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Hey guys I am a local, but I do have to say that sometimes it can be just as hard to find good pizza and bages IN NYC!! There are soooo many fakes/frauds/posers/copycats/fly-by-nights/tourist traps/straight crappy places in NYC, that I sometimes have a hard time getting a decent meal!
Sure there are TONS of places and every kind of food to eat here..but how many are actually good and worth eating? The truth...is few and far between...and they are oftentimes hard to find. I can't say NYC having 500 bad pizzerias and 10 good ones is much better than Anywhere else in America having 10 bad pizzerias and 1 good. Nevertheless, if you want to talk honestly...I have had way more bad meals in NYC than bad meals anywhere else...mostly because of the so many bad places here.
Let's also note that I don't understand the crazy obsession with pizza/bagels/etc. I have had good pizza in NYC, and good pizza elsewhere...I like pizza as much as anyone and will spit out a bad slice..but the whole pizza/bagel obsession is kinda weird. Really people..it's just a pizza or bagel and going to other places and sayng "this is crap..NYC XXX is the best" is the reason why NYers have a bad rep..it's rude, and oftentimes wrong as taste is subjective (assuming the food isn't spoiled of course). I have been known to order Papa John's (gasp) ..although I do have a couple good pizza joints by me.
I grew up in Bay Ridge. After living AZ for fourteen years, the pizza is just starting to taste OK. It's almost like they lose the recipe when they cross the Mississippi River.
I guess the problem is that NYers don't think of pizza as "local" delicacy. Pizza is everywhere, a staple. Bagels are not fancy. We're not talking about elegant cuisine here with recipes so complicated you need to go to culinary school in France for. I'm not totally buying the water thing because there is so much more wrong with the pizza than just the dough consistency.
I just moved out of NY to NC and the only "pizza" I could find that was edible was Dominos. That's not even really pizza. I never touched it in NY but the local places here are worse than frozen grocery store or grade school cafeteria pizza. I also don't understand why they can't do deli right. They open a store, call it a NY deli but nope, it's not a deli. How hard is it to order some Boar's Head and rolls? Make some cole slaw and potato salad. Bacon egg and cheeses? How do people get sandwiches here? Only make them at home? Now I'm not expecting a NY Jewish deli, that is a NY speciality though I can't see why one couldn't operate here just because of water differences. I just want a place to get a regular deli sandwich. Apparently other people do to or they wouldn't have all these "delis."
I do love NC food. BBQ is great here and that's what I would consider a local cuisine that would be hard to replicate elsewhere. Cajun, mexican, and bbq were never that great in NY. I just don't think Italian, Chinese, or Indian etc are local NY foods because well, they are from other countries not NY.
I guess the problem is that NYers don't think of pizza as "local" delicacy. Pizza is everywhere, a staple. Bagels are not fancy. We're not talking about elegant cuisine here with recipes so complicated you need to go to culinary school in France for. I'm not totally buying the water thing because there is so much more wrong with the pizza than just the dough consistency.
I just moved out of NY to NC and the only "pizza" I could find that was edible was Dominos. That's not even really pizza. I never touched it in NY but the local places here are worse than frozen grocery store or grade school cafeteria pizza. I also don't understand why they can't do deli right. They open a store, call it a NY deli but nope, it's not a deli. How hard is it to order some Boar's Head and rolls? Make some cole slaw and potato salad. Bacon egg and cheeses? How do people get sandwiches here? Only make them at home? Now I'm not expecting a NY Jewish deli, that is a NY speciality though I can't see why one couldn't operate here just because of water differences. I just want a place to get a regular deli sandwich. Apparently other people do to or they wouldn't have all these "delis."
I do love NC food. BBQ is great here and that's what I would consider a local cuisine that would be hard to replicate elsewhere. Cajun, mexican, and bbq were never that great in NY. I just don't think Italian, Chinese, or Indian etc are local NY foods because well, they are from other countries not NY.
Agree!!!!!smh..... As for pizza try the walamrt pizza in their deli section. Its not frozen but you do have to bake it yourself. This is the only pizza I can eat here in GA everything else is not worth the gas or $$$
Hey guys I am a local, but I do have to say that sometimes it can be just as hard to find good pizza and bages IN NYC!! There are soooo many fakes/frauds/posers/copycats/fly-by-nights/tourist traps/straight crappy places in NYC, that I sometimes have a hard time getting a decent meal!
I agree. Plenty of crap out there.
Let's also note that I don't understand the crazy obsession with pizza/bagels/etc. I have had good pizza in NYC, and good pizza elsewhere...I like pizza as much as anyone and will spit out a bad slice..but the whole pizza/bagel obsession is kinda weird. Really people..it's just a pizza or bagel and going to other places and sayng "this is crap..NYC XXX is the best" is the reason why NYers have a bad rep..it's rude, and oftentimes wrong as taste is subjective (assuming the food isn't spoiled of course). I have been known to order Papa John's (gasp) ..although I do have a couple good pizza joints by me.
I disagree. I have no problem admitting NYC is not the place for great Mexican, and if I can recognize that, my recognition of the superiority of NY Bagels and Pizza should be valid as well.
I just returned from a trip to Maine and while up there stopped at a very nice place called Mr. *&^%$. Since an egg and cheese on a buttered whole wheat everything bagel is a death row meal of mine, I had to see how Maine did it since the state is on my possible relocation list.
Bad news.
Is it really NYC water that makes a bagel? I hate to put places down, but WOW. What a difference.
Anyone else shoot for a NY-style anything and been disappointed? How about delighted??
Great thread. I don't know what it is but places throughout the country that try to replicate NYC style pizza or bagels can never get it right. Heck even if you go a little upstate it's not the same. When I'm somewhere else in the USA looking for a bite and a place says they serve NYC style whatever I tend to walk in the opposite direction...
I disagree. I have no problem admitting NYC is not the place for great Mexican, and if I can recognize that, my recognition of the superiority of NY Bagels and Pizza should be valid as well.
The Mexican food in NYC has improved by leaps and bounds in the last 5-8 years I'd say. You can get cheap decent to pretty tasty Mexican now. It wasn't always like that. You just have to know where to look...
I've tried Chinese restaurants outside of New York and surprisingly, in Vegas, the food is good. Really. And in Houston, not so good because everything is Vietnamnese and White washed. I've also had steak in Houston and I think it's so much better than what I've tasted here. But I don't think I've had a bagel, cheesecake or pizza outside of state.
I can vouch for the fries with vinegar comments. Never anything I wanted to eat, but it's a big thing for boardwalk areas, at least in NJ (I grew up near Pt Pleasant). You can also go to Six Flags and get vinegar on your fries - they may even be referred to as boardwalk fries. Maybe not too big in nyc, but I imagine it is much more prevalent in the Coney Island area.
I agree with everyone else about the pizza and bagels. I lived in the DC area for a few years, and constantly got disappointed when trying to find a decent slice of pizza. I tried to order white pizza many times and not ONE place put ricotta on it - shocking to me. Only okay place was Guiseppi's, and the owner is from Philly, so it doesn't really count - i dont mind Philly pizza.
My other complaint is trying to find a good pretzel. Philly and NYC have different styles of pretzels, but pass my test. Go out of this area and you cannot find anything outside of a Pretzel Time reject. Very sad.
In general, I could never find any good bakeries in Maryland. Even the grocery stores rarely sold fresh bread or rolls, which was pretty disappointing.
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