NYC! Day 2: Grimaldi’s Pizzeria

08.19.11 

What? Grimaldi’s for pizza

Where? 19 Old Fulton St (Brooklyn, New York)

Price? $10-$20

The skinny: Voted “Best Pizza” in NYC by Zagat multiple times, you can’t help but be curious as to this magical pizza. The coal-fired oven was built by hand and it churns out some pretty amazing pies every day. You can’t go wrong with freshly made dough and fresh mozzarella delivered daily. No credit cards, no reservations, no slices, no delivery. Be prepared to wait.

Just realized I forgot to post this up before moving onto NYC Day 3. Oops. 

Here’s a photo of Grimaldi’s when we first passed it after Jacques Torres. We mentally bookmarked it for later on when we’d return for dinner. The line was around 30 people long. Yep, not the best way to spend your time…waiting rather than exploring. Or eating. D:

After we dropped by Eataly back in Manhattan, we decided it was time to return one more time to Brooklyn for dinner. On the left is us as we were walking to the subway station. Check out those ominous clouds. A minute later it got real dark. Seconds after that: WHOSHHH!! It was pouring buckets. And we had to take refuge under some scaffolding. 

Eventually, we waited out the worst of the storm, which lasted a good half hour. By the time we were back at Grimaldi’s it was past 8. Then we waited in line until almost 9 to get in. Good thing we weren’t famished!

Here’s what it looks like inside. Old-school, pictures on the walls, and you’ve got your white-red checkered tablecloths. It’s nice. Not loving how we were seated right under the A/C though…more on that in a sec.

The menu is very straightforward. You have the choice of pizza or calzone. Then you choose the size and then your toppings. If you go crazy with the toppings, it’ll add up quickly so check yourself! ;)

No worries, the menu is online! (check their site)

 

The guys are churning out pies and calzones nonstop so to be as efficient as possible, they’ve got a sort of assembly line going on. One guy stretches and preps the dough. The other two fill out the orders by first slapping on slices of fresh mozzarella then the ordered toppings. Tomato sauce made from San Marzano tomatoes then it’s off to the oven (which is operated by another guy wielding a huge peel). 

If I remember correctly, we ordered a Large Regular Pizza ($16) with additional toppings of “oven-roasted sweet red peppers” ($4) and ricotta cheese ($2). It looked pretty glorious, arriving at our table all fresh and hot from the oven. Mmmmmm. 

Elyn looking all pretty...when in reality she's ready to pounce on the pizza like the rest of us haha

 

It was great. You can taste the clean freshness of the tomatoes, ricotta and mozzarella. The really unfortunate part is the a/c. With it on, blowing right onto us, it cooled down the pizza so quickly that it was cold after several minutes. It kinda killed it for me. :(

 

For dessert, we saw the table beside us order one, so we decided to try Grimaldi’s Homemade Cannoli ($5). It was…not very impressive. I was expecting a sweet savoury creamy cheesy filling piped into a fried shell. Instead, it tasted like whipped cream. Nothing special. 

Verdict? Be careful where they seat you! It can potentially make or break your experience! The pizzas I gotta admit, are damn good but if it’s cold, then it no longer shines. The coal brick oven really makes it. :D

Check ‘em out! http://www.grimaldis.com/

3.5 out of 5 NOMs

nomnomnomnoh