Pizza Perfection

Happy New Year! As I walked to work this morning (yes...I have work today), it occurred to me what my New Year's resolution should be -- to update Miss Menu more often than every 6 weeks. I always say how I want to grow my site, but that's only happening if I keep posting. So, without further ado...the first post of 2009!

My brother came to visit a few weeks ago, and he is even more of foodie than I am. So, in his short time here, we had to be sure to make sure each restaurant choice was the best possible. He said he wanted to have really good pizza, and I thought of Lombardi's that I had just walked by recently. Can't believe that in the 5+ years I've been in NYC, I've never eaten there!

We went for lunch in hopes of avoiding a long wait, and lucky for us, we were seated right away. We were lead through the main restaurant, past the coal-burning ovens, into the new room that was recently added on. It still had the exposed brick walls, tiled floors and vintage posters, but it was missing that old school feeling that the main room had.


In some of the online reviews that my brother had read, a lot of people raved about the Caesar salad. I love a good Caesar, but do think they can be pretty boring. You know it's really plain when the menu lists the croutons as one of the ingredients! We ended up getting it, and even though it was essentially a big bowl of lettuce, it was pretty good. The dressing had a great flavor and wasn't too fishy the way some are from the anchovies.


Now onto the main event...the pizza! There's a long list of interesting toppings that can be added onto the pizzas, different than the standards at any ol' pizzeria...garlic sauteed spinach, homemade meatballs, and coal over roasted red peppers to name a few. We went with the standard pizza because sometimes it's just not worth messing with perfection. The pizza arrived, and looked and smelled heavenly.

Everything was in the right proportions...perfect cheese to sauce to crust ratio. They use a San Marzano sauce that is a little sweet. In addition to the fresh mozzarella, they also added on a little Romano cheese and fresh basil. The crust was nice and crispy, but without being too crunchy. The pizza was pretty simple, but there so many distinct flavors that all came together fantastically.
I'm not usually to say that something is the best I've ever had...but my brother had no problem saying this was the best pizza he had ever had. I found it hard to disagree!!

A few tips - 1) They serve RC Cola products and don't have free refills. As much as I love a good soda with my pizza, I stuck with water. RC Cola?! Didn't know any restaurants had that! 2) Lombardi's takes reservations for lunch and dinner Monday through Thursday, and that's when I'd recommend going. Big crowds of tourists standing in a cramped waiting area is not my idea of a good time!

Lombardi's
32 Spring Street
@ Mott Street
website
Menu Pages listing