La Piazzetta Pizza Plainview, NY
While growing up in Plainview/Syosset, my go to place was located near my house. It went through several name changes over the years. Luigi’s, Sal’s, Tony D’s and probably a couple of others I cannot recall. Each one was great and Tony D’s had extraordinary Garlic Knots. Rumor has it Tony might have relocated to Florida and opened a place, but I have yet to find him.
My son went up to a wrestling school in Syosset and during his break I drove by the old neighborhood and noticed that the shopping center had changed and there was a new pizzeria located there. We pulled in immediately so I could try it out.
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Gran Forno Pronto Pizza Fort Lauderdale, FL
A few weeks back my wife and I decided to get out of Boca Raton and explore Fort Lauderdale a bit. Little did she know that our exploration was really a way for me to go and eat at a pizzeria that a fellow foodie told me about and I had tried once before but forgot to take notes. So after driving through some neighborhoods and saying “look how cute that house is”, we ended up miraculously at Gran Forno Pronto Pizza on Las Olas in Fort Lauderdale.
Gran Forno Pronto has a lot more than just pizza. There is a menu that consists of salads and panini sandwiches as well as some antipasti. We will only focus on the pizza for the sake of this review. We sat outside, which was a mega mistake since it was just so crazy hot out. A rather pleasant server came out and took our order. I naturally ordered the plain pizza, and my wife ordered one of the salads that Gran Forno Pronto offers.
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Barone’s Pizza & Restaurant Carpentersville, IL
Throughout the Chicago suburbs you will find numerous places with the name Barone’s Pizza. We chose to eat at the Carpentersville location, but I am honestly not sure if this may or may not be part of a small local chain. There are no indication(s) online or elsewhere the joints are connected, and we forgot to ask.
This particular location, in the far Northwestern suburb of Carpentersville, is located in a small strip mall, set well back from the nearby main drag (Illinois 25), and you’re not likely to see it if you’re not looking for it, or unless you’re a regular. There are two sides to the business, a full boisterous bar with seating and service on the right, and a calmed down version, vinyl-table clothed restaurant on the left.
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Upside Down Sicilian at Spadini’s Pizza Boca Raton
Every now and then I become a little friendly with a pizza owner, especially if they are from a part of Long Island near where I come from. When Tom took over Mizner Pizza and changed the name to Spadini’s Pizza, he brought a taste of Long Island with him. Here was our previous review –> Spadini’s Pizza Review. After going in there several times to enjoy the slices, I finally introduced myself, which turned out not to be necessary since his girlfriend at the time was a pretty good PR girl and had already recognized me.
Tom and I ended up having a lot of pizza love in common. We both frequent the same places when we go back home, and it seemed the places I didn’t care for, he shared the same view of negativity. On one of my visits to Spadini’s Pizza we got to talking about some of our favorite pizza in Brooklyn, and of course L&B Spumoni Gardens found its way into the conversation. I asked him why he thought that nobody down here could really make an upside down Sicilian pie like they did, and he actually didn’t know the answer. So on that day, we came up with a plan and made an upside down pie the way I wanted it. Granted, there is no way we could ever compare to the amazing sauce at L&B Spumoni Gardens, or the magnificent crust, but we were willing to give it an honest Floridian try.
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Delizia Pizza New York City
We moved into a new building in the Upper East Side of New York City, and right below me was this pizzeria I never had tried before called Delizia Pizza. I think before I even unpacked the boxes I headed down to try it out. My neighbors told me how delicious the pizza at Delizia was so I anxious went in to try it out.
After taking about 30 steps I arrived in the doorway of Delizia Pizza which was extremely clean and cooler than the outside air. The place wasn’t too busy so I was able to walk up to the counter without having to wait at all. The guy behind the counter wasn’t too friendly and asked me what I wanted with a thick Latin accent. I ordered 1 Sicilian slice which didn’t look to appetizing from the display counter and began to wait.
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Rice & Dough Pizza Fort Lauderdale, FL
The other day I was meeting some friends for a long overdue catching up session. They ended up choosing some new place called Rice & Dough in Downtown Fort Lauderdale since it had pizza and also sushi. Yes the combination seemed kind of gross to me too, but since I never tried the pizza here, I was up for the challenge. Rice and Dough was a little hard for me to find since I am seldom on that particular side street in Fort Lauderdale. It was located on SE 2nd St. and SE 5th Ave. I parked across the street in some parking lot that had more potholes than I recall NYC having and headed over to check it out. (more…)
Taormina Ristorante Pizza Commack, NY
It was a dreary and cold, overcast kind of day. Nobody could decide what to do, so we just hopped into the truck and drove around a bit looking at different neighborhoods around the Commack area of Long Island. My hosts suggested we tried out Taormina Pizza in Commack and see if they were any good, since their friends had told them they enjoy eating dinner there from time to time. Since I wasn’t overly impressed with Emilo’s Pizza nearby, I was excited to see if I could find another place to frequent when in the area.
Taormina Pizza had a front ordering area and a restaurant in the back, which seemed to be packed with folks from a funeral. Since we couldn’t find a spot to eat up front, we asked if we could just order our slices and sit in the back without the nuisance of having a server. The staff was quite accommodating and told us if we found a spot, to just take it.
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Manhattan Joe’s Pizza Boca Raton – Second Try
Many times I eat at a pizza place and although the slice tasted decent, it didn’t stand out in my mind. But since I am not a hardhead, I tend to listen to others when they recommend good pizza to me. There was a pizza place several buddies recommended to me on the Boca Raton/Delray Beach border in the Polo Shops called Manhattan Joe’s. I had eaten at Manhattan Joe’s Pizza when it first opened and I wasn’t blown away. You can read the review here. I decided to try their pizza again since the people telling me were so passionate about it. (Yes you Jay & Adam)
This is one of the times I can admit I was wrong about a pizzeria. Although I cannot be sure that they listened to my previous advice, something seemed changed and I was quite happy that I gave Manhattan Joe’s a second try. This pizza was extremely good this time around.
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Star Tavern Pizza in Orange, New Jersey
Star Tavern in Orange, New Jersey is one of the better known places in the State for pizza. It has been in business for over 60 years, and is often found in the “best of” lists published from time to time. I have been there a number of times, and always order a plain cheese pie, which I did for this review. I wanted to see if this really was World Famous Pizza quality, or just something they put on their website.
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Mario’s Pizza Syosset, NY
If you live in Syosset, there is no doubt that you frequent Mario’s Pizza. Mario’s has been in Syosset for probably over 40 years and is an institution. They have since expanded to several other towns around Long Island and it appears each one is just as busy as the original location. I have so many memories of eating there as a child, so during a recent visit to Long Island I reached out to a childhood friend named Andy and we met there to reminisce about the good ole’ days.
Mario’s Pizza changed quite a bit since I had last been there. The seating arrangement was changed and they had a downstairs opened with more tables. I didn’t recognize any of the faces behind the counter but the pizza looked the same. I ordered one regular slice and sat down to catch up.
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