Pizza at Fascati Pizza

It is only when I'm traveling that I realize how wonderful it is to live in a city where you are never too far from a slice of pizza. It's the best thing to tide you over until the next mealtime, and I find that while there are really good places, even a mediocre slice is good enough for a snack (unless the sauce is on the sweet side, that I cannot accept). The pizza at Fascati Pizza (80 Henry Street, between Pineapple & Orange Streets, 718-237-1278) is certainly better than mediocre though, with savory sauce, plentiful cheese and toppings, and about 8 guys behind the counter, so you'll never have to wait long to place your order.

I stopped in recently for a mid-afternoon bite and walked away with the biggest pepperoni slice I've ever seen, crammed with thick slices of the spicy meat. When the slices cook, they curl up and end up being little bowls full of oil. Nothing a few paper napkins can't fix!



The cheese slice was great too, with plenty of melted, gooey cheese, on a perfectly crunchy crust. I like my pizza with a few shakes of garlic powder, oregano and red pepper...mmmm, delicious!

I know people are really picky and opinionated about their pizza. How does Fascati Pizza rate readers?

Pizza from Sal's

On the way home from a movie and in need of a late-night snack, I stopped in at Sal's (305 Court Street, corner of DeGraw Street, 718-852-6890) for a couple of slices. Sal's has been around for a long time and still has those old-style yellow and orange Formica booths lining the walls. In recent years they expanded and installed, in the warm months, a white plastic picket fence that encloses a sliver of sidewalk for enjoying the weather while you dine. Kinda weird to be on the busy corner, but kinda nice to chill with your slice instead of walking and eating which is surely bad for one's digestion.

On this particular trip I got one regular plain slice and one slice with fresh mozzarella and basil. The first thing I noticed was the sauce. It's a bit sweeter than I like my sauce to be. I don't think it's necessary to add sugar to the natural sweetness of the tomato. My grandmother never used sugar in her sauce, so my taste buds have been trained to frown upon its use in this way.



The cheese on both slices was also kinda mediocre. Maybe it was the late hour, but everything was kinda congealed, even after being heated up. The crust was disappointing too, kinda chewy; not crispy enough. There isn't a pizza joint close by, so if you're in a pinch and need a slice, this place is totally fine. I know most of the places in the Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill/Downtown Brooklyn neighborhoods and this one is one of the better in the area. Makes me curious about other pizzerias. Sleepy favorites out there?

Pizza from Francesco

The other night I met a colleague after work for drinks, and when I got home all I wanted was food, fast. And I only had two beers! It's on these nights that I am particularly thankful for Francesco Pizzeria & Trattoria which is the closest place for me to get slices. I shared these, so don't think I'm that much of a piggy. I can do three of thin crust pizza, but these slices are thicker and denser than those.


So, I got a plain cheese slice, a Pepperoni slice and a slice with Eggplant. The plain slice was good. I tend to like the sauce at Francesco, it's not sweet, it's got a slight touch of hotness and it's thick. There's also a good amount of cheese on the slice, but not overly so, and the cheese has browned in some areas, which I think makes it perfectly gooey.

The pepperoni is good too. It doesn't get covered in oil from the slices of meat which are perfectly thin and nicely covering the slice. Eggplant is one of my favorite toppings for pizza, and here the eggplant is cooked perfectly. It's sliced thin, so it's not stringy and gross, and it's breaded and probably fried, so it's tasty.



The crust on all the slices is perfect. Crusty on the bottom and at the outer edge, and slightly chewy. When the pizzas are fresh, the slices are great. Every once in a while you get a bum slice, but when you're not custom ordering a whole pie, your expectations should be a tad lower, I think. Convenience plays a big role here too. The fact that I can run down, get a few slices and be back in my warm apartment in just 5 minutes is important.