by Erin
After our cupcake breakfast and some "girl talk" about the previous night's craziness, Lauren, her roommate Sarah, and I headed to Grimaldi's, known (modestly) as the home of the best pizza in Brooklyn. Grimaldi's is located right on the water and under the Brooklyn Bridge. We had heard that there would be a really long wait to eat in the restaurant, so we decided to order two pizzas to pick up and bring back to the house in Bay Ridge.
When we arrived, we saw a long line of people waiting in the drizzling rain for a table. We walked into the restaurant and it was PACKED with a lively crowd enjoying their freshly made pizzas. We paid for our awaiting pizzas and dashed out of there to avoid being in the way of the extremely busy waitstaff.
In the pizza waiting line
Packed house at Grimaldi's on a Sunday afternoon
When we got home, we were so excited for delicious pizza! We ordered one pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and fresh basil, and one with ricotta, garlic, and fresh basil, and let me tell you, they were AWESOME.
The lovely Lauren with our lovely pizzas
Grimaldi's website says that there are three factors that make their pizza great: ingredients, know-how, and a great oven, and I'd say that all three of those factors came through. When we were inside the restaurant, I happened to watch a couple of the guys making the pizzas, and you could tell they were experts. The ingredients were fresh, flavorful and delicious, especially the thick-cut pepperoni and the super-strong garlic and fresh basil. Even the subtle flavor of the ricotta came through. I think part of this great balance of flavors came from the proportion of crust to sauce to cheese to toppings. Speaking of the crust, it was a bit charred (from their brick oven, of course) and extremely thin, which resulted in super-flop pizza! It was truly NY-style!
Pizza with ricotta, fresh basil, and garlic
Pizza with pepperoni, mushroom, and basil
Check out that floppo slice!
The only criticism I would make is that the pizza was a little soggy but I think that's a function of our taking it home and not eating it in the restaurant, fresh out of the oven. Next time, I'll be waiting for a table fo sho!
We enjoyed our pizza and watched Driving Miss Daisy (which I had never seen before), and just relaxed around the house for a few hours. It was a great afternoon and it made me feel like less of a tourist and more of a New Yorker, which was a GREAT feeling. Thanks Lauren and Sarah!
Stay tuned for my next and final NYC eats post!
Happy floppy pizza eating,
EP
As Homer Simpson would say - Floppy NY Pizza - Ohhhhhhhhhh
ReplyDeleteI have two points to make:
ReplyDeletePoint the first: I am insanely jealous of this trip to NYC, esp this pizza. Somehow I don't think the CPK near my hotel in Irvine, CA is going to compare...
Point the second: I love the little "tables" in the pizzas (first pic). Reminds me of when we were kids and we would play blackjack against each other for candy, and we would put our bets on the little tables-- NORMAL!
Yes! The little tables reminded me of that too! I hope Uncle Sheldon is reading this - he would appreciate our under-aged gambling...
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, we'll be in NYC in no time!
if jealousy is the best form of flattery, consider yourselves insanely flattered.
ReplyDeleteOoohhh. NYC pizza. You just can't get it anywhere else!
ReplyDeletelaw school foodies, can we please go to iggie's sometime this year? it may not be nyc pizza, but i hear it's still hella good :)
ReplyDeleteI broke my computer monitor trying to reach in and grab that pizza. This one's going to be tough to explain to my boss.
ReplyDeleteSo hungry...