Pizza

Confession: about once a year I have an urge to do the unspeakable and order Domino's. One of those pan pizzas. It does things to me, and afterward I feel ashamed of myself because I'm a New Yorker and ought to have better standards regarding "real" NY pizza.

Ahahahahah! That's awesome. I will not judge you.

I don't know where to get good pizza in NYC. I tend to get Famiglia's Pizza (pronounced Fa-MIG-lee-uhs, natch) because it's near my house, but I do it so rarely that I think of it as a junk food night, not a special treat...

Well, Uraniumfish, I am considered by others a New Yorker, but I eat where I want to eat and eat the kind of foods I want. I don't go for foods because they may be famous New York joints. I don't buy into the hype of NYC. I just go to where the food is cheapest and taste good.

As such, I will not condemn you for your choice. What you eat and where you eat is your decision and your decision only.

So I'll just say it for the umpteenth time: I do like the famous Lombardi's pizza, though I hate waiting in line and when faced with a wait of more than 25 minutes, which is more often than not, I tend to pass and go elsewhere.

I love Pizza.. but especially like the thin crust varieties that you get at places like Accademia de Vino(http://www.accademiadivino.com/) and Vezzo(http://www.vezzothincrust.com/) come to think of it even Domino's does a decent thin crust pizza.. uraniumfish even I have ordered it especially on nights when I dont want to cook/ go out...

I dislike Lombardi's. I don't get the place. You wait in line forever for something that tastes the same as something you can get down the street is a hole in the wall.

Don't you just hate waiting in long lines to get something that wasn't worth the wait. I know I hate that. This is why I choose my spots and eat out only when the occasion warrants it.

@hhusted I once stood in line for a while at Shake Shack on the UWS because I had an intense craving for a burger but the line was sooo long that I just dropped the idea and walked across to Isabella's for a late brunch. Haven't stood anywhere in line since. I tend to avoid the trendy, hipster places which seem to perennially have long lines in front of them for that reason I hardly ever go down to the Meatpacking district restaurants.

Although the Meatpacking district is a total nightmare with very few restaurants warranting the crowds, I doubt a hipster would be caught dead anywhere near that area. The few hipster friends that I have tend to regard that place as if it's the plague.

I don't think I've ever been to any of the New York Pizza hotspots. I honestly feel like they are all a little touristy, especially Lombardi's. I'm curious about Grimaldi's, perhaps even more so now after hearing it's not so amazing after all. And I too, have had Domino's recently...and liked it. But it's less like eating pizza and more like splurging on McDonald's.

I still can't get enough of Anna Maria's, especially after a night of bar hopping in Williamsburg.

Elegante Pizza, 6922 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge

Since Bay Ridge has a ton of Italians, you can bet the pizza is really old-school around the neighborhood in general.
Here's a Bay Ridge blog about pizza:

http://bayridgebrooklyn.blogspot.com/2005/09/bay-ridge-pizza-hall-of-fame.html

@JenMac I agree that most of the Meatpacking district seems to have gone to bridge and tunnel way but spots like Bagatelle and the Gansevoort roof top bar still manage to attract enough of a 'crowd'.

Seems like a lot of little hole-in-the-wall pizza joints can be amazing, but then there are the variety that use canned mushrooms - you know the kind of nasty pizza I mean. You can spot the nasty kinds right away by the look of the pizza they have in the display cases, but otherwise, the pizza you get in New York is consistently high.

I had pizza at this restaurant once. I can't recall the place now, but I will tell you one thing. The pizza stunk (not literally). Whatever they used on the pizza did not taste very good. I ended up eating only about two or three bites and threw the rest in the trash.

@JenMac @uptowngirl I think Meatpacking tends to attract the uber-fashionista crowd, which is separate completely from the world of hipsters. And you're right, uptowngirl, it also has that B&T feel, but I think any neighborhood that was once the height of trendiness eventually gets taken over by button down collared shirt types with too much gel in their hair.

@Uraniumfish I love love love mushrooms, but hate hate hate them from a can! That is actually how I discern good pizza from the bad - just look to see who uses fresh toppings, and you can bet that the rest of the pizza is well made too.

@Everybody So is the concensus that the Meatpacking District is now "over" ?

Ha... Which neighborhoods aren't "over"?

Meatpacking is just a different crowd. It's all Euros and Jersey people. Bagatelle is crazy on the weekends . . but, all Euros. Some spots (The Standard, SL, and Gansevoort) still attract a celebrity kind of crowd . . .but, it tends to not last for long in that area.

Meatpacking just seems like a place that would attract the Euros. And Jersey people just stream into any neighborhood that was once cool.

@everybody don't think the Upper East Side was ever 'cool'... a bit too conservative too be cooool.

@uptowngirl You're lucky then... you don't ever have to talk about how lame your neighborhood has become, as it never fills up with the Jersey crowd.

@uptowngirl Definitely. I live in Bushwick, and most of my friends live in Williamsburg or Clinton Hill area - two neighborhoods that are insanely close, especially the former - and no one ever wants to visit me. They seem to think their neighborhoods are more fun or something. Pffft.

@Uptowngirl: I really don't have any problem going places. If I have to be somewhere by a certain time, I'll go no matter what. And you are right. Manhattan is really quite small compared to other cities. I can get from the lower tip of Manhattan to the upper tip in about 15 minutes, if I have a fast cab and very little cars on the road.

Is it me or do New Yorkers not really do a lot of apartment visiting? Can we talk about this? The majority of my social life happens in public spaces: bars, restaurants, clubs, where I'll meet friends. Much more rarely does it seem like an adequate evening of socializing can just be hanging around the apartment chatting.

@Uraniumfish: The primary reason, as ajdadedidealist pointed out, is that apartments in Manhattan are just too small to accommodate many people. The only exception are the co-ops or townhouses. I've been to them during Christmas and New Year parties, and they are big and spacious. But for the majority of the apartments, they are just too small.

I also wanted to make an additional comment. I remember talking to a client about three or four months ago about apartments in NYC. He lives on the West Coast. He used to live in NYC but relocated to Oakland because of his job.

He told me that when he lived in the city, he hardly ever invited anyone over for any reason. He said when he came home from work, all he wanted to do was crash and not be bothered with anyone. Maybe there are a lot of people who feel the same way. I am just assuming this of course.

Anyone have any other ideas?

@everyone I love having people over but can comfortably have only 4-5 people over for drinks and dinner.Last weekend was one such social weekend for us wherein we had two groups of friends over on separate nights, we ordered in and had a great time but its not a regular occurrence by far for its quite difficult to entertain regularly in a small NYC apartment.

@Everyone It's true I'm much more likely to travel "all the way" uptown from downtown, or into "exotic" parts of Brooklyn if it's work-related, or for conferences and so on, but if it's a social invitation, I get down to thinking about whether it's really such a good friend I want to visit that it's worth the trek. I know, I know, that's not the best attitude, especially since it's no big deal to get to most parts of New York...

Embarrassing story: I've been to Brooklyn three times in my life. Three. I've lived in NYC for ten years.

@ajadedidealist So, what brought you out here?

@Uraniumfish I have to say that I think I do a lot of apartment visiting. Not sure why that is, perhaps because Brooklyn apartments are slightly more spacious? Though I have hung out with plenty of friends who live in the city at their Manhattan apartments. But it's never for long - always for a while before or for a while after we go out.

@uptowngirl I live in Park Slope and although a lot of my friends go out in Williamsburg often, I have to really pull myself together to make it up there. It may not be that far in actual distance, but the cab ride is pretty expensive and the train is never an appealing option at 4am. I love going out with friends, but it's always awesome to be close to home after a night out on the town.

@NeverSleeps My brother lives in Brooklyn on Flatbush Avenue and tonight I was supposed to have dinner with him at his place but bowed out of it partly because I was busy all day but also because I didn't feel like spending the $35 for the cab ride home to Manhattan late at night. So I will go out to brunch with him next Sunday in Brooklyn for then I can happily use the Subway to and fro.

I live in Bushwick and have no problem socializing in Williamsburg all the time - but when my friends want to visit mutual friends in Chelsea, Meatpacking, or even as close as the LES, I'm hardly ever up for it. I have to admit I did a lot more nighttime wandering during warmer months; there's something (gee, I don't know what!) about the winter weather that makes me prefer a night in to a night out.

That should probably be under NY pet peeves too: the fact that you are basically on a self-imposed house arrest for half the year. I am all over the city when it's warm -- but I really have to force myself out of my house during January and February.

@JenMac I was actually thinking about how much time we spend indoors the other day, and really wishing I lived in a warmer climate. I mean, who decided to build this city here anyway? Idiots!

@JenMac I completely agree. But there are times when I do appreciate the cold. I mean, a good cup of hot chocolate just isn't the same in the summer, or even nearly as desirable.

@NeverSleeps: The city of New York was actually bought from Native Americans back in the 15th Century. A certain group of traveling merchants saw the land (water, mud, hills, and swamps) and thought it would eventually make a great place for boats to come to dock and deliver their goods. It would make for a great trading post. And it would allow for the delivery of wood and other goods to and from Canada.

But a few greedy people wanted to get rich from this place, so they decided to start building on the land. They brought in boatloads of dirt, sand, and concrete to fill in the swampy areas. Eventually, after filling in the land, or so much of it, they needed a central place to govern the rest of the building. So they built City Hall. This building was constructed back in the 16th Century. Slowly over the course of centuries, development continued on.

Do you know that during the early part of the 19th Century, the lower part of Manhattan, from Battery Park till the tip of the island was all water and swamp area? The WTC was not even around in those days. NYC officials decided to make NYC the capital of finance. So as they were digging the ground in other areas to erect buildings and build the subway, that dirt was taken to the lower part of Manhattan and dumped. After so much dirt was planted, it was smoothed out and covered with cement. That is how the lower part of Manhattan came to be.

@hhusted I was joking.