As a director of content and editorial services for the corporate communications department of my company, I was initially hired for my writing abilities. But when our in-house video editor abruptly resigned shortly after I started back in late 2015, I somehow absorbed his duties, despite not being in any real way versed in the realms of video editing. As a result, I swiftly established a network of regular vendors to tackle our needs. One of those vendors is a Nashville-based videographer named Brian who has saved my hide more times than can be quantified. He and his team do rock-solid work and never part with their cool, even under the tightest of deadlines. I remain eternally indebted to him.
So when Brian postulated the query below to me, earlier this week, I felt duty-bound to help him out.
“Hey, my friend! I have a very close friend of mine coming to NYC later this month … they are staying a block off Times Square. Can you recommend…1. A pizza place2. A hot dog place3. Any other “NYC standard” you can think of…”
It looks pretty cut-&-dry, but if you’re a bona fide New Yorker, you know there is rarely ever a single, clear-cut answer to questions like these. Even post-gentrification and post-pandemic, we still live in a city literally teeming with options. Which does one cite?
I’ve done a few posts about this sort stuff before, notably my two Flaming Pablum Grub Guides and the Big City Survey, but I’m always slightly hesitant to use descriptors like “Best,” being that it’s all relative. I prefer to use the term “favorite.”
As such, let’s dig into this….
"A PIZZA PLACE"
As expressed above, cripes …. where does one even begin?
For a start, not to deflect the question, but there are different types of pizza places. There are your standard pizzerias tailored to quick slices on paper plates to be eaten at counters or taken to go. Then there are more formal joints where one orders an entire pie and eats at a table with a table cloth and waiters and the whole nine. There is also a league of high-end, bespoke pizza restaurants, although the fare here is usually a more refined dining experience that owes precious little to the afore-cited, street-side pizzerias. Whatever your preference, budget or social status, there’s a pizza place for you.
Not to be a downer, but as expressed elsewhere on this blog, as far as I’m concerned, the heyday of grab-n-go Manhattan slices is lamentably behind us. When I was a kid, it seemed like there was a credible pizza joint every three blocks, or so. Every neighborhood had at least one, and they were usually all pretty decent. Today, for whatever reason, this is no longer the case. I mean, sure, there are still droves of middling-to-dismal places wherein to get a quick slice. Just this week, I ruefully ducked into one on Cortlandt Street (not to be confused with Cortlandt Alley) in the Financial District and had a perfunctory slice that, while still technically “pizza,” lacked pretty much everything that the dish is supposed to embody. Then, of course, there is also the more recent trend of “one-dollar pizza” places which I’ve bemoaned here before. While I respect that people need to be able to eat on the cheap, “one-dollar pizza” is a strenuous affront to the rich culinary heritage of New York City and should be duly shunned with an extra topping of contempt.
So, yeah, anyway….
For the purposes of my friend Brian’s query, I would steer his friend to John’s Pizza of Times Square. This is a sit-down establishment of deserving renown. I personally prefer the original John’s down near me on Bleecker Street, but the Times Square location is roomy and atmospheric and the pies are still pretty goddamn great. It’s also nearby where this guy is staying, so everyone wins.
Beyond that, though, I would also cite Lombardi’s Pizza on Spring Street in SoHo, although they’ve become a bit touristy, it has to be acknowledged. Their brick-oven pizza remains fucking outstanding. A nice place to go without so much fuss would be Numero 28 Pizza on Carmine Street. They don’t come out in conventional pie shapes so much as gooey rectangles, but their pizza is simply delicious.
A recent addition to my favorite pizza joints is right here on my own University Place, that being Simo Pizza. They don’t serve slices, but their pies are light with amazing, soft crusts. You cannot go wrong with this place. Ribalta Pizza, for a similar sit-down situation, on East 12th between Broadway and University Place is also mighty nice.
With regards to quick and greasy slices, most of the favorite places from my youth are long gone, but you can still get a great slice at Joe’s Pizza, also on Carmine Street, but they, too, have been discovered.
I’m also partial to the slices at Champion Pizza in Soho on Cleveland Place.
Begrudgingly, I also truly have to give it up for Little Italy III on University Place, which is the favorite pizzeria-du-jour of Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore. I wrote about how I thought he had his head up his ass about this, but I went shortly afterwards, and despite the place still being something of a depressing bus-station-without-the-bussses, the slices are indeed pretty goddamn good.
Do not, under any circumstances, go to a Domino’s Pizza when you are in NYC.
“A HOT DOG PLACE”
This may sound weird, but I’ve never really considered New York City that much of a hot dog town. I mean, yeah, they’re everywhere, and while the “dirty-water dogs” you get from the Sabrett carts may seem iconic — and they kind of are — they’re really the sort of food you eat only when you have no other alternatives. No time to stop for lunch? Grab a street-side dog, and you’ll at least have something in your system, so to speak. Don’t expect it to make a huge, flavorful impression on you. I’m just being honest.
When I was kid, the Papaya King on the corner of East 86th Street & Third Avenue was a way better bet for hot dogs, even if it meant standing in that narrow chamber to consume them (best with a tall cup of papaya juice). Amazingly, Papaya King is still there, as are a few of the similarly inclined Gray’s Papaya places, albeit not the storied one on the corner of West 8th and Sixth Avenue (which turned into Liquiteria before closing during the pandemic). It has been said that this Gray’s Papaya was Lou Reed’s favorite place to eat in New York City.
There is also Crif Dogs on the eastern end of St. Marks Place for a higher-end variant of the hot dog, if that’s your thing. I like Crif because there’s a secret speakeasy bar tucked in its rear interior.
Lastly, of course, there’s the famous Nathan’s, but that involves going way the Hell out to Coney Island. That’s fun, but that’s a day in itself.
“ANY OTHER ’NYC STANDARD’ YOU CAN THINK OF…”
Okay, this is the one that really does my head in, because I can think of quite a lot.
But, if we’re simply talking about food, I’d say….
Get a five-dollar order of the fried dumplings from the scary fried dumpling closet on Mosco Street in Chinatown.
Get a big, fuckoff steak at Keen’s Chophouse on West 36th Street
If you can afford it — and I generally can’t — treat yourself to sushi at Nobu on 195 Broadway
Get the Korean barbecue at Dons Bogam on East 32nd Street. Yeah, it’s still Korean BBQ, but they still do the cooking for you, so no one feels like throwing up the next day, if you know what I mean.
Get the dim-sum at Dim Sum Go-Go on East Broadway. It is fucking special.
Get a burger at the Corner Bistro on West 4th Street.
Have the pierogis at timeless Ukrainian eatery Veselka on East 9th, and raise a middle-finger to Mother Russia.
Hope that helps!! Bon appetit!!!
Recent Comments