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I know this is a tangent, but one of the things I noticed on Long Island is that more and more pizzerias are now run (maybe even owned) by non-Italians? Same with landscaping companies.
Umbertos has a location in Wantagh too.
Here's Zagats:
Salvatore's - Port Washington
Pie at Salvatore's, The - Bayshore
Emilio's - Commack
Nick's - Rockville Centre
Grimaldi's - Garden City
King Umberto - Elmont
Nicks is quite good too. There's also another one around the block from Nick's in RVC, Mr Miceli. Excellent pizza, reminded me of Shoppers village style pizza back in the day (where would that be on this list?) . Im with dman, if Little Vincent's is that high on this list, I can think of 10 in Nassau that are better imho. Don't get that at all. Maybe Suffolk has more Newsday readers? Nassau's certainly got a lot more high quality pizzerias.
Umbertos just opened up a new location in Bellmore too. It's on Bedford Avenue right near the train station. I love the NHP store but the one in Wantagh has been kinda disappointing, in my experience. Sometimes it's fantastic, other times it's just average. They always get the sicilian right, but it's a lot harder to mess up a sicilian pie... service could use some work too.
Nick's makes an excellent margaretha pizza... that's one of my favorite slices and it's tough to find a good one on LI, if you can find it at all. Pasquale's (also in Bellmore - right across the street from the new Umbertos!) is the only other place I know of that does them consistently well.
I do like Little Vincent's* - but I kind of agree with your take on it. I dunno if I could name 10 places in Nassau that are unquestionably better off the top of my head... however I definitely can't think of 10 places in Nassau that are worse. Maybe it's just harder to pick the standouts here in "The Lonesome West" of Long Island because we're accustomed to having much higher quality pizza overall. There are an ungodly number of pizzerias in the 516 and it's very rare to find one selling a substandard product. For instance, do you think Little Vincent's is significantly better than, say, Phil's Pizza on Hicksville Road? I'd say they're about the same... but no one would ever vote for Phil's on one of these type of lists**.
Now with all that being said, the only other name I'd like to toss out there is NINO'S in Oyster Bay. The ultimate hole-in-the-wall, unintentionally "retro" pizza parlor out there. Wood paneling floor to ceiling, 3 or 4 orange composite benches, soccer (in Italian) on TV constantly, faded maps of Sicily and pictures of saints that have probably been hanging on the walls since the place opened. Definitely one of my favorites, and it makes Ancona look like a flashy Manhattan restaurant... just one amongst the many great unsung pizza slingers.
*=They lose points for catering to those "cold cheese" buffoons
**=However, against all common sense and measures of taste - someone keeps voting for "Pappalardo's Pizza Cove". Does Steve Gutenberg have a friend at Newsday or something?
Umbertos just opened up a new location in Bellmore too. It's on Bedford Avenue right near the train station. I love the NHP store but the one in Wantagh has been kinda disappointing, in my experience. Sometimes it's fantastic, other times it's just average. They always get the sicilian right, but it's a lot harder to mess up a sicilian pie... service could use some work too.
Great for Bellmore on getting an Umbertos. They just got an Arby's too. I never noticed much of a difference between the Wantagh & NHP bertos, but I'd probably agree that NHP is more consistent. I've never dined in at the Wantagh location so I'm not too familiar with the service.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sean sean sean sean
Nick's makes an excellent margaretha pizza... that's one of my favorite slices and it's tough to find a good one on LI, if you can find it at all. Pasquale's (also in Bellmore - right across the street from the new Umbertos!) is the only other place I know of that does them consistently well.
I also like Margherita pizza. I think the same is true with Grandma Pizza -- IMO, 9 out of 10 places don't get it right. Either too thick, not cooked enough, over-sauced, etc...the one place in the entire 516 and 631 that probably that makes Grandma pizza perfect is King Umbertos. Even The Original Umberto's doesn't come close.
As far as 'Rita slices/pies; the best two spots that I can think of that make this right, are Caprio's in Franklin Square (in a little corner nook location across from Boulder Creek) and suprisingly Buteras in Seaford -- Although either can be hit or miss. These are better eaten right away I think, because the olive oil they drizzle on will make it soggy if it sits too long.
Quote:
I do like Little Vincent's* - but I kind of agree with your take on it. I dunno if I could name 10 places in Nassau that are unquestionably better off the top of my head... however I definitely can't think of 10 places in Nassau that are worse. Maybe it's just harder to pick the standouts here in "The Lonesome West" of Long Island because we're accustomed to having much higher quality pizza overall. There are an ungodly number of pizzerias in the 516 and it's very rare to find one selling a substandard product. For instance, do you think Little Vincent's is significantly better than, say, Phil's Pizza on Hicksville Road? I'd say they're about the same... but no one would ever vote for Phil's on one of these type of lists**.
haha @ "The Lonesome West". Yeah man the 516 is loaded with good ones. The good thing is no matter where you are in Nassau, there's always one nearby and usually with delivery service. As far as bad pizzerias, it's very rare.. but I can think of two off the top of my head - Gigis in Massapequa and Marios in Seaford ... I honestly don't know how they stay in business. In fact, I don't think I've even ever seen a pizzeria go out of business before - maybe sputter along or change owners, but they very rarely fail. Even Hunki's Kosher Pizza in West Hempstead is ok. Now if we're talking the chains (Dominos, Papa Johns, Sbarros), the complete opposite is true .
I haven't tried all those spots on the list but if I had to name a few that were better (or at least as good) than Little Vincent's:
Better
- King Umberto - Elmont
- Umbertos (NHP & Wantagh)
- Ginos - Massapequa Park
- Village Pizzeria - Floral Park
- Grimaldis - GC
- Cuginis - Mineola
- Nicks - RVC
As good or better
-Phils II - Mass Park (Probably the same as Phils on Hicksville Rd, specialty slices only, regular & sicilian is just ok)
-La Piazza - Merrick
-Cinellis - multiple locations
-Marsala - Massapequa
-La BullBoxer31 - West Hempstead
-Caprio's - Franklin Sq - great Brick Oven
-Fra Amichi - Massapequa
-Ginos - Williston Park
I love how each of these has their own style too. You ever try Bravo pizzeria on Broadway in Massapequa? Totally feels like you stepped back into the 80's. It won't win any awards or anything but it's pretty decent. They make these fluffy garlic sticks too.
I think Little Vincent's would fall somewhere between La Piazza & Ginos in Williston Park. I never tried the two "Salvatore's" pizzerias nor Ancona's, so I can't comment on those.
Quote:
Now with all that being said, the only other name I'd like to toss out there is NINO'S in Oyster Bay. The ultimate hole-in-the-wall, unintentionally "retro" pizza parlor out there. Wood paneling floor to ceiling, 3 or 4 orange composite benches, soccer (in Italian) on TV constantly, faded maps of Sicily and pictures of saints that have probably been hanging on the walls since the place opened. Definitely one of my favorites, and it makes Ancona look like a flashy Manhattan restaurant... just one amongst the many great unsung pizza slingers.
*=They lose points for catering to those "cold cheese" buffoons
**=However, against all common sense and measures of taste - someone keeps voting for "Pappalardo's Pizza Cove". Does Steve Gutenberg have a friend at Newsday or something?
I actually never tried Pappalardo's until I saw this thread. I picked up a couple slices on the way home the other day and it really is nothing special at all. The sicilian was borderline awful to be honest. I don't get how they made it up there either.
As far as the "cold cheese" thing goes, I actually totally get that. There's something about fresh cold mozzarella MEETS hot bread. What they used to do where I worked back in the day was: they would take PIPING HOT garlic knots that just came out of the oven (basically warm rolls without the garlic mix on them), split them open, and stuff some cold mozzarella in them along with some meatball topping and pepperoni...Yowzers!
I know this is a tangent, but one of the things I noticed on Long Island is that more and more pizzerias are now run (maybe even owned) by non-Italians? Same with landscaping companies.
I forgot that Italians held a monopoly on landscaping. As far as Italians and pizza places go...what's to know. If you're a guy who works in a pizza place for a while, just like any other type of restaurant, it's pretty easy to remember the recipes and techniques.
Great for Bellmore on getting an Umbertos. They just got an Arby's too. I never noticed much of a difference between the Wantagh & NHP bertos, but I'd probably agree that NHP is more consistent. I've never dined in at the Wantagh location so I'm not too familiar with the service.
I also like Margherita pizza. I think the same is true with Grandma Pizza -- IMO, 9 out of 10 places don't get it right. Either too thick, not cooked enough, over-sauced, etc...the one place in the entire 516 and 631 that probably that makes Grandma pizza perfect is King Umbertos. Even The Original Umberto's doesn't come close.
As far as 'Rita slices/pies; the best two spots that I can think of that make this right, are Caprio's in Franklin Square (in a little corner nook location across from Boulder Creek) and suprisingly Buteras in Seaford -- Although either can be hit or miss. These are better eaten right away I think, because the olive oil they drizzle on will make it soggy if it sits too long.
haha @ "The Lonesome West". Yeah man the 516 is loaded with good ones. The good thing is no matter where you are in Nassau, there's always one nearby and usually with delivery service. As far as bad pizzerias, it's very rare.. but I can think of two off the top of my head - Gigis in Massapequa and Marios in Seaford ... I honestly don't know how they stay in business. In fact, I don't think I've even ever seen a pizzeria go out of business before - maybe sputter along or change owners, but they very rarely fail. Even Hunki's Kosher Pizza in West Hempstead is ok. Now if we're talking the chains (Dominos, Papa Johns, Sbarros), the complete opposite is true .
I haven't tried all those spots on the list but if I had to name a few that were better (or at least as good) than Little Vincent's:
Better
- King Umberto - Elmont
- Umbertos (NHP & Wantagh)
- Ginos - Massapequa Park
- Village Pizzeria - Floral Park
- Grimaldis - GC
- Cuginis - Mineola
- Nicks - RVC
As good or better
-Phils II - Mass Park (Probably the same as Phils on Hicksville Rd, specialty slices only, regular & sicilian is just ok)
-La Piazza - Merrick
-Cinellis - multiple locations
-Marsala - Massapequa
-La BullBoxer31 - West Hempstead
-Caprio's - Franklin Sq - great Brick Oven
-Fra Amichi - Massapequa
-Ginos - Williston Park
I love how each of these has their own style too. You ever try Bravo pizzeria on Broadway in Massapequa? Totally feels like you stepped back into the 80's. It won't win any awards or anything but it's pretty decent. They make these fluffy garlic sticks too.
I think Little Vincent's would fall somewhere between La Piazza & Ginos in Williston Park. I never tried the two "Salvatore's" pizzerias nor Ancona's, so I can't comment on those.
I actually never tried Pappalardo's until I saw this thread. I picked up a couple slices on the way home the other day and it really is nothing special at all. The sicilian was borderline awful to be honest. I don't get how they made it up there either.
As far as the "cold cheese" thing goes, I actually totally get that. There's something about fresh cold mozzarella MEETS hot bread. What they used to do where I worked back in the day was: they would take PIPING HOT garlic knots that just came out of the oven (basically warm rolls without the garlic mix on them), split them open, and stuff some cold mozzarella in them along with some meatball topping and pepperoni...Yowzers!
Ill definitely put Cugini in line with Lil Vins (maybe even at a slight advantage).
Another Nassau surpise treat that bears mention....Woodbury pizza(awesome Grandma and Pizza chips).
Be that as it may, theres only one true heavyweight champ of LI and it requires a trip to 112 to Collisseo.
Everything else is illusion..or a trip to Brooklyn. http://www.spumonigardens.com/home.html
As for cold cheese. Tinos in Oneonta, still the original, still the best.
Crooks.
Last edited by Crookhaven; 11-13-2011 at 10:51 AM..
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