NY style pizza recommendations (Orlando, Sanford: airport, beach, eat)

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by InterestingArm3750

Maybe this was my issue. I went to Del Dio’s and Tomasino’s last night because of your post and was sorely disappointed, although I only had a slice from each. If this is as close to NY pizza as it gets, then I’ll just stick with Gitto’s downtown or even Josie’s Pizza in metro west.

Have you tried NYPD Pizza?

[InterestingArm3750]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Have you tried NYPD Pizza?

Isn’t that a chain?

[tonyp22]

Originally Posted by kyle19125

Have you tried NYPD Pizza?

I tried the one off Marsh Road in WG. Pretty blah.

[kyle19125]

Originally Posted by InterestingArm3750

Isn’t that a chain?

Yes, individually franchised. The one in Philly was awesome.

[bmw335xi]

I’m not sure if it’s NY style, but Lazy Moon Pizza is good.

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by InterestingArm3750

Maybe this was my issue. I went to Del Dio’s and Tomasino’s last night because of your post and was sorely disappointed, although I only had a slice from each. If this is as close to NY pizza as it gets, then I’ll just stick with Gitto’s downtown or even Josie’s Pizza in metro west.

Are you able to elaborate on what it was you didn't like? Also, what's your frame of reference in NYC?

[InterestingArm3750]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

Are you able to elaborate on what it was you didn't like? Also, what's your frame of reference in NYC?

Hard to describe but I thought it was just alright. I got an entire pie on Saturday and ate it fresh but still wasn’t impressed. It was def better than Tomasino though. That was meh at best.

I used to live in Connecticut and I spent a couple weekends each month in Brooklyn so I’ve had actual NY pizza and though I didn’t expect anything in Orlando to equate, I was just disappointed with Del Dio’s and Tomasino. I think Gitto’s pizza is a lot closer to NY pizza. It has more flavor, a little more cheese, and just overall tastes better.

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by InterestingArm3750

Hard to describe but I thought it was just alright. I got an entire pie on Saturday and ate it fresh but still wasn’t impressed. It was def better than Tomasino though. That was meh at best.

I used to live in Connecticut and I spent a couple weekends each month in Brooklyn so I’ve had actual NY pizza and though I didn’t expect anything in Orlando to equate, I was just disappointed with Del Dio’s and Tomasino. I think Gitto’s pizza is a lot closer to NY pizza. It has more flavor, a little more cheese, and just overall tastes better.

I've never done Gitto's. I've seen it, it looks legit. I'll see if I can get there later today. My grandparents owned an Italian restaurant (typical NJ pizza & pasta with limited seating) and I worked at a different pizza place on the other side of town (they had already retired). I can usually tell by looking if it's worth trying so I won't drive all the way out to Josie's because looking at it, the cheese is like 90% mozz (if I'm wrong let me know).

Connecticut? You guys are supposed to be all about your apizza. My mom's aunt lived in Madison. We always used to stop for pizza on the drive home. New Haven style is really close to the thin crust we have in NJ from (locally famous) places like The Brothers, Vic's, or Carmen's

[tonyp22]

Originally Posted by drive carephilly

Connecticut? You guys are supposed to be all about your apizza. My mom's aunt lived in Madison. We always used to stop for pizza on the drive home. New Haven style is really close to the thin crust we have in NJ from (locally famous) places like The Brothers, Vic's, or Carmen's

Frank Pepe’s, baby!

[drive carephilly]

Originally Posted by InterestingArm3750

I think Gitto’s pizza is a lot closer to NY pizza. It has more flavor, a little more cheese, and just overall tastes better.

Just got back from Gitto's with my little helper. The kid said, "remember that pizza place we used to go to in CA? The one right next to the market? Yeah, this pizza reminds me of that."

And that's not a bad way of describing it - "good for California." I would say, "yeah, If I'm down here drunk hungry then this is the best pizza in the world. If I'm here at 3 in the afternoon, sober, with a modest appetite then, meh."

So, my observations on our Gitto's slices: The pies are big so the slices are big - they have that in common with your typical NY slice joint and I think the aesthetics are where the similarities end. Don't get me wrong, it's easy to find a mediocre slice in NYC but

The crust was strangely underdone for having gone back in the oven to be reheated. Lots of slice joints undercook on purpose so you get a good slice after it's been reheated but dude had it in the oven for a solid 5 and it was still doughy. It wasn't bad and it's better than a lot of places. It's just not the foundation for a well crafted pie. The bottom of the crust was nice and crisp with the right amount of charring so I'm going to guess that they're underproofing their dough. I saw them cutting dough while we were there so they're definitely making it (probably getting it delivered) in mass quantities which would explain the underproofing.

The sauce was fine even if it was a little difficult to suss out under all the cheese. Maybe it was lightly seasoned but again, it was drowned out by the cheese so I was just looking for the acidity/sweetness. With the volume they're doing I doubt they're making their own sauce anyway.

The cheese was the most disappointing part. It tasted like a 90/10 mix of mozz and something really bland like Colby maybe? I don't know, it would take me another slice or two to figure out. There was definitely too much cheese. A good slice should look like this - https://assets.bonappetit.com/photos...lice-crimp.jpg where the cheese and sauce melt together and you get the mottled look. If there's a lid of cheese and you can't see the sauce there's too much cheese on it. A good cheese mix should be like 80/10/10 mozz/provolone/pecorino or 70/20/10. If you're going for the quattro formaggi you might go as low as 50 or 60 on your mozz. None of them are wrong -and people swap out out the pecorino romano for parm or even asiago all the time. It's just for a traditional NY pie with flavor you're going for some 3 cheese ratio and all of those cheeses should have origins in Italy.

I get it - my nephew swears by Domino's. Doesn't like any other kind of pizza. You like what you like. But it's not just me being idiosyncratic. Some places develop great reputations because they have a good product and a lot of those places have things in common. I was in Philly a few weeks ago and went to this place - Alice – Pizza Online - for a roman pie and loved it so much I ordered another one a few days later. It doesn't taste at all like like a NY pie but what makes both of them good is the same.


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