Best of Brooklyn: Pizza

During our years here in the Borough of Kings, N. and I have eaten a lot of pizza. I've probably had around 2,300 slices, while N. tops with me 453,211.

The best Brooklyn pizza, as of this writing, is DiFara's out on Ave J in Midwood. Dom uses makes each pizza very slowly. You have to go when you're hungry but not starving. If you're starving when you get there, you'll have a breakdown since there's always a wait. Even if there are only three people ahead of you, you'll have to wait an hour. In addition to really working slowly (as artist should, of course), it's never clear that Dom has heard you place an order. If you've even gotten to the placing an order stage. Sometimes you just wait, which can be good for working on your zen goals. We were there in the spring and Dom's kids sort of helped keep their dad current with the orders but sometimes it's just him. When the kids are there, they might take an order or your money but they never touch the pies. Dom does it all--from making it, to putting it in and taking it out of the oven with his bare hands, to adding clippings of fresh basil on the just-out-of -the-oven pie.

Everyone should eat at DiFara's at least once. Get a plain pie--those are the best. Even if you just want a slice, get a pie, wait for it to cool off, eat what you want there, and then take the rest home. It won't be nearly as delicious but it's more time effective to get the whole thing. And you really do have to wait a few minutes to take your first bite It's so hot, olive oily, and three cheesy that it needs to solidify. Plus, you'll scald your mouth if you eat it too soon.

While DiFara's is this fairly dingy, non-descript hole in the wall, Franny's in our neighborhood on Flatbush Ave is just the opposite. It's pretty hip with menus, an impressive and expensive wine list, and actual servers. The critics went wild for Franny's when it opened a few years ago because it's brick oven and there's a list on the menu of where each product comes from. While N. and I think Franny's is tasty, we agree that the pizza never really fills you up and that there can be a lack of variety. Once N. and I got two different marinara style pies and they tasted pretty much the same. Plus, Franny's is expensive. I don't think going out for pizza should be expensive.

Although I'm not sure why, N. likes Antonio's at 318 Flatbush Ave. I've always put it in the barely mediocre category since I find it too greasy, too cheesy and the sauce non-descript. I should mention that N. would eat pizza 3-5 times a week if he could, which probably explains why he is the undisputed, undefeated pizza champion in our household. I like pizza too, but since it's fattening and not exactly good for you, I don't like to have these vices on mediocre pizza. And that's what Antonio's is. Very mediocre. At least the delivered stuff is. In the pizzeria itself, the slices are just slightly better. But I'm not sure why you'd be eating in Antonio's when your apartment is 4 blocks away.

Gino's further down on Flatbush, I think, is much better than Antonio's. It's not overly cheesy and the sauce has more character. It's exactly what you want on a Sunday night when you're too involved with Battle Star Galatica to make dinner.

Grimaldi'sunder the Brooklyn Bridge has been famous for years. Why? N. and I have eaten there a few times and while it's good, it's not the be all end all. Nothing about the pizza itself really stood out to me. The only thing that really stands out was the long line we waited on to get inside one Friday night only to remember that it's cash only. Of course, we had no cash and there are no ATM's in that part of Brooklyn so we had to grate 1,000 pounds of mozarella before they let us leave.

Back in his swinging bachelor days, N. lived in Williamsburg where Fornino's was. That was good pizza--more gourmet than DiFara's, but less pretentious than Franny's. Plus, the menu is a lot bigger than Franny's. I've always thought the options at Franny's were somewhat limiting. I've always regretted that N. and I always got Fornino's to go. Eating there, I'm sure the very good pizza would have been closer to great.

A few years ago, I took N. on a surprise trip to L&B Spumoni Gardens out in Bensonhurst. I feel like this is what the hardcore Italian Brooklynites think of when they think of pizza. L&B is known for Scillian slices, which were good, but N. and I prefer triangle pizza. Scillian slices tend to be too dough heavy for us. If you're going to take an out of towner on a schelp for pizza, we'd recommend schelping to DiFara rather than L&B. I'm sure we had the spumoni, but I can't remember it at all.

N. and I don't like the name The Brooklyn Pizza Factory that recently opened up on Vanderbilt Ave, very close to our house. We don't think factory just shouldn't be used in restaurant names. Or baby names, either. Nonetheless, the pizza, at BPF, is quite good and we're happy it's so close. They have very tasty regular slices and also some more intriguing gourmet pie options that I'm sure we will sample once the Bean comes and we're not cooking. The other day, the heat and 36 weeks of pregnancy nearly did me in on our walk in Prospect Park, but I'm happy to save I was revived with a Sprite and BPF slice. I guess the real test will be to get a pie delivered, but since it's so close I'm optimistic.

Across the street from BPF is Amorina. This is a family-friendly, more of a sit-down kind of place. The pies are a little more gourmet than BPF. N. and I are fans of the Tricolore pie, but when you're in the mood for pizza I think you want the standard NYC style like BPF. Amorina is more like you're too lazy to cook and too lazy to walk more than three blocks to go out to dinner. It's the kind of place where you might get the Puttanesca pie or, just as easily, the spaghetti with meatballs. It's not a bad place, but for being so close and calling themselves a pizzeria, N. and I have gone there surprisingly few times.

On our list of NYC things to do before moving to NH is eating at Totonno's out on Neptune Ave near Coney Island. This place always gets mentioned in lists that include DiFara's and Franny's so we're excited to check it out. I've heard, and this could be a rumor, that they make 100 pies a day and then they close no matter what time it is.

Whew. Posting about pizza has made me hungry. Where do you get your slices?