Alright, I finally made it to Grimaldi's, on a week day to avoid the mass of tourists and New Yorkers who want to have a piece of the most famous pie in New York.
It was probably a smart move as we showed up few minutes before opening time and there was already a line. Tourists for sure, from France, Germany or Japan, as well as a pizza tour.
This place is impressive, located right under the Brooklyn bridge, it is an old Bank building. But it is not the original location: it was originally at 19 Old Fulton, few steps from it, where now sits another pizza place, Juliana's, opened by the original owner of Grimaldi's, Patsy Grimaldi himself. Yes, because Grimaldi's was sold by Patsy in 1998 to Frank Ciolli as Patsy wanted to retire. Few years later, Frank Ciolli had to find a new place, his landlord refusing to renew the lease because, allegedly, of problems with rent and city taxes. Hence the new location. Few years later, regretting selling, Patsy decided to do a come back, opening Juliana's where Grimaldi's was first open. Needless to say that it started a feud between the two owners, that I am not sure is settled today.
We got seated pretty fast, in one of the tables on the left after entering the restaurant.
There, you cannot order a slice and have to pay cash. So, we looked at the menu and considered the many toppings they propose. We went for a small pizza (6 slices) with mushrooms, ricotta and meatballs.
After a short wait, our pizza arrived. Ok, let say that it is 6 large slices...
Not only it looked appetizing, but it smelled fantastic, freshly cooked in the coal oven.
I truly appreciated that they put a lot of the toppings we ordered (especially the ricotta and meatballs) and did not simple drizzle few of it. The crust was nicely charred, with a delicious crispness on the outside. The tomato sauce, that I believe is cooked in advance, had a wonderful taste and it was great that they put a reasonable amount of it on the pie.
This was a succulent pizza, the crust, cooked in the coal oven, being incredibly good. I understand now why Grimaldi's is considered one of the best in the US.
Enjoy (I did)!
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And Remember: I Just Want To Eat!
