5 boro pizza challenge

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!

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!

Tag: 5 boro pizza challenge

5 Boro Pizza Challenge 2019