Grimaldi's Pizzeria, New York

With hundreds of pizza joints to choose from in New York City, we ended up at the picturesque Grimaldi's, just a few steps from the Brooklyn Bridge. Grimaldi's is known for cooking their pizzas in a coal fire oven as opposed to wood fire or gas ovens, which gives their pies a unique flavor. It's a cash only joint that doesn't sell pizzas by the slice and doesn't accept reservations. There are two stories, the second floor is almost like a balcony over looking the kitchen where every pizza is made. The dough is made fresh daily and of course they use San Marzano tomatoes. We were told by friends to expect a wait, but there were no problems getting a table at 8pm on a weeknight. 

The menus is very simple, choose from one of two pizzas and add as many toppings as you'd like. The regular pizza has fresh mozzarella, crushed tomatoes and basil. A small (6 slices) is $12 and a large (8 slices) is $14. The white pizza has extra cheese, fresh garlic and no tomatoes. Small is $14 and large is $16. Most toppings are $2 extra with the exception of oven roasted sweet peppers and sun dried tomatoes, which will set you back $4. If you want more cheese, that's an extra dollar. Topping charges are the same for small and large pizzas.

Regular large pizza with pepperoni and sausage
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Unfortunately, their alcohol license had expired and we weren't able to order beer or wine as we waited for our pizza, which was about 15 minutes. The pizza was glistening as it arrived loaded with stringy mozzarella cheese, spicy pepperoni and sausage infused with great fennel flavor. The gooey cheese was everything I expected, but the dough was slightly undercooked and lacked flavor. The toppings were the definite highlight, but the most important aspect of the pizza was under whelming and quite disappointing. Ess-A-Bagel changed the way we think of bagels and I don't think I can ever again eat a West Coast bagel...Grimaldi's however didn't deliver and we are still on the hunt for that amazing NY pie everyone in California talks about and says they can't find here.

Luckily for us, the walk back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge made up for the lackluster pizza. Perhaps pizza just isn't as good without an ice cold beer. If you do end up at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, definitely take advantage of the walk across the bridge. 

Grimaldi's Pizzeria
1 Front Street
Brookly, NY 11201