John's Pizzeria -- New York Landmark
Written: Jul 08 '03 (Updated Jul 10 '03)
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Pros: Excellent pizza, attentive wait staff, inexpensive.
Cons: Long waits can happen. No credit cards at the original location.
The Bottom Line: You want true brick-oven New York-style pizza? John's ranks as one of the best.
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| davidmanning's Full Review: John's Pizzeria |
Fourth of July weekend. After watching my beloved Yankees get blown out by the hated Red Stockings of evil, evil Boston, my brother and his family (and I) wanted to salvage the weekend. What better way than to accompany them to a New York landmark: John's Pizzeria, on Bleecker Street.
This is the original John's; they have since opened three other pizzerias on the Upper East, Upper West, and Times Square area. It's reasonably convenient to the subway, about a four-block walk from the 6 and a couple of blocks from the A/C/E and 1/9 trains.
Last Saturday being rather warm, we cabbed it instead, flying down Second Ave. (It's such a great feeling to actually go at least the speed limit and not hit any red lights--a true testament to skillful taxi driving.) A leisurely cut across town to Sixth Avenue and we were there.
We arrived just before the dinner crush, apparently. Our group of five was seated in the front dining area; there's another, larger, section in back, which my brother commented has housed the occasional celebrity such as Woody Allen, for whatever that's worth. We were the last table to fill at that particular time (about 7:00).
The waiter immediately handed out menus, and was back quickly to take drink orders. John's serves sodas and iced tea, alongside several beer taps, all by the glass or pitcher; I think there were a few wines also available, fortunately not served by the pitcher. They'll gladly serve up pitchers of water, too, and are quick with refills if you run through a whole half-gallon.
Menu
The food menu was quite amusing. In addition to the usual appetizers, salads, heros, and so forth, is a pizza list that covers one side of the menu. If you don't go to John's regularly, you are there for the pizza, so there are dozens and dozens of pre-selecting pizza choices listed. John's does not serve pizza by the slice; whole pies only. And of course, if you don't want one of the numbered combinations, you can make your own and be charged similarly. A two-topping pizza is $14-$15, with additional toppings going for a buck more, on the large (16-inch, it appears) pie.
Pre-Pizza
You might notice that goofy pizza toppings are not available. About the goofiest they will get are "meatballs," which aren't really that goofy. No pineapple, no chicken, no broccoli (that I saw). Normal toppings.
Besides the brick oven, which gets temperatures into the uncomfortably hot thousand-degree-plus range which is optimal for a good, crisp pizza crust, John's also does something rather interesting in the pizza world: they add the tomato sauce last.
We got two house salads (Italian dressing, natch) to go with our two large pies. The house salads are overflowing with mushrooms, but at least those were on top, covering the lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion marinating in the dressing. And they're huge. One salad easily accommodates two salad-eaters, and likely three.
Pizzas
The pizzas arrived about ten minutes after ordering -- very quick. Piping hot, with blobs of tomato sauce and generous slices of sausage and pepperoni on one, thick peppers and pepperoni on the other. The crust was reasonably crisp, and charred in places--this is a good thing.
The pepperoni was slightly smoky, and very meaty. This was not generic grocery-store meat. The sausage was thick-sliced, not ground-up, and sweetly spicy. And of course the cheese is first-rate. I don't know if they get their cheese through Murray's, the excellent cheese shop on the corner a half-block away, but it's as high-quality as any I've sampled in the city.
Two pizzas were plenty for our table, even if my brother and I are considered Human Vacuums in our respective households.
The Damage, Verdict
The original John's does not take credit cards. Dinner for five, with the two big salads, two pizzas, and a pitcher of soda, came to about $55.00. I guess you could go cheaper with a fast-food place, but why would you?
As we left, we noticed the line to get in was about ten-deep. Cool.
John's Pizzeria ranks with the other great pizzerias in town, such as Grimaldi's and Lombardi's. I'd be hard-pressed to choose a favorite from among the three, as they all make an excellent Neapolitan pie. It's a little bit of New York history at a very good price to boot. How often do you get that around here?
Recommended:
Yes
Kid Friendliness: Yes
Vegetarian Friendly: Yes
Notes, Tips or Menu Recommendations It's a pizzeria. Eat the pizza. Sheesh.
Best Suited For: Friends
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Epinions.com ID:
davidmanning
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Location: New York City
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