5 Boro Pizza Challenge 2019

September 28th, 2019

Brooklyn, NY

You may remember that last year we participated in the 5 Boro Pizza Challenge. This is a one-day event in New York where you use public transportation or your own feet to eat one slice of pizza in each NYC borough. Last year, we had a small baby and a wedding to get to in Manhattan, so we only got to stop for three slices. This year, we were determined to try all five.

First stop: Norm’s Pizza, Brooklyn

The Challenge starts in Manhattan. We had a bit of a late start due to a bus that didn’t show up at our stop, and then a slightly delayed train, but we made it just a few minutes after the challengers took off. Last year we went up to the Bronx first, but this year we went right across to Brooklyn. We were all a bit hungry. We got two slices at Norm’s – a margherita and a pepperoni. As we were in a slight rush to keep going, James had to take his bites of this pizza while still in the carrier. These slices were really awesome, though, and ended up being some of our favorite of the day.

Second stop: Pugsley Pizza, Bronx

James was needing a nap after those first slices, so we thought that it could be a good time to take the extremely long one hour subway ride up to the Bronx and see if he would sleep in his carrier. It worked for a little bit, until we had to get off the subway and take an alternate subway because of track work (typical weekend in NYC). The noise and hustle during the change woke him up, so he only got about 45 minutes of sleep.

Even though he was still a little cranky, he became happy again as soon as we got off the subway and into the fresh air. We hopped on our scooters and started going out to Pugsley’s. It’s a hike from the nearest subway stop, but we were glad that some of the roads were closed to traffic for a food festival. This made for much easier scootering! While we were at Pugsley’s, we saw some local news crews filming some of the participants. Eric got spotted in the background, which was fun (credit: NY1):

Less fun was the long crowded subway back down to Manhattan with a baby who wanted to walk and not be strapped in his carrier. We were glad to have gotten two solid NY slices to eat, though. One of the fun things about this challenge is getting to try some slices that we wouldn’t normally trek to.

Third stop: Sofia Pizza Shoppe, Manhattan

After the second long subway of the day, we stopped in Manhattan for slices at Sofia, which are some of our favorite slices in the city. This was the only place on the challenge list this year that we had previously tried. It actually is on the Daily Meal’s list.

James was obviously excited to be out of the carrier and rolling around the very clean sidewalks of Manhattan.

We got two Grandma slices here. They are two of our favorites. We must have gotten here after a large rush of pizza challengers, because the pickings for slices were pretty slim. But this was one of James’s favorite slices of the day.

You can see James crawling around in the background on this one, too. He actually ate most of my slice.

Fourth stop: Rizzo’s Pizza, Queens

We weren’t about to get back on another subway so quickly, so we decided to scooter out to Queens. It was only about 3 miles or so. We got to go over the bridge, which was pretty cool. James loved looking at the water and the airplanes, but scootering is a lot harder than we anticipated! Our legs were tired by the time we got to Rizzo’s.

Rizzo’s has been around for ages. It’s a Queens classic, claiming to serve the original thin crust square slice since 1959. It was probably our least favorite slice of the day, but that was probably a combination of the fact that we (again) had some of the last slices left of the pies there, and there really aren’t many good slice shops in Queens.

James ate most of my slice here, too. And then he didn’t want to give it up, so he kept eating it while we started scootering back, and I ended up with pizza all over my shoulder and down my back.

Fifth stop: Paulie’s Pizza, Staten Island

We saved Staten Island for last. We were pretty tired at this point, but we made it down to the ferry and settled in. James loved being on the boat and he got to walk around for 20 minutes, which was great. When we landed, Eric took off on his scooter to grab the last slice. We wanted to make the next ferry back to Manhattan since they only leave every half an hour.

Paulie’s Pizza is known for their vodka slice, so that’s what Eric got. He said it was potentially his favorite of the day. He made it back, we hopped back on the ferry, and then we took the short scooter ride up to the post-event party at Clinton Hall. We hung out there for a little while until we decided it was time to catch our train.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have an easy time getting home, either. Our train was cancelled, James didn’t want to sleep, and we were all exhausted when we finally made it home around 11 pm. BUT, we’d totally do it again. This year it took us 7.5 hours. It’s an awesome event, really well organized, and really a fun way to spend a Saturday.

Let us know if you want to join our team next year!

#88 Sofia Pizza Shoppe

November 13th, 2017

Manhattan, NYC

We have been to Sofia Pizza Shoppe a couple of times now. It is super inconvenient to get to via subway from our offices, but worth it for the slices every time. Our first trip up here was probably around 6 months ago.  The small restaurant just opened in 2016.

It must be hard to open a new slice shop in NYC. For a city that has such ingrained pizza traditions and so many famous slice joints, it is really surprising (and amazing!) that a newcomer like Sofia Pizza Shoppe could open its doors and make it on to the 2017 Daily Meal list while primarily selling no-frills, traditional NY slices. It just goes to show that location is everything – it is really hard to find a decent slice in this area of Midtown.

The other reason that Sofia Pizza Shoppe got so famous? The DoughDici. The best way to get food-famous in NYC is to create something outrageously expensive that everyone will want to instagram. A $38 pizza available only a few days during the week that you have to buy tickets for? I think that fits the bill exactly.

There’s been some debate on if the DoughDici is worth the money. We bet it probably is. It is a style of pizza all its own: a 2 inch, fluffy crust, topped with sauce and cheese, with a crusty edge reminiscent of Detroit-style pizzas. The crust is cold-fermented for 3 days and then risen in the pan for 12 hours to get the super-tall rise. Honestly, we’d love to try it, but after our previous experiences with pizza ticket buying (cough..Margot…cough) we didn’t (and still don’t) feel like trying to fight our way in.

So, while we can’t say how good the DoughDici is, we can talk about the rest of the slices here. The first time we came we tried a variety of slices, including the spinach dip slice, which is a bit more spinach-y than the spinach artichoke slice at Artichoke, and is slightly less filling (although maybe just because it is a little bit smaller).

This time, we tried a classic slice, a Sicilian, and our new favorite slice, the upside down. They were all really solid NY slices. Our favorite upside-down slice is still from NY Pizza Suprema, but this one was really good.

Between the two of us, we had 5 slices. The lady sitting next to us said that she’d be impressed if we could eat all of them. She obviously didn’t know us.

While we won’t usually take the trip up to get slices here, we’d highly recommend it if you are in the area.

Also, if you want to get tickets to try a DoughDici and want to invite company, we’d be thrilled to join you.

To visit:

Sofia Pizza Shoppe
989 1st Avenue
New York, NY 10022