Back in the day, or last semester, I came to Lombardi‘s with Suzie. Mouthfuls of melted cheese, sweet tomato sauce… it was good. But then Trevor and I went to Grimaldi‘s and we had a darn good margarita pie. Possibly even the best. Trevor at one point asked me which I thought was better- Lombardi’s or Grimaldi’s? I couldn’t decide. I didn’t think it was fair to judge a mushroom and sausage pie with a margarita. So obviously, I had to come back to Lombardi’s and try their plain pie (fine, we added sauteed spinach, but close enough). And who to better back with than the pizza man himself? [cough, Trevor]

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Margarita with sauteed garlic spinach.

The verdict: Good, but not good enough. Grimaldi’s wins with the cheese although we both agreed that Lombardi’s has a better/sweeter tasting tomato sauce. But when it comes down to it, the cheese is the kicker. At Grimaldi’s, the cheese coated the pie in large chunks, allowing spotfuls of tomato sauce to peak through. Here’s the funny part. I could have sworn that the Grimaldi’s pie had more cheese because the cheese was the one thing  that Trevor and I distinctly remembered. But when I went back to look at the pictures, there was actually less! So I can only conclude that where there was cheese, it was deep and piled on because I remember moments when I just couldn’t stop the string of cheese from growing after a bite. But at Lombardi’s, the cheese is melted thinly, and we could not relish watching the a long string of cheese break when a slice was lifted up high.

For the price conscious, the winner also goes to Grimaldi’s.  A large there runs at $14 whereas at Lombardi’s it’s $19.95 (no toppings)!

Now, I wouldn’t go as far to say that Grimaldi’s is completely 100% better. They’re both fantastic, but when you have to make a choice… Although given the distance, I may choose the tomato sauce over the cheese.

Lombardi’s MENU
32 Spring St.
New York, NY 10012
Near. Mott St.  See Map | Subway Directions
212-941-7994 Send to Phone

Grimaldi’s MENU
19 Old Fulton St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Near Front St.  See Map | Subway Directions
718-858-4300
Takeout Available, NO SLICE PIZZAS!!!

You should also check out:

• The Great GoogaMooga | Prospect Park, Brooklyn
• An interview with Terry Chen of “Filled with Sweets”
• Co. Pizza
• Crif Dogs (take 2)- best hot dogs ever
• Saturday brunch at Locanda Verde

(That’s right Mike, NO SLICED PIZZA!)

After the Chinatown food tour last Friday, Trevor and I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and headed over to Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, so yay for my first post outside of Manhattan! I kept on flip-flopping between going and not because, well, I was full after the food tour! But we were already in the area and it was just a bridge away. And, not to mention, it was gorgeous outside! So, I gave in, and we set out thinking that we could just get a slice and come back. Apparently, Mike had told Trevor that they definitely sold sliced pizza.

(Coal AND Brick??)

So we get there and there’s a small line out the door. We’re about to walk in when we’re met by this giant sign on the front door saying, “NO SLICE PIZZA!” But, to Mike’s credit they used to sell sliced pizza. Um yeah, not anymore.

We waited for about 5 minutes before we got seated, which was around 5:50pm ish (I think?). After we ordered, we then waited about 45 MINUTES FOR OUR PIZZA TO COME OUT! They “refresh” their ovens everyday sometime between 4-6pm and we just happened to arrive at the right time.

Okay, so before I talk about the pizza, I want to talk about why I make the trek across the bridge and into the forbidden territory as Gossip Girl would call it (in reality, Brooklyn has some of the best restaurants!). Besides this infamous cupcake war that we’ve all become familiar with, there’s also this sort of pizza war in NYC. Every other pizzeria advertises themselves as the “best pizzeria” in NYC, but when it comes down to it, there’s only several few that always make it to the top and Grimaldi’s is one of them. But Trevor would have you know that Grimaldi’s tops the charts and that it is indeed worth the trek. I do hope he makes it one of his stops along his pizza tour.

Beyond being really really REALLY delicious, Grimaldi’s is also really really cheap. We ordered a large plain (Margarita) which was only $14!! The smaller pie goes for $12, but come on, splurge on the extra $2 and you’ll get an extra 2 inches on each slice! If you want toppings, they’re each anywhere from $2-$4. Definitely a better deal than Lombardi‘s $17.50 large pie (which really doesn’t seem all that large actually). Unfortunately, I can’t say which is better since I had toppings on the Lombardi pie. But, I do agree with Trevor. That was indeed a yummy pie. The sauce is pleasantly sweet and the pizza has less cheese yet more bang to each piece of oozing cheese. Man, I feel less guilty already for what I’m about to say next…

In fact, it was so yummy that instead of bringing back most of it as we had originally planned, we um… polished off the whole thing. At least Trevor had 5 slices. Still, I guess 3 slices is a bit epic especially at this size. I think our Portuguese tourist neighbors at the table next to us were like, “What the heck?Are they actually finishing all that?!”

(ALLL GONEEE!)

And by the time we got out, look at that line! That’s crazy!!!

MENU
19 Old Fulton St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Near Front St.  See Map | Subway Directions
718-858-4300
Takeout Available, NO SLICE PIZZAS!!!

You should also check out:

• The Great GoogaMooga | Prospect Park, Brooklyn
• An interview with Terry Chen of “Filled with Sweets”
• Co. Pizza
• Crif Dogs (take 2)- best hot dogs ever
• Saturday brunch at Locanda Verde