Depressing PIZZA news, WTF?

MOD · July 2009

JESUS! Bad pizza news everywhere!

Lucali Closed Due to Fire
575 Henry Street, Carroll Gardens; (718) 858-4086
Looks like Lucali is going to be closed for the next week or two due to a fire. Slice reports, "the fire started in the flue from the oven to the roof... [Owner Mark] Iacono says it may take as little as 3 to 4 days to install a new flue, but he'll probably keep the pizzeria closed for one to two weeks to ... drum roll, please ... set up the long-awaited garden space. Every cloud has a silver lining, no?"

The good news from Slice is that Di Fara has reopened after Dom De Marco’s minor mouth surgery. The bad news? It will now be closed on Tuesdays as well as Mondays, meaning its hours are now almost as temperamental as Una Pizza Napoletana’s. Plus, slice prices are going up to $5, from $4. We’re radioing Platt to see if this compromises their best bargain status.

Seriously, $5 for a plain slice at Difara's??? Lucali actually charging something like $25 for a marherita pizza?? What is going on here? NY Mag, Serious Eats, NYT ..etc..have all made pizza in to a delicacy and now I can't even get a slice for a reasonable price. Next thing you know, a freaking hot dog is going to cost $3 bucks from a corner stand. :roll:

whynot_31 · July 2009

...stick with Antonio's on Flatbush.

good, greasy pizza.

brokechick · July 2009

i don't know why anyone would pay these prices for pizza when it costs about $3 to make one at home. it's one of the easiest things in the world to throw together. even in the summertime when it's hot, the oven only has to be on for about 20 minutes. you make two on sunday and you can eat it all week.

carnivore · July 2009

whynot_31 wrote: ...stick with Antonio's on Flatbush.

good, greasy pizza.

Antonio's is ok, but you can't seriously compare it to these other places.

Mama, you have to get a whole pie at Di Fara. Go with Papi Chulo. I'm sure the two of you will be able to polish it off.

longtimesloper · July 2009

Why in the world would anyone want greasy pizza? ick

hitokiri · July 2009

L&B's pizza is the best.
Next is La Villa's deep dish

carnivore · July 2009

If you mean L&B Spumoni Gardens, I'm not crazy about it personally, but L&B pizza is really its own thing and can't be compared to other pizza.

Similarly, Chicago-style deep dish pizza is more of a casserole than a pizza, and should really only be compared to other Chicago pizza (otherwise you're just comparing whether you like Chicago or New York pizza better). I haven't had the La Villa version of that, because I'm not a fan of that style.

whynot_31 · July 2009

your are right, Antonio's is not as good as the other places, but I'm of the perspective that pizza is not dining. pizza is lunch.

lunch is sometimes greasy

pitu · July 2009

La Villa's Sicilian/square pies are pretty good - we get the Speciale, cause they carmelize the onions and green peppers for extra deliciousness. It doesn't have much in common with NY-style thin crust, it's true.

I don't like L&B Spumoni Gardens so much, but the few times I made it out to DiFara's, it was great. Smart money is on the whole pie, and prepare to hang out for it. I love that it's an old-style dump of a pizza parlor, with a devotional following and stream of out-of-towners visiting church-of-pizza.

But it you're broke and a little lazy, a $1 bag of dough from Trader Joe's and a hot oven is all you need....

MOD · July 2009

I brought a bottle of wine to DiFara and finished it off while I waited my full hour for the pizza (with Papi of course) it was delicious, but they had no basil as it was out of season. So that sucked. Otherwise, yeah, probably still worth it, but damn. Why so expensive!! Not that it will stop me.

sir_eccles · July 2009

Antonio's is perfect cold the next morning straight from the fridge

meredithb · July 2009

V&S on Emmons Ave, Sheepshead Bay.

House of Pizza & Calzone, Carroll Gardens

VIPizza, Bayside.

whynot_31 · July 2009

MeredithB wrote:
VIPizza, Bayside.

good call. ...the 2/3 to 4/5 to 7 to Q13 is a bitch though.

ginsbera113 · July 2009

Antonio's is pretty poor on all levels. I'm a huge fan of DiFara's, but it's a special occasion thing, it's hard to commit an hour to getting a pizza, even if it's the best I've had. For Park Slope/P. Heights, La Villa is great option for large pies without breaking the bank. For slices, Amorina has the best deal and best options. $5 for two slices and a boylans, great deal and great pizza.

lo kee · July 2009

I don't understand how anyplace can charge $5 for a regular slice in a recession with 10 percent unemployment.

carnivore · July 2009

Lo Kee wrote: I don't understand how anyplace can charge $5 for a regular slice in a recession with 10 percent unemployment.

If you've been to Di Fara, you'll know that the only thing limiting how many pizzas Dom sells is how fast he can make the pies, which isn't that fast. If half of his customers disappeared, he'd still sell every pie as soon as it was made. There would just be fewer people waiting. It seems totally rational that he would charge what the market can bear, as much as it sucks for the pizza lover.

turtle95 · July 2009

NY Times was writing about pizza today, inc. Lucali

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/dining/08pizza.html?_r=1

danny hellman · July 2009

Carnivore wrote: If you mean L&B Spumoni Gardens, I'm not crazy about it personally, but L&B pizza is really its own thing and can't be compared to other pizza.

Holy shit, I agree with you.

I think L&B's gummy, overly-sweet squares are VASTLY overrated. Why is this place on so many top ten pizza lists, when you could throw a dart at a map of Brooklyn and find yourself a better Sicilian slice wherever it lands?

PS: the spumoni sucks, too.

willregistersoon · July 2009

I think L&B used to be much much better than it is today. The first time I tried it was in 2000 and I was blown away. I went a bunch of times since then and it was never as good. My opinion of them also went considerably down when I saw a special on the Food Network where they were featured, and the sauce they used was from a big generic can that said "pizza sauce". It's just no good anymore. Their spumoni is still pretty damn good though.

hitokiri · July 2009

willregistersoon wrote: I think L&B used to be much much better than it is today. The first time I tried it was in 2000 and I was blown away. I went a bunch of times since then and it was never as good. My opinion of them also went considerably down when I saw a special on the Food Network where they were featured, and the sauce they used was from a big generic can that said "pizza sauce". It's just no good anymore. Their spumoni is still pretty damn good though.

Weren't they sold from Italians to Middle Easteners... (that how you say it?)
And you are right. My whole family says it def tastes different

lo kee · July 2009

Carnivore wrote: [quote=Lo Kee]I don't understand how anyplace can charge $5 for a regular slice in a recession with 10 percent unemployment.

If you've been to Di Fara, you'll know that the only thing limiting how many pizzas Dom sells is how fast he can make the pies, which isn't that fast. If half of his customers disappeared, he'd still sell every pie as soon as it was made. There would just be fewer people waiting. It seems totally rational that he would charge what the market can bear, as much as it sucks for the pizza lover.

Thx for clearing that up!

danny hellman · July 2009

willregistersoon wrote: Their spumoni is still pretty damn good though.

Maybe, if you like nuclear green spumoni. I think you can find far better frozen stuff in many old school Italian bakeries, my personal favorite being LaGuli in Astoria. There's also a really good one on Court Street, (what's its name again?).

Depressing PIZZA news, WTF?

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