Best Pizza by the Slice?

you made me crazy reading about your pizza adventures…gotta get over to Romanista!

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the grandma & Sicilian at Prime are my go to choices lately!

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The Roman pie at ZeroZero39 Pizzeria is very good.

Good calzone, too.

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Glad I could help :slight_smile:

Yeah, Il Romanista has gotta be my next stop. Sure wish they were open on Sunday, I’d love to do an Il Romanista/Triple Beam doubleheader.

Yeah, that grandma slice was really good. I’m going to try that Sicilian next time and compare to what I just had at Village.

I like this authentic calzone (sounds delicious, though)

“HANGOVER: Pastrami, corn [sic] beef, swiss cheese, salami, fresh mozzarella”

Pizza does look good.

I couldn’t believe my eyes when Google maps estimated my drive from Venice to Il Romanista was only 22 minutes last Friday at rush hour. It’s normally more than twice that at this time. Done deal.

Swung by (in about 22 minutes of technological accuracy) at around 1700 to find a decent remnant selection and only a couple of tables of customers. A few customers arrived after me with similar intentions of grabbing to go.

In case you’ve never been, the owner is a relatively young man who, while having all-American looks, is amazingly fluent in Italian. I waved a customer to go ahead of me. He was definitely European. The next thing I hear is the two exchanging Italian pleasantries like two paesanos, then transitioning the conversation to the business of ordering. Conversational Italian is not often heard in these parts so I was surprised and impressed.

With a hoard of hungry mouths to feed at home, I had “20 slices to go” on my mind. The owner gladly put together and baked two more pies to help fulfill my order. I was surprised how fast the process took from start to finish - maybe 10 minutes? On top of that, he gave me a generous discount AND added in a couple of slices. Roman Holiday.

While the toppings are quite varied and enjoyable, it’s the body of the pizza - the crust - that will linger in your mind. It is so crispy on the bottom, while light, airy and flavorful throughout. The slices warm up well in a standard oven. The owner explains and writes down the simple essential instructions for heating up at home. If you don’t have a pizza stone, don’t fret- a cookie sheet works fine (after all, the pizzas are baked in a similar pan).

Talking with the owner, I asked that while his place was relatively new, if he had future plans of opening another shop in the Westside. He said he’d love to - he mentioned that he actually lives in the Westside. “But the real estate…”

While I concurred, “but at the same time, you know there’s a serious growing popularity for this style of pizza, and you’re pretty much at the top of the game. You’d kill it no matter where you opened shop there.”

“Yeah, but it’s the real estate…”

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Does anyone know what the parking rules are at that complex Il Romanista is in? Can you park anywhere or just in the area right by the restaurant? The parking situation gets a little tight around lunchtime on a weekday.

And now another exciting episode of

Gr8Pimpin’s Sunday Pizza Bang Bang!!!
(Though each week Prime seems to be one of the places.)

So remembering the words of he who I shall affectionately refer to as The Devil (because I was going to be a good boy this weekend but his words resonated):

So, off I went to Prime. They did not have the Sicilian pie available so I got a grandma slice …

AND a regular slice:

I wish I had never given this place a second chance. Because this is not good for us calorie-challenged people.

The grandma slice has crispy edges and a slightly crispy bottom (maybe they cheese the back like a Detroit Pie?) it’s a little more garlicky and definitely more cheesy. Damn I hate them for making something so delicious.

The regular pepperoni slice was as good as ever. I know I’ve said it before but this is definitely my favorite by the slice pie. And in this part of town it’s my favorite New York style Pizza. Second only to Grimaldi’s.

On my way home, I remembered that King of New York KONY opened up in Westwood. So I decided to give that a shot. I was lucky and got a metered spot right out front.

I ordered a pepperoni slice and they didn’t have any. And a meat lovers, again didn’t have it. The only type that wasn’t buffalo chicken or barbecue chicken, was their “house supreme”.

The gentleman behind the counter was so nice he refused to charge me despite be begging him to take the money, because he felt so bad that he didn’t have a pepperoni slice. And as he was boxing up the house supreme, a fresh meat lovers came out so he gave me a slice of that, though I insisted I pay and I Iet him keep the change. GREAT SERVICE!!

Too bad that the service can’t counter the pizza. Their slogan “Our Crust Is A Must” should be more accurately “Our Crust is Sawdust”. God I hate to say this because he was SO, SO nice!!!


The House Supreme

The crust reminded me kind of Digiorno or Freschetta. Crispy crunchy, but with a crumb like compressed French bread. The sauce was very strong of oregano.

I love the service!!! I feel awful that I totally did not like the pizza.

PRIME IS AGAIN THIS WEEK’S WINNER!

Time for my weekly purge.

(Voice to text again excuse any typos or grammar errors)

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yeah Gr8pimpin, I know what you mean about Prime! and I owe ya one…Westwood is my neck of the woods and I’ve been meaning to try KONY pizza but glad I saw your post…ive been in that position…trying a recently opened slice by really nice people and then the unavoidable disappointment…I hate a shitty crust and it seems like your words are quite definitive!

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Hey, we were that family of four sitting at the table by the counter when you came in! As for the pizza, I agree with you. The crust had a good char but was definitely too bread-like and stiff. It cracked when I tried folding a slice.

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Glad to save you the trouble. This was my least favorite of any place I have been.

Lamonica’s YEARS ago was not bad (they claimed how they used to bring in the water from NYC - that stopped after 9/11 and they started bringing in the dough from NYC), but I tried it again a couple of years ago and it was not nearly as good. Is that still the case?

Oh, yeah, hey!

Glad your assessment backs up mine. I was worried I was being too critical after having such a fantastic couple slices at Prime, and because I was judging on a full stomach. I had a few bites of each, then just plucked off the meat (can’t waste meat!) and tossed them.

Groundbreaking news - DJ Steve Aoki is opening up a pizza thing. The cake pizza will be his signature dish.

Yay. EDM DJ son of Benihana founder is gonna make pizza. What could go wrong?

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FTC meetup?

While making the pizza he flips a pepperoni onto his hat.

No thanks I don’t trust this family. They ruined teppanyaki, they ruined music, everything they touch goes bad.

I wouldn’t call EDM producers “DJ’s”. They killed the DJ. Press some buttons!!

To be fair Aoki has been in the game since the vinyl days…guy has paid his dues.

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Terrific.

I’ve always wondered what vinyl crusts taste like.

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Bad teppanyaki.

My guess would’ve been Fruit Roll-Ups

Lamonica’s still sux!..put the pizzas on metal screens…I hate that

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