Pizzeria

[yosenut]

New Yorker born and raised here. Point of reference: found Mellow Mushroom "pizza" quite similar to what we would reject at the dining hall at my Northeast college.

On the flip side, I don't care if a place is run by New Yorkers, or even a chain, just if the pizza is authentic. One of my favorite places in California was run by two awesome Arabs who learned the business living in Queens for a few years. My picks:

1. Johnny's NY Style Pizza- 2840 East-West Connector, Austell, in the same strip mall as the Regal Cinema. Usually, "NY Style" is a great giveaway for "disgusting, and only the name is from New York." This place is also a franchise. But, my husband picked it because some of his co-workers had raved about the pizza at this PARTICULAR location. So I grinned and was ready to bear it, since Mama Niki's (below) is a bit of a drive for me, now. It was great- crispy crust, good quality and quantity of cheese, good quality sausage (none of that fatty crumbly stuff). A bit greasy, like New York-style pizza is, but nothing like Chicago style (which I also like).

They also have cannoli. I was stunned to bite through a crisp shell into fluffy, slightly sweet fresh ricotta with non-traditional (but appreciated) chocolate chips. When I complimented the waitress, she confirmed that they indeed make and bake their own fresh. (Most places pre-pipe crappy cheese, resulting in a soggy, tasteless mess.)

2. Mama Niki's- 1715 Howell Mill Rd in Atlanta, in the strip mall with the Taco Bell next to the Wal-Mart strip mall. Crisp crust, good quality/quantity cheese. Big salads (have to balance out the pizza, you know). Forgettable cheesy garlic bread.

Neither of these places have any atmosphere, unless you count sports on tv as atmosphere.

[RainyRainyDay]

Best we have found is Ray's Brick Oven Pizza on Holcomb Bridge Rd in Roswell, on the west side of GA 400.

[ABM]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Yummm. Fortunatos. I'm not a NY person by any stretch, but I know a VERY good pizza when I eat it!

Try this place then.

St. Angelo's (http://stangelos.com/pizzas.html - broken link)

[Mattie]

Originally Posted by winter

Anyone know of a good bagel place? I hear it's hard to make them like New York bagels and Jersey bagels because of the difference in water down South. Anyone know about that? Or is that a myth?

Well I'm from NJ, and the best bagels I've found are on Haynes Bridge Rd in Alpharetta at a place called Bagel Boys. They aren't perfect, but they beat faux bagels like Einstein Bros.

[ABM]

Originally Posted by yosenut

New Yorker born and raised here..

Yosenut, seriously, try this place and let me know what you think. Appears that you're in the area, so I'd love a "Yankee" perspective.

I'll have to admid that the "decor" is rather non-descript, but, IMO, the pizza is to die for (We enjoyed the 2-Ton Tony Family Tray).

I haven't really tried anything else there other than the Greek salad, which was great, as well. Oh, yeah, people tell me that their garlic knots (rolls) are fabulous, too. I'll try those next time I get over that way.

St. Angelo's (http://stangelos.com/pizzas.html - broken link)

[PeteyNice]

Originally Posted by Mattie

Well I'm from NJ, and the best bagels I've found are on Haynes Bridge Rd in Alpharetta at a place called Bagel Boys. They aren't perfect, but they beat faux bagels like Einstein Bros.

Einstein doesn't make bagels. They make glorified dinner rolls. The best bagel place I have found intown is Bagel Palace in Toco Hills.

[yosenut]

Originally Posted by ABM

Yosenut, seriously, try this place and let me know what you think. Appears that you're in the area, so I'd love a "Yankee" perspective.

I'll have to admid that the "decor" is rather non-descript, but, IMO, the pizza is to die for (We enjoyed the 2-Ton Tony Family Tray).

I haven't really tried anything else there other than the Greek salad, which was great, as well. Oh, yeah, people tell me that their garlic knots (rolls) are fabulous, too. I'll try those next time I get over that way.

St. Angelo's (http://stangelos.com/pizzas.html - broken link)

Hi ABM, sounds like you really enjoy it. I'm looking forward to trying your find. About decor, like you, I don't pick a place based on it, but I mentioned it because some people judge their experience based partly on that (why they think a pizza restaurant should be a feast for the eyes, I'll never know).

Now for the big (off-topic) question- where do YOU go for the best Southern food?

[wxjay]

I tried St. Angelo's this past weekend. LOVED the pizza! It is very NY-style and probably the best NY style pizza here in Atlanta.