Was heading out with my friend Stu (the one who thought Jack’s was good, hey everyone deserves a second chance..right?) to pick up another mutual friend at the Fort Lauderdale Airport today. Upon arriving at the terminal we discovered there was an hour delay and needed something to do with our spare time. Stu looked over at me, with this mysterious look, and said “you wanna have a slice or two before he gets here”?
On the way to a birthday party for one of my wife’s friends, we stopped to grab some garlic knots at Vito’s Pizza Fort Lauderdale 954.772.7701. While there, I was pretty impressed with the way they were making their pizzas.
The guys over at PizzaFusion were gracious enough to host about 34 of us the other night in their Fort Lauderdale location for a PizzaTweetup. For those of you who have never eaten at Pizza Fusion before, you should know that they are all Organic. Even the cars they deliver the pizza in are Hybrids, which produce low harmful carbon emissions. But there is nothing organic about the taste of the pizza here!
Had a lunch appointment with some friends from Miami so we chose Las Olas Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale as the meeting spot. Ultimately my friends picked Big City Tavern for the lunch. Big City Tavern is located on 609 E Las Olas Blvd Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 (954) 727-0307.
I have previously reviewed the pizza at Big City Tavern in Boca Raton, which was far superior to this location. This pizza was almost hard to eat, with the chunky, spicy sauce. I ended up wiping most of it off and ended up making the most disgusting mountain of it on my plate, which I am unsure if my friends thought was attractive or not. The cheese wasn’t of great quality, and the dough almost seemed rubbery. The pizza I ate at the location in Boca Raton was delicious compared to this location. Even the presentation of the pizza at the Boca Raton Big City Tavern was tremendously better. The Boca location also had the perfect cheese:sauce ratio, which the Las Olas location was severely off on.
I find it hard to understand how two locations owned by the same company can be so far off. This is the problem when restaurants venture out and open up many locations, as might be evident with Renzo’s soon. Just because one location is doing well, does not mean the others will.
Big City Tavern, you have truly disappointed me with this pizza that you served, and I can never see myself coming back to give it another try, at least at your Fort Lauderdale location. I will give Big City Tavern 2 out of 8 slices.
The other day on our way to an Ice Cream Tweetup, my son and I stopped by the beach for a slice of pizza at Primanti Bros. Pizza in Fort Lauderdale. Originally from Pittsburgh, they have 2 locations in Fort Lauderdale. The one we went to was located on the beach at 901 N. Fort Lauderdale Beach Blvd. 954.565.0605. This is probably one of the few 24 hour pizza locations in Fort Lauderdale. I would be walking on clouds if we had one in Boca Raton.
After passing through many homeless people asking me for change, we walked into Primanti Brothers. It dawned on me that I had eaten there before, probably like 9 years ago, and probably had the same dirty feeling about the place back then. I ordered a plain slice and began waiting. While I was waiting, right near the door the kid was making pizza, without a sink to wash his hands in, and without any encasement to keep away peoples sneezes and coughs. Let alone anything that flies in the front door from the outside. When the slice came out it was pretty good. I didn’t care for the sauce, but the cheese and dough were pretty good. The crust held up nicely, which I expected since it took twice the normal time to reheat a slice. Not sure if their ovens are on low, or if the pizza was just freezing.
Anyways, I would not avoid Primanti to grab a slice, but to dine there with your family is chancing it! The place is not the cleanest as you will see upon entry, but if it is late night or beach pizza you want, you cannot go wrong here. Primanti Bros. Pizza on the beach in Fort Lauderdale gets 5 out of 8 slices.
If you haven’t been to Kitchenetta in Fort Lauderdale, you are missing the best pizza I might have ever had in South Florida. Kitchenetta is located on 2850 N. Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale. Years ago, my wife and I were driving through Fort Lauderdale, and we noticed this place on the east side of Federal Highway that looked kind of cute. Each time we passed it, we said ‘oh, we should try that one day”. That expression must have been used about 6-7 times before we stopped in one day to actually try it.
Once we finally did stop in to try it, I couldn’t believe how I ever did without it. The pizza was nothing less than incredible. That is right…the expert who looks for flaws thought this Italian Restaurant in Florida made some of the best pizza he has ever had. Even though kitchenetta, was extremely overpriced for many other things, including $3.00 for a can of soda. That is right, you heard me, they actually have the audacity to charge $3.00 for a can. A can that probably costs $0.25. Management should really do something about this!
Anyways, until I create worstpricesforsoda.com, we will just focus on the pizza. And what a great topic to focus on here. Let’s start with the oven. Look at this beauty of an oven Kitchenetta has installed. It is a Brick oven that burns White Oak. This is almost identical to the ones you would find in Naples, Italy. No gases used.
The owner of the place explained to me that they only use Caputo Flour 00 for the dough, which adds to its amazing taste. You cannot help but bite into this dough and taste the quality. The Whole Milk Mozzarella cheese is home made daily which adds to the fresh taste. For their sauce they only use San Marzano tomatoes. Without even having the conversation with the owner, I could have basically guessed that they were using such fine, expensive ingredients in their pizza.
Before you are served the pizza, they give you this delightful pizza bread to snack on. Make sure you try this when you are there. Do not pass it up.
The pizza to the right is their Lobster pizza, which Greg had, and didn’t really care for. He thought it was way too salty and that the lobster was tiny for the $18.00 price he was charged. But since I didn’t try it, nor would I ever try pizza with lobster, I cannot really say if he is right or wrong. He did however, agree on the regular pie I had, so maybe his tastebuds were accurate about his pizza too. I cannot say I was pleased with parts of the crust being overally charred, but it didn’t make a difference to the taste.
It has been without fail, that the dozens of friends I have recommended to this place, have quickly decided that it was their favorite. I won’t even get into how awesome their regular Italian Dishes are as well.
This could be the first perfect slice rating I have given to any place so far in South Florida. Kitchenetta gets 8 out of 8 slices, which equals perfection. Just remember, when it comes to their beverage pricing, this place is far from perfection. If the pizza wasn’t so amazing, I could never justify going back.
And guys……what the heck is up with your website! You need to have me redesign it!!
Usually when we arrive at Il Mulino in Ft. Lauderdale my mouth starts to water for some of their hand made pasta dishes. On this occasion I chose the pizza. And I am quite thankful for this!
Let me backtack a second and give you all some information on Il Mulino. My family and I stumbled upon this place about 7 years ago when we were trying to find some food while coming home from Fort Lauderdale Airport. Unlike New York, things seem to close REALLY REALLY early around here, so finding a decent place after 10pm on a weeknight could be difficult. There is always Denny’s, but sometimes I would rather starve then put myself through that experience. So while driving North on Federal Highway we saw a place on the east side that had neon lights still on, and even though it looked closed since the windows are tinted too much, we decided to see what this place was about.
After having what could be described as one of the most amazing experiences with a wait staff, we decided that Il Mulino was a place we would start to frequent. Now, anytime we are in the area, we naturally go to eat there. Gus came down to visit recently, and we took him there.
The pizza was great, just like everything there. The crust tasted crispy and freshly made, the cheese, was superb and it had the prefect amount of sauce. The luxurious olive oil they put on the crust before baking made a world of difference. I could have done without the big globs of basil on the top of the pizza, but all in all, after spending about 10 minutes peeling them all off, I still enjoyed this pizza immensely.
I will give Il Mulino in Fort Lauderdale 6 out of 8 slices, and recommend this place to anyone who is looking for some excellent food, in a casual setting, with the most attentive & courteous wait staff in Florida.
Was at the Museum of Discovery & Science in Fort Lauderdale (954) 467-6637. After spending a few hours at the museum Sunday, I started to get hungry. Sometimes eating is more exciting then walking around a museum. At first thought all they had was popcorn, but then found a Subway Sandwich concession. But they didn’t have any toasted sandwiches and I like my food hot. Then I saw it, one lonely slice of pizza. As hungry as I was, I wanted to like it. But I can find nothing redeeming about it except that it was hot and that it was actually pizza. However, if I was at the museum again, I probably will get another slice due to the fact I am never one to turn down a slice. 1 of 8 slices.
Ed. Note: This is the first post from one of our newest Pizza Experts. Please join me in welcomming Billy.
After running around Fort Lauderdale doing various odds and ends, I found myself in the East Oakland Park area. I was told in the past that there was a great pizza place in this area called Times Square Pizza and I figured now would be the time to check it out. Times Square is a small New York style pizza parlor (hence the name). There are 5 or 6 tables inside with 2 tables just outside, the decor is a mixture of NY landmarks and Miami fan favor. It takes me back to my days of growing up in NY. The pizza kitchen work area is about the size of my Guest Bathroom but, these guys prove that you don’t need a lot of work space to make a great quality pizza pie. I ordered two slices, 1 meatball, 1 mushroom and asked for them “well done”. Well done meaning not burnt but crispy so that the pizza crunches when you bite or cut into it. My biggest pet peeve when it comes to a good slice is the crispiness of the slice. Nobody in South Florida, until now know what “well done means”.
If I pick up a slice, fold the crust to hold it and the front end of the slice drops out it makes my hair stand. This slice was so hot that when I was cutting into it, the plastic fork started to melt. I went through 1 knife and 2 plastic forks to eat 2 slices, that is a nice hot slice of pizza. Now keep in mind each slice had 1
topping, when I picked it up and folded the crust there was barely any bend to the tip of that slice. A good sign from the start.
The slice was excellent. The sauce was a great combination. A little sweet and a little spicy. The tomatoes were not clumpy and there was an even amount of sauce and mozzarella. The only thing I didn’t like about the slice was they chop up the meatballs in to small pieces, I like them sliced into thin circles and placed on the pizza like pepperoni. A small set back to a great slice of pizza. With the way that the economy is right now for the more than fair price of $5.25 for 2 Slices and 1 can of soda, I proudly rate this slice 6 out of 8 slices. Kudos to you Times Square Pizza. Keep kneading the dough!