A Tour of Italy, first stop at Lombardi’s Pizzeria

It’s a terrible shame that we take pizza for granted. Low class pizza is regarded as a cheap way to feed the mass. Clubs at Stern can get 15 pies for around $100. That’s epically cheap.

But then you have el gourmet pizza, high class society. And when crem de la crem meets the wallet, it turns into a moderately expensive meal. Our lunch for 2 at Lombardi’s came to the tune of $37 (including tip).

Lombardi’s is the first pizzeria in New York City. On Saturday mornings, there are heaps of people piling through the door even at 11:30am. I’ve never seen such passion for pizza amongst these lazy New Yorkers who generally like to sleep in on the weekends.

But no doubt is Lombardi’s pizza good. Expect to shell out some money especially if you’re looking for toppings. Suzie (my Little!) and I wanted to split a small pie and get an appetizer. We chose the Bruschetta, thinking that fresh ingredients would make this common appetizer a bit more meaningful, but to be honest, it was like every other bruschetta I’ve eaten. It’s not bad, but it’s not fantastically great.

Each small pie (6 slices) is $14.95. A large pie is 8 slices and runs at $19.95 a pop. But then, there’s the topping. Here’s the pricing chart for that:

1 topping = $3
2 toppings =$5
3 toppings = $6
4 toppings = $7
5 toppings = $8

And here is a list of toppings:

Citterio Pancetta
Rosa Grande Pepperoni
Italian Sweet Sausage
Imported Anchovies
Sauteed Garlic Spinach
Roasted Red Peppers
Wild Fresh Mushrooms
Sliced Tomato
Extra Pecorino Cheese
Calamata Olives
Extra San Marzano Tomato Sauce
Red Onions

Your observation skills should tell you that we choose the wild fresh mushrooms with the Italian sausages. I had expected those round chunks of sausages that you generally get. Instead, we got thinly sliced mushrooms, which were just as good and sweet as described. It was a great combination, the mushroom and sausage. I’d get it again.

However, some problems that I had:

The first bite didn’t have that satisfying crunch! Actually, I don’t think I had a satisfying crunch in any of the bites. It was probably all of the toppings that weighed heavily on the pizza. Towards the end, the parts near the center were almost, I want to say, soggy, because the pizza dough was struggling to hold the weight of the toppings.
The crust was great, but not crunchy. Maybe it’s just me, but I love a pizza with crunch

But here are some good notes:

It’s ginormous. No, this isn’t a small, it’s a large in non-American restaurants
I really loved how sweet and tangy the tomato sauce was. None of that commercial canned stuff.
The toppings are really good. If this was a contest between the toppings and the pizza dough, the toppings win. The flavors came beautifully together and it was a great tasting pizza.

I think I still need to try out Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn just to see how it compares with Lombardi’s. Even though I had a great lunch experience, despite the lack of crunch, I think that I enjoyed Patsy’s pizza on University Place alot better. Their pizza is thinner and with lighter toppings, making it irresistibly crunchy.

But either way, this place is a must go, just for its historic significance. It was the first pizzeria in New York City after all.