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!