Don't Be a Pedestrian (When Walking into a Dump Pizza Joint Like This)
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Walked into this real dinky, hole in the wall in the heart of Valencia and thought to myself "now this is what I like to see!" Picture this, just enough from for two three stool sized bar tables and the pizza kitchen with it's ovens. One young man with tattoos and baseball cap serving the already made slices and an older man making more pizza in the background. I get to this dump and allow a yuppie couple to go ahead of me, as I am unsure how much pizza I want just yet. The female in the yuppie couple asks them for Canadian bacon... they both seem disgusted with her, which I appreciated. After awhile the older man abrasively said to her "have you had the pizza here before?" no. "then just have the cheese." The woman, intimidated and embarrassed by her pedestrian interest in pizza obliged. So after seeing his passion and confidence in his pies, I come up to bat, a real pizza snob. I shared a slice of thin and a slice of Sicilian with my girlfriend. Yeah, it was alright pizza... I mean, I've had better. I think that Sbarros (in most malls in America and gas stops) has just as good thin pizza. Not that is even bad, I'd rather have Sbarros than most places people rave about (ex: Blondies, Escape from NY). Yeah Arinell was pretty good I guess, maybe if I had a freshly prepared pie my opinion would differ. Arinell mops the floor with most pizza in San Francisco... not Nizarrio's. Nizarrio's is only better because their pies that sit out still taste fresh. So, as much as the aesthetic of this place is to grab a slice and jet... I recommend having a pie prepared for you. I plan on that in the future. Overall, I highly recommend this place because it is the best example of a purists New York style pizza. I think the whole flock of people with no idea how pizza is should at least go here for a reality check, like that one pedestrian couple.
Pros: Real passionate pizza makers, best example in the city of real street style pizza, scicilian pie available too!
Cons: the slices weren't that fresh as they were sitting out all day, so I unfortunately I did not get the full wiff of how good these slices really could be fresh out of the oven