There is a lot of commentary on the internet around the best pizza in New York. The original plan had been to go to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and then go to Grimaldi's in Brooklyn, which is supposed to be very authentic. Unfortunately, the day we walked across the bridge was the day we had been to Bobby Van's for burgers and we were so full, there was no room to do any justice to pizza.
The back-up plan was Lombardi's on Spring Street in Soho. Lombardi's is the first official pizzeria in New York, first licensed in 1905. After a few hours of hard-core NY shopping, we rolled up to Lombardi's hot, tired, exhausted and in the mood for some pizza.
Lombardi's looks quite small when you first arrive and we queued for a couple of minutes, but it is bigger than it first appears. That being said, it was pretty busy at 4pm on a Friday afternoon, so I would imagine the queues on a Friday night would be significant.
The menu is pretty simple. The pizzas come in two sizes - 6 or 8 slices - with mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil and pecorino romano. There are then about 12 meat or vegetable toppings you can choose from at exponentially increasing prices. We decided to go reasonably authentic with just pepperoni.
The pizza arrived quickly and first appearances were good. The base was thin and crisp, with a few blackened bubbles that indicated a good hot pizza oven. The topping of melted cheese and crisped pepperoni looked and smelled delicious.
Luckily, the good first impression continued. The dough had an excellent chewy texture and yeasty taste and the topping was cheesy but flavoursome. I particuarly enjoyed the fresh basil, which give it a real burst of flavour. If I was going to criticise anything about this pizza, it could have had the topping spread out further to the edges. But that is really nit-picking!
In actual fact, it wasn't a million miles away from the Italian pizzas we have enjoyed in Italy, so to be honest, I'm a little unclear on the significant difference between New York and Italian pizzas. No bad thing - they're both excellent!
So another NY junk food checked off the list and it was definitely good. As I mentioned, we were there in the late afternoon, which suited our plans, but the feel of the restaurant was a bit 'churn and burn', definitely fast food. I'm not sure this is the sort of place to linger over a meal! The service wasn't anything special and the restaurant itself was just okay. But, Lombardi's is what it is and I'm pretty sure no-one is going there for the atmosphere! Everyone is going for the pizza and luckily, the pizza is well worth going for.
Lombardi's Pizza
32 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012-4173
The back-up plan was Lombardi's on Spring Street in Soho. Lombardi's is the first official pizzeria in New York, first licensed in 1905. After a few hours of hard-core NY shopping, we rolled up to Lombardi's hot, tired, exhausted and in the mood for some pizza.
Lombardi's looks quite small when you first arrive and we queued for a couple of minutes, but it is bigger than it first appears. That being said, it was pretty busy at 4pm on a Friday afternoon, so I would imagine the queues on a Friday night would be significant.
The menu is pretty simple. The pizzas come in two sizes - 6 or 8 slices - with mozzarella, tomato sauce, basil and pecorino romano. There are then about 12 meat or vegetable toppings you can choose from at exponentially increasing prices. We decided to go reasonably authentic with just pepperoni.
The pizza arrived quickly and first appearances were good. The base was thin and crisp, with a few blackened bubbles that indicated a good hot pizza oven. The topping of melted cheese and crisped pepperoni looked and smelled delicious.
Luckily, the good first impression continued. The dough had an excellent chewy texture and yeasty taste and the topping was cheesy but flavoursome. I particuarly enjoyed the fresh basil, which give it a real burst of flavour. If I was going to criticise anything about this pizza, it could have had the topping spread out further to the edges. But that is really nit-picking!In actual fact, it wasn't a million miles away from the Italian pizzas we have enjoyed in Italy, so to be honest, I'm a little unclear on the significant difference between New York and Italian pizzas. No bad thing - they're both excellent!
So another NY junk food checked off the list and it was definitely good. As I mentioned, we were there in the late afternoon, which suited our plans, but the feel of the restaurant was a bit 'churn and burn', definitely fast food. I'm not sure this is the sort of place to linger over a meal! The service wasn't anything special and the restaurant itself was just okay. But, Lombardi's is what it is and I'm pretty sure no-one is going there for the atmosphere! Everyone is going for the pizza and luckily, the pizza is well worth going for.Lombardi's Pizza
32 Spring Street
New York, NY 10012-4173
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