As you walk into Roberta’s you are overcome by the alluring smell of the basil-covered pizza in the wood burning oven.  But unlike most fancy wood burning pizza joints, this place was packed with artsy, tattooed college students, and I felt like I was in the middle of a Weezer music video.

It wasn’t easy finding Roberta’s, but after our third trek around the block we finally located this eclectic hole-in-the-wall joint behind a graffiti ridden frontage, in the most unlikely areas of Bushwick, Brooklyn. In fact, the area was so seedy that we chose to double park our car in front of a fire hydrant, and prayed the car would be there when we walked out.

While Roberta’s is getting 6 out of 8 slices, the pizza smelled better then it actually tasted. The sauce was smooth and sweet, but the basil just killed it for me.  Maybe it was because the basil was the same color as the tattoo on my server’s forearm, or maybe the pizza was swimming in basil (in fact I ordered it without basil to begin with).

Although we were only 20 minutes outside Little Italy, there were no Luigi’s flipping pizza here. In fact, not sure there was a single Italian person in the restaurant — I’m pretty sure the place was run by a group of struggling college students.

Most memorable moments

• The cheese tasted delicious and was amazingly fresh.  Compared to other places, they didn’t just blotch it on.  It was evenly spread over the sweet sauce and crispy upper part of the crust.
• Upon walking in, you cannot help but notice the amount of wood stacked to the very top of the high ceiling. This place does not look anything like a pizza place, you actually feel like you are in a ski/hunting lodge, with wood paneled walls, and for some reason I was suddenly craving hot chocolate with marshmallows.
• They use Ball’s glasses to serve their drinks in.  Between the glasses and the picnic tables, I wondered for a moment if I was in Bushwick or Baton Rouge.

Roberta’s Faults

Roberta’s, although your pizza was well above average, here are some changes you could make to improve the experience:

• Invest in Air Conditioning, my craving for hot chocolate vanished through the opened windows, the second I realized it was 97 degrees inside.
• Turn your pizza while it is in that fancy red wood burning oven.  While I admire the fact that you named your oven, make sure your namesake is heated properly.  My pizza was quite undercooked on the bottom, and a bit overcooked on the edges of the crust.
• Have your servers pay attention when someone says NO BASIL!

Roberta’s Pizza gets 6 out of 8 slices.

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