag: queens

#91 Margherita Pizza

August 10th

Queens, NYC

Well, it’s been a while since we’ve been back on here posting about our pizza adventures. This it not because we haven’t been eating pizza, but because we haven’t been to many places on the list that we haven’t already covered in previous posts. At this point, if we want to go to a place on the list that we haven’t been to, we’ll have to get on a plane. We’ve mostly spent the last few weeks going back to some of our favorites in NYC.

The exception was Margherita Pizza, in Queens. This was a new addition to the 2018 list, and we had never been there. It’s a bit difficult to get to via subway, so we made a stop here back in August when we were driving out to Long Island.

This place always comes up near the top of the lists of best slices in Queens (although to be fair, there aren’t too many good slices in Queens at the moment). We ended up with a couple of cheese slices, a Sicilian, and a pepperoni.

James has really gotten the hang of his pizza-eating. He takes the “smush it in my face” approach, hoping that most of it gets in his mouth. He’s more a fan of the cheese that falls off the pizza than the crust.

The slices here are traditional NY slices. Greasy, yes. Cheesy, yes. Probably twice as much cheese as crust. It’s been around since 1966, so you know it has a good following. It was definitely busy during the lunch rush. We enjoyed the slices, but we wouldn’t make the trip out to Jamaica for them, specifically. There really isn’t too much special to say about these, actually. It’s exactly what you’d expect from a NY slice shop, which isn’t a bad thing at all, just slightly boring to write a post about. So, here’s another picture of James eating his slice.

To visit:

Margherita Pizza
16304 Jamaica Ave
Jamaica, NY 11433

BarbaraLeave a comment

5 Boro Pizza Challenge

September 22nd, 2018

New York City

Last weekend we had the opportunity to participate in the 5 Boro Pizza Challenge. This was the third year of the challenge, but the first year that we were actually free on the weekend to take part! The premise of the challenge is simple: 5 slices of pizza, one in each of the 5 boroughs, as quickly as you can, using only public transportation or your own manpower.

Last year, the winners completed the challenge in about 4 1/2 hours. We were not looking to beat them this year, as we were carrying along little baby James. Instead, we decided to just try and hit as many pizza places as we could, while avoiding any 4-month-old baby meltdowns.

The challenge started at 11 am, and we all met downtown Manhattan. There, we were given a paper with the 5 slices and addresses and sent on our way!

First stop: Best Italian Pizza, Bronx

Since we were carrying a baby in the Ergo, we were limited to walking/scootering and the subway. We hopped on the 2 and decided to head all the way up to the Bronx for our first stop.

The rule of the challenge is that you have to get one slice per stop, photograph it, and tag it on social media. You also have to photograph yourself at the pizzeria.

We decided to go with one veggie slice and one plain cheese slice here. These were BIG slices. We ate them pretty quickly because we were really hungry for lunch at this point, but then we worried that we wouldn’t be able to eat too many more slices!

These slices weren’t our favorites, although they were decent. It’s hard to find good pizza up in the Bronx.

Second stop: Sal & Carmines, Manhattan

We hopped on the subway again to our second planned stop, Sal & Carmine’s. This place has been on our list to try for ages  so we were really glad to see that it was a stop in the challenge! We got two plain slices here.

These were great NY slices. The sauce was on the sweet side, and they were a bit greasy, as a NY slice should be. Also, very large. I admit that I did not finish the whole slice (we still had 3 boroughs to go!)

In case you were wondering, James did great on the subway making friends. He was full of smiles for everyone. He also really liked checking out the pizza. We dressed him in a pizza-themed onesie for the occasion, too.

While we took the subway around to each of the different pizzerias, we also borrowed our 9-year-old neighbor’s scooter, so that we didn’t have to walk so much. James really liked facing forward in the Ergo while we were scootering.

Third stop: Sunnyside Pizza, Queens

Sunnyside Pizza ended up being our third (and last) stop of the challenge. We ended up getting two fancier slices here – one with mushroom and spinach, and one with eggplant and ricotta. They were both excellent. Again, the slices were very big and the toppings were generous.

We also really liked that Sunnyside Pizza had a sesame seed crust. It added just a little something different to the traditional slice. These slices weren’t as greasy as the others. We also got a chance to really sit and enjoy them, because James decided that he needed lunch at this point too.

We thought about going down to Brooklyn to go to Luigi’s Pizza, but decided against it. We were full and James was tired, and we actually were attending a wedding that evening and still needed to get back to Manhattan to get all dressed up. Also, we had been to Luigi’s before, so it wasn’t as exciting for us to go again.

The last stop in Staten Island was at Pier 76. We haven’t ever been there, but we’ll have to add it to the list for another day.

Overall, we had a blast doing this challenge and can’t wait for next year. We got to spend a little bit of time at the after party talking with the group of friends who started the challenge, which was really fun. We missed seeing the winner come in, but I think he won using a combination of biking and subway. We left with full bellies, awesome t-shirts, and a cool medal (even though we didn’t really finish).

We’re already looking forward to next year!

Barbara1 Comment

#78 Amore Pizza

May 13th, 2016

Queens, NY

We all know that every good strip mall has a good pizza joint in it. Good, but not 101 Best Pizza Places-good (usually). Our favorite growing up was Nick’s Pizza and we’d always stop there for a quick slice on a lunch break at work or for a quick Friday night dinner date. Until we went to Amore Pizza in Queens, we didn’t know that there were any “strip mall pizzerias” on the list.

We went to Amore Pizza on a Friday evening. I was coming back from a conference out in Cold Spring Harbor, and Eric took the subway all the way out to Queens to meet me. I ended up getting there early (or actually, I think Eric’s subway was delayed) and I had serious doubts that I was in the right place. The pizzeria is located in a strip mall next to a Stop & Shop, near a McDonalds, a Carvel, and a couple of Chinese restaurants.

Once we walked in, though, we knew we had it right. These slices just looked too good. We both ended up ordered a couple of plain slices. These had a thinner crust than other NY slices, and were loaded with piping hot cheese and sauce. Oozing would be a good word.

These were good slices, especially if you are a fan of a cheesy, oily, drippy slice. There are no frills here, and we didn’t even think about getting anything but the cheese slice. We’d certainly come back if we were driving through and needed a bite to eat because it is right off the exit from the highway.

Would we sit on the subway for 1.5 hours to get out to Flushing from Manhattan for these, though? Probably not. I’m pretty sure that Eric was glad that I had my car and we could avoid a subway ride back into Manhattan. I did make him drive us home because the traffic was pretty bad by the time we were ready to leave, and Eric is a much more patient traffic-driver than I am.  But at least our stomachs were happy.

To visit:

Amore Pizza
3027 Stratton Street
Flushing, NY 11354

Barbara1 Comment

#87 New Park Pizza

March 30th, 2016

Howard Beach, Queens, NY

By now, you probably know what a good NY slice of pizza looks like. This week, we are going to show you a couple more. New Park Pizza is over in Queens, right near JFK. We note this because it would make the BEST stop going to or from the airport. We chose to take the subway out from Manhattan, which took about an hour.

We just ordered a couple of slices here, nothing too special or fancy. A couple of cheese slices, and a Sicilian slice. For all the time we spent on the subway to get here, the slices were gone in about 10 minutes and we were back on the subway going back to NJ. These are definitely not the best NY slices that we’ve had, but they are solid. We’ve also read that you should order the slices “well done”, which we didn’t try, but have noted for next time.

The crust here is also salty, but not overwhelmingly so. We read that this is because they throw salt into the oven as the pies bake. We’ve only had salted Neapolitan crusts, so this was a little different.

So I guess our take-home message here is, don’t go out of your way for these slices because you’ll find slices that taste the same, if not better, in Manhattan (although, you may pay a bit more for them). However, if you are anything like me and find yourself tired and hangry after any flight into JFK, you may want to consider stopping here on your way home. (Eric is making a mental note of this right now.)

To visit:

New Park Pizza
156-71 Cross Bay Blvd
Howard Beach, NY 11414

BarbaraLeave a comment

#41 Nick’s Pizza

March 19th, 2017

Forest Hills, NY

We had a free weekend, so of course, we spent Sunday afternoon driving to get pizza up in Queens. It’s really great how an hour drive now doesn’t even feel so long. We decided to go to Nick’s Pizza in Forest Hills. Nick’s is known for its thin-crust pies, and for its calzones, which Adam Kuban highly recommended.

We went with a normal cheese pie, a large, and because we can’t leave anything just plain, we added spinach to half. The toppings are pricey, but we were glad to see that the spinach was fresh. We really dislike frozen spinach on pizzas (we should add that to our list of “pizza pet peeves”). We also got a small calzone to go with the pizza since Adam Kuban had told us to “just order both”. We thought that we’d just take home any leftovers, but of course, we didn’t end up with any leftovers to bring home.

The pizza was good, and the crust was nice and light. We really like when pizza doesn’t make us feel heavy because that means we can eat more of it. We were pleasantly surprised that they were able to get such a good char using a gas oven.

The calzone was definitely worth trying, so we thank all of the reviews for suggesting that we order one. It is almost like a grilled cheese pita, and it was stuffed to the brim with ricotta and fresh mozzarella. The sauce was SO GOOD that we ended up dipping the calzone AND the pizza in it. We couldn’t get enough of it. Eric even said “we should always ask for a side of sauce to go with our pizza”. Not a bad idea…

 

We also really liked the splattering of fresh basil on top of the pizza. It reminded us of Di Fara, which reminded us once again that we need to go back there ASAP.

ALSO: Eric didn’t get us lost this time! We are finally figuring out how to drive around Queens. (It didn’t hurt that Nick’s is pretty much right off of the highway, though).

To visit:

Nick’s Pizza
108-26 Ascan Ave
Queens, NY 11375

 

BarbaraLeave a comment