A Slice of New York: Lazzara’s Pizza Cafe
I picked up the Lazzara’s tip from a dedicated pizza article in Time Out New York and decided to give it a whirl. So after work on Thursday, the Last NYC Hero and I got on the 1 train and headed up to 38th street and 7th avenue to enjoy some delicious pizza. I couldn’t have been happier with the results!
The Pizza: 7
This particular restaurant (and it is an actual sit-down restaurant btw) doesn’t make pizza by the slice, so Malcolm and I ended up deciding on the Lazzara’s Special pie. This means that I didn’t get to try a pure, unadulterated slice of cheese pizza, but I can infer from the pie we did get that this place has a pretty solid slice. The pizza itself is square and comes with six slices, each with a flavorful, flaky, even crackery crust, a slightly salty sauce, and an individual square of mozzarella baked onto each slice. Altogether, the basics make for what I’d imagine to be a very good cheese pizza.
The Toppings: 10
I’d easily say this place has the best toppings I’ve tasted out of all the places I’ve been thus far. The special pie we ordered came with a perfect combination of prosciutto, sun-dried tomatoes, and black olives. It’s a salty slice to be sure, but if you’re down with that, then this pizza is going to be one of the best you’ve tasted. Seriously.
Other: 7
This place may be famous for its pizza (the pizza section dominates half the menu) but it’s a full-blown Italian restaurant with white table clothes and great service. The only potential drawback is that you have to buy a full pie, but the plain pie is reasonably priced (around $10) and while the specialty pies are more expensive, they’re still reasonable for the ingredients and are WELL worth it.
The Bottom Line
I have to say that the pizza I had at Lazzara’s easily ranks in my top 5, and I’ve had quite a few pizza’s in my day. It was an $18 pie, so it wasn’t cheap, but this basically would have covered the cost of the three premium ingredients on it at any other pizza place anyway. Unlike at other pizza places however, after splitting the Lazzara’s Special with Malcolm, I was so pleased that I was actually considering getting another half-pie! It’s probably a good thing that Malcolm dissuaded me from the indulgence, but the fact remains that I can’t recommend this place highly enough. Even though it’s out of the way for me, I can see myself going back for this amazing pizza again in the near future.