PrintA Luzzo's Pizza Exploration
I wanted to love Luzzo's pizza. I really did. Atlanta pizza maniac Jeff Varsano raves about it, and I trust his pizza palate. I had heard many stories that it is frequented by Italian expats who come to kick back, have a glass of wine, eat some pizza, and watch Italian soccer games at the small dining room in the back of the restaurant facing the wood-and-charcoal-burning oven.
I hadn't been to Luzzo's since it first opened serving more traditional New York Italian-American pies, so I was very excited to finally be going back.
What I found was not what I expected.
On a Saturday afternoon, the Italian expats were there doing their thing in the back room.
We ordered a pizza with sausage and a focaccia with walnuts, mortadella, and cheese.
My heart sank when I saw our pizza. It was basically flat. There was no lift, no raised lip that I crave in great pizza. There were one or two air bubbles that supplied whatever lift there was. The mozzarella was fine, ditto for the sauce, but a great pizza starts with a crust, and Luzzo's crust was not up to snuff. The focaccia was better but certainly not inspired.
I'm going to stick with Una Pizza Napoletana when I'm near First Avenue and 12th Street looking for great pizza. And if I need a slice, I would happily hit up Vinny Vincenz just up the street from Luzzo's. Or maybe I should give it another chance. Every pizzeria deserves a second chance.
Luzzo's
Address: 211 First Avenue, New York NY 10003 (b/n 12th and 13th streets)
Phone: 212-473-7447
Notes: More Luzzo's on Slice
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10 Comments:
Agreed. I don't know how many people email me raves about the pizza here, and every time I go there to try it—again and again—it never, to me, lives up to the promise. I'll go again, I'm sure, hoping it will be magic, but so far, nothing.
Adam Kuban at 12:15PM on 10/10/07
havent been to luzzo's but please, una pizza? that place has by far the biggest scam going in nyc these days.
i kinda dug demarcos actually. i guess ill have to get my pizza fix in brooklyn.
jpp10780 at 12:34PM on 10/10/07
jpp, check out isabella's oven on grand street. It's inconsistent, but when it's good it's really good. Don't go at lunch. I've had all kinds of bad reports about the food at lunch.
Ed Levine at 12:57PM on 10/10/07
You guys have got to cross the river and check out A Mano in Ridgewood NJ!!
Curlz at 4:25PM on 10/10/07
I've had Robert's pizza (he's the guy that owns A Mano). He had a pizzeria in Pittsburgh.
Ed Levine at 4:28PM on 10/10/07
Ed--I urge you to give Luzzo's a second chance. I actually do not go that often, as I swear my allegiance to Vinny Vincenz, but Luzzo's offers something a little different. The crust does not blow me away. I don't think it packs in a whole lot of flavor, but the pies I have tasted were both light and moist with some great burn spots. (Though that pie looks a little dense to me.)
Anyway, not every great pizzeria is always on point. The last time i had Frank Pepe's, it was rather flat (and the garlic in the clam pie did not taste all that fresh). I still love Frank Pepe's, maybe I picked a bad day to go.
Margherita at 5:13PM on 10/10/07
All right, Margherita, I am going to give Luzzo's a second chance. I'll report back.
Ed Levine at 5:25PM on 10/10/07
perhaps try later in the evening when the oven is hotter.
ebpizza at 3:09PM on 10/15/07
Will do.
Ed Levine at 3:36PM on 10/15/07
Ed-
I think Luzzo's is plagued by a fundamental problem that is not related to the quality of the pizza. The prices border on excessive and the small pie's crust is sub-par. I believe they use the same size dough circle for both their large and small pies. Every time I have had a small pie there, the crust has been too doughy and flat. I have never experienced that when ordering a large.
Save the sushiesque pricing and lone size option, their large Diavola pie is worth the detriments the restaurant has. As of now it is my favorite pie in Manhattan.
joe_ev at 10:14PM on 08/30/08