G's Pizza Nation 2019 Pizza Round-up

 

Pizzerias Visited in 2019

The Fair (*) to the Excellent (****)!

(Ratings based upon overall quality of Crust, Cheese and sauce)

Buster's Brick Oven

Daphne, AL

Neapolitan Inspired

Overall:  Good **

 

Romino's Pizza and Pasta

Everett, WA

New York Style Inspired

Overall:  Good **

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom's Extreme Pizzeria


Ocean Springs, MS

New York Style Inspired

Overall:  Good **

Totonno's

Brooklyn, NY

New York Style

Overall:  Excellent **** (A "must visit" in NYC)

 

 

Mercurio's

Pittsburgh, PA

 Neapolitan Inspired

Overall: Very Good ***

 

Elemento Neapolitan Pizza

Memphis, TN
Overall: Fair *

OPS
Brooklyn, NY

Neapolitan Inspired

Overall:  Good **

 

 

 

Review of Section Street Pizza, 108 N. Section St., Fairhope, AL

★★

Overall Rating: Good ($$)

With the departure of Papa's Pizza, Fairhope Avenue location, and it's stand-by New York style pie, Fairhope was ready for another non-franchise/non-chain pizza option.  Section Street Pizza has filled the void with a good brick-oven-New York Style hybrid pizza.  

Pizza type:

New York Style/Brick oven

Pizza ordered: Margherita (The "Original" on their menu)

Crust:  Section Street's crust is medium thin, a bit bready and displays a medium amount of charring. I see room for improvement, by making the crust thinner and letting the crust char a bit more, at a higher temperature. The crispy-chewy contrast desirable in the New York style's brick oven cousin is not quire there.  The crust was, as well, a bit flimsy in the center; however, it certainly compares favorably to similar pizza joints in the area.

Sauce: Section Street's sauce is a nice crushed tomato base. It was not over- applied, and it was relatively neutral; no extraordinarily dominant spices/flavors.

Cheese: According to the menu, the Original pie is topped with  "fresh sliced mozzarella". I found the cheese to be a bit salty for a fresh, high-moisture mozzarella.


Other Topping(s): The tomatoes were not particularly noteworthy; however; the basil, although a bit sparse, was flavorful and applied at just the right time; not over-cooked.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere at Section Street

combines clean lines with cozy, hometown pizzeria; however, the restaurant can be a bit noisy.

Service: On each visit, I have found the service to be very friendly.  I did sense some timing issues in terms of drinks, salads, pizzas, for instance, but the joint is relatively new, and these thing take some time to work out.

Utensils: Sturdy utensils and high quality paper napkins.

Overall: Section Street Pizza serves a solidly good, brick oven cousin to the New York style pizza. If you are in Fairhope, they are certainly worth a try.

Enjoy!

 

 

Review of Ribalta Neapolitan Cuisine, 48 E. 12th St., New York, NY

★★★

Overall Rating: Very Good ($$)

Neapolitans Rosario Procino and Pasquale Cozzolino, founders of Ribalta, bring their experience at New York's Keste and PizzArte to a Neapolitan style restaurant that offers a very good Neapolitan pizza combined with complementary dishes and exceptional service.

Pizza type:

Neapolitan

Pizza ordered: Margherita

Crust:  The crust on the Ribalta pie is a good version of Neapolitan crust and displays a nice charring on the bottom; however, it is a bit pale.  Otherwise, the crust had a nice firmness on the edges that transitioned into chewiness in the upper center.  The bottom crust was a bit too pliable, but overall, the crust had a nice neutral presence. 

Sauce: Ribalta's sauce was a nice crushed tomato base that was delicate and a nice complement to the overall flavor. It was not over applied nor did it have any seasonings that stood out.

Cheese: The Margherita pie was topped with a very good mozzarella. The cheese was a bit nonuniformly melted.  This is not necessarily a problem, but it does cause me to question its form and how it was applied.

Other Topping(s): The fresh basil was applied in a timely manner, but could have been more evenly applied.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere at Ribalta is a hybrid of the clean lines of urban chic and comforting Italian restaurant. The restaurant was not overly noisy. I really enjoyed being able to carry on a conversation; not being overwhelmed by a roar of voices.

Service: We made a reservation for an early evening dinner, and this worked out well, because the restaurant was full by 6:00 p.m.  The service was excellent; our server took time to answer all our questions and never seemed rushed, despite the full restaurant.

Utensils: Heavy utensils and high quality paper napkins.

Overall: Ribalta Neapolitan Cuisine in NYC is a solidly, very good Neapolitan pizza maker.  The restaurant was a very good experience at every level.  If you are fan of Neapolitan pizza, you can't go wrong here.  Enjoy!

Review of Mid City Pizza, 4400 Banks St., New Orleans, LA

★★★1/2

Overall Rating: Very Good to Excellent ($1/2)

I'm always excited to discover a pizzeria that can produce a top-notch Neapolitan-inspired pizza in a gas-oven. Mid City Pizza does just that. 

Pizza type:

Neapolitan-inspired, New York Style

Pizza ordered: Margherita

Crust:  I generally don't expect to see a crust worthy of being called "Neapolitan inspired" at pizza kitchens using a gas oven; excellent New York style maybe, but in the absence of the high heat of a wood or coal oven, a nicely charred crust is not as common.

Well, Mid City Pizza was a welcomed surprise.  The crust on the Mid City pie was every bit worthy of being called Neapolitan inspired.  The crust was thin enough and had the requisite crispiness around the edges as well as transitioning into a chewiness in the upper layer; however, most impressively, the Mid City crust displayed and excellent charring on the bottom.  Of course, with the lack wood or coal fire, the characteristic flavor of the char is diminished, but the bottom texture is just where it needs to be.

Sauce: I found Mid-City's sauce to be a very well balanced crushed tomato blend with no overwhelming spices or saltiness.  The sauce lightly compliments and underpins the whole pie experience, just as it should.

Cheese: Mid-City uses a very good quality mozzarella bufala and distributes it over the margherita pie expertly...just enough to be present without any overpowering, cheesy essence found with over-application of lower quality mozzarella's.

Other Topping(s): The basil was fresh, and placed on the pizza at the right time during cooking; releasing the basil character without drying it out or turning it brown.  The basil was certainly adequately applied; however, I could have stood more.  I'm a huge basil fan!

The slices of Roma tomato were fresh and flavorful and placed in just the right amount, maintaining the balance of the pie.

Atmosphere: The atmosphere is somewhere between mid-city New Orleans neighborhood cozy and Mid-City hipster.  It's bright, comfortable and family-friendly inside, and has some basic seating on a deck outside where you can enjoy a view of the vibrant, off-the-tourist-path neighborhood!

Service: We arrived around 5:00 p.m. and were greeted by very friendly counter-service. The server at the counter answered all our questions patiently and even let me sample their on-tap beer selection. They have a decent wine selection as well.  This pizzeria is basically no-frills, but very efficient, as well as laid-back.

Utensils: Basic utensils and adequate paper napkins.

Overall: Mid-City Pizza is definite hit.  I would compare it to the Bywater's Pizza Delicious (putting it in good company)  in quality, with, I feel, more efficient service in the ordering. If you are a serious fan of Neapolitan-inspired or New York style pies, you should definitely put Mid-City Pizza on your itinerary. 

Review of Cortlandt's Pub (aka Cortlandt's Pizza Pub), 4356 Old Shell Rd., Mobile AL

★★

Overall Rating: Good ($1/2)

Brick oven pizza is becoming more common in the Mobile-Pensacola area and frankly, the quality is all over the board.  Serving a good brick oven pizza, Cortlandt's quality lands squarely in the middle among the ones I have visited.

Pizza type:

Neapolitan-inspired, New York Style

Pizza ordered: Margherita

Crust:  Cortlandt's crust was not remarkable, particularly for a brick oven crust.  The bottom of the crust did display a slightly crispy texture and did transition to a chewiness in the upper-crust; however, the bottom of the crust was not well charred and the overall essence was bready. 

Sauce: Cortlandt's sauce is a nicely seasoned crushed tomato blend that compliments the overall taste of the pizza without overpowering any of the other aspects of the pie. As should be, the sauce is not too heavily applied, maintaining a good balance.  

Cheese: The cheese did not appear to be a fresh mozzarella and was applied a bit to heavily. The cheese tends to dominate the flavor of this particular pie, rather than balance with the tomato and basil.

Other Topping(s): The basil was fresh and not overly cooked, as desirable; however, it was a bit sparsely applied; more basil on this pie would have really defined it as a very good Margherita-inspired pizza.

Atmosphere: Cortlandt's has a nice neighborhood feel and is obviously popular.  It wasn't too loud and is a great location for meeting friends for a beer and a bite.

Service: We arrived around 5:30p.m. and were greeted by a very friendly server. As the place got busier, our server remained attentive without hovering.

Utensils: Sturdy utensils and substantial paper napkins.

Overall: Cortlandt's hits the mark in creating a cozy, neighborhood atmosphere, and produces a solidly good Neapolitan-inspired, New York style pizza; however, I will give the pizza another chance to impress.  I've gathered from others that the crust can be better than I experienced. 

Payment: Cash /Credit cards

Review of Juliana's Pizza, 19 Old Fulton St., Brooklyn, NY

★★★★

Overall Rating: Excellent ($$)

  As I have expanded upon in previous posts, there are pizza bakers out there who are strongly inspired by, and true to, the Neapolitan roots and traditions of pizza.  These bakers are not confined to New York, but can be found nationwide, particularly in cities with strong Italian immigration history, such as New Haven, New Orleans, Tampa, Chicago, Galveston, Birmingham and many others. In these centers of Italian heritage, we find those wonderful pizzas that display the best aspects of the American manifestation of Neapolitan pizza and solid Neapolitan characteristics.

Juliana's is one of the best presentations of the blend of American and Neapolitan traditions I have encountered.

Pizza type:

Neapolitan Inspired, New York Style

Pizza ordered: Margherita

Crust:  The crust produced in Juliana's 850 degree F, coal fired, brick oven is near perfection.  The charred bottom is completely distributed under the crust, and the coal fire flavor just present enough.  The edges of the crust display a nice blistering. This blistering blends into an evenly distributed, slight firmness and an ever so subtle crispiness throughout the remainder. Juliana's crust is as good as I've seen in "first-generation" Neapolitan inspired pizza.

Sauce: Juliana's pizza is complimented by fresh, delicate, crushed tomatoes that are gently spiced.  The resulting sauce is just present enough, but does not over-power any other flavors.

Cheese: The cheese is a fresh mozzarella applied  adequately, but as with the sauce, not overly-present. The cheese adds a nice complimentary flavor as it should.

Other Topping(s): The basil was fresh and barely cooked, as desirable; however, it was a bit sparsely applied.  A bit more basil would have achieved an excellent balance of flavors. 

Atmosphere: Juliana's does a good job of balancing urban chic with classic pizzeria ambiance. Unlike many New York City pizzerias, the tables are not so close as to give crowded feel; you have a bit of elbow room.

Service: We arrived around 1:00 p.m. and were greeted by a very friendly staff. The Server gave use plenty of time to look over the menu and ask any questions; however, we new what we wanted...the classic Margherita!

Utensils: Sturdy utensils and substantial paper napkins.

Overall: Juliana's hits the mark as an excellent First Generation, Neapolitan-inspired, New York style pizza.  Virtually every aspect of the pie is satisfying and displays strong Neapolitan characteristics. Juliana's is a "Don't miss" in Brooklyn, NYC, NY.

Payment: Cash /Credit cards