Anna Maria Pizza (Bedford Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY)

Hype: We had been partying for several hours. Some of us were in desperate need of sustenance. For some reason I wanted a Big Mac, but my good friends helped me realize that since we are in the Big Easy we need to keep eating as much Pizza as possible--THANKS GUYS!

Scene: At this hour it was mostly younger, like minded individuals looking for a late night snack. I don't really remember much about the decor, but I do remember an ample selection of pies under a glass counter and some cunt behind the counter asking every customer to order three slices.
Pie
Crust- Crispy all the way through. Good outer edges. Sounds nice too. Salty and great. I didn't have to fold my slice.
Sauce- Not amazing or anything, but tasty. Having just consumed Grimaldi's earlier in the day and having just partied for the last 5-6 hours my judgment on this issues could be somewhat clouded.
Cheese- Decent. More traditional than other Brooklyn--upscale pies.
Peps- Salty and good. Larger in diameter and thinner than Grimaldi's, but ok. This is late night pizza after all.


Overall: This pizza really saved us from what could have been a troublesome morning. It was fast, but, somewhat underwarmed in the oven. We loved it, but, given the moment, who know. PARTY SLICE!!!!! 3--5 .

Grimaldi's Pizza (Under the Bridge, Brooklyn, NY)

Hype: This pizza had better be good. Arguably the most hyped shop in the world, or at least America this place had a line 15 parties deep in 10 degree weather. Many claim it to be one of the world's finest pies.

Scene: As noted, a line was cued on the sidewalk. No worries, it moved fast: we were seated, all eight of us, in 20 minutes. Once inside we found Frank Sinatra portraits decorating a hot, aromatic, and crowded room made solely to feed as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. The only major problem was the music--Ratatat and shitty Eurodance: what the fuck?

The Pie
Crust- Good crispness on the outer edges. I like the sound this makes. We have discovered that this is the one thing NYC pie does consistently well. The inner-most six inches of the crust was a little flappy. This did cause some distress for Dave. I just thought, "when in Rome..." and folded mine like the many locals. I'M FINALLY FITTING IN HERE IN THE BIG EASY!
Sauce- This is the best sweet sauce we have ever tasted. It is really hard to keep bitterness out of sauce made with fresh tomatoes. Somehow, these dudes pulled it off perfectly. Maybe the finest sauce in the world. No shit.
Cheese- Maybe its just our Newark roots, but I can't get that in to this fresh mozzarella cheese thing. I like traditional, evenly spread cheese a little better. I respect it, you might love it. Our tourguides loved it. It was smooth and nice though.
Peps- Home run! They even cut them just a bit thick to let you know.
Overall: This is one nice pie. Our panel ranged from a three that slid up to a four, and a five the whole time. No one didn't like this pizza. We settled on a very strong 4--5 pie rating. Very good stuff here.

Carmine's (Graham St. Brooklyn, NY)

Hype: Classic neigborhood Brooklyn by-the-slice shop. This has been recommended to many pizza tourists like us. Came highly recommended by our friend, Personal, last week. It is also close to Doug's and it was like -5 out.

Scene: Charming. Run by Italians. Pretty classy on the inside. Lots of Yankees stuff. It even came equipped with a really large, multigenerational Italian family. Plenty-o-pie stares you in the face from the counter. Choose your slice.

The Pie
Crust--I liked it. Crispy/crunchy outer shell with airy/chewy insides. Foldable. Held up well.
Sauce--sweeter, but nothing to write home about, lacked kick.
Cheese--Really tasty. Some pies came with Ricotta cheese: these bordered on Ricotta overkill.
Peps--We were let down. No peps slices available. I had some kinda sausage and tomato. Good pizza, but what the fuck--no pep slices?

Overall: I bet we just came at the wrong time. We did order a 'stuffed slice' that was mindblowing, but it is unfair to compare a stuffed slice to a ronislice, right.
2--5. This is a Brooklyn slice shop with no peps?????? Tools.

Pizza Roma (Pittsburgh, PA)

Hype: The best kind--it was served up hot, fresh, and free at house party. We were cold and needed a warm-me-ups.

Scene: Cool party in an old house in some neighborhood in Pittsburgh. 5 bands, lots of people and lots of partying. Keeping warm! They had many cats!!

The Pie
Crust--Droopy, wimpy, not that good. the outer edges were pretty nice though.
Sauce--Tough to remember.
Cheese--pretty good, the crust was so weak that it slid right off.
Pep-- not supplied. n/a

Overall: I would not go to this place or order it with my lady for a night watching Gilmore Girls or anything. This is free party pie and for that it hit the spot. It is very good for giving your stomach something to cling to. 3-5 for the context.

Personal and the Pizzas Talk Pizza About Their Hometown: Hoboken, NJ!!!!!

PS: So, What's deal with New Jersey Pizza???? Is it like the famous "New York Stlye" or a little different?
P&P: Yeah, it's about the same difference. Ours is a little more good though, cause they got so much a them pizza joints in the city, it's like when you gotta good slice out here, it's a little bit more hard to come by or somethin. Ya know????

PS: What's with foldable slices? Does that make it better or is it just a trademark of that region?
P&P: Where yous from? C'mon!!!

PS: What's your favorite pizza place in Hoboken? The World?
P&P: We like that Filipos place down on 1st street. They got pretty good red sauce. We also got that Benny Tudinos place, but that's like one a them tourist spots cause they got them huge slices. THE BIGGEST IN THE WORLD!!!! They pretty good though. Make sure you don't get that eggplant parmesan sandwich though...it's the friggin worst!!! Wicked worst!!!!When we party in the city though, we usually go to CARMINES up on Graham Ave. That's right kitty corner from my uncle Larry's place, which we always crash at, and that's some good friggin pie. They gotta pretty mean square slice..if yous know what I meanOne time We was in Sweden and they got real good Pizza up there with greek olives and shit and it's all personal style and stuff but they're like real big. You get a whole friggin pie to yerself...and it's spicy and shit and real good..that was a good one. They like that pie up there in SWeden. You can get TUNA on that shit!!!! That's just about too crazy for us though. Tuna on a fuckin pizza!!!!!! C,mon!!! That's how they do it up there though. JEEESSUSS!!! I guess they like that fish up there..

PS: Do you have pizza at all your shows? How does it enhance the experience?
P&P: Everybody loves the pie!! We probably order it like half and half..we're usually pretty broke so it's kinda hard to shell out like 70 or 80 bucks just for the love of it, but we'll do it. We don't care. Everyone loves Pizza and Pop. One time we was all dressed up in haWaiian shirts and coconut tits and all, and then we ordered some a them hawaaiian pizzas and then that delivery chic delivered the pies to us while we was playin with them shirts on and and she didn't know what the hell was goin on

PS: Next to pizza what is your favorite party-food?
P&P: Beer

PS: Tell us about the worst pizza-accident you've ever had!!!!
P&P: One time when I was a young teenage guy I worked at Mr. Pizza Man in Ypsilanti, MI. We were open from 4pm till 4am and it was an old family place and Jack the delivery guy got me wasted more than a few times, I remember. Actually, I remember Jack saved up all his spare coin tips for the whole year once and he had over like $350 dollars just in coin!!! Anyway we used to mix the red sauce with our bare arms..like old wine guys and their feet, we did that with our arms in the sauce in the big old pot. That's why we were the best pie in town.

PS: Thanks Man!
P&P:NO! THank Yous!!!GRACIAS!!!

Personal and the Pizzas Rock!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.myspace.com/personalandthepizzas

Villa Nova Ristorante (5545 N High St, Columbus, OH)

Hype: None.  We just haven't done a new pizza in a while and I drove by this place a while a go.  Some people have told us about it and said good things.

Scene: I guess this place is a staple for the South Worthington-- North Columbus family crowd and I can see why.  Family owned and operated, good food, great service, beer by the pitcher and decorated like my crazy aunt's with at least 200 copper kettles.  I liked the original Pac-Man machine in the doorway but hated the elevator music.   Reminded us of the old 'Taste of Italy' in Newark: nice place.

THE PIE

Crust--Thin, but not crackery.  A small amount of that cornmeal crumb stuff on the bottom that is common to pizzas in Grandview and Arlington (in fact, many aspects of this pie make it similar NW Columbus; a good thing).

Sauce--A little sweet.  Not at all a standout.  Quiet.

Cheese--Tasty.  Not that much of it but this does not detract from the pizza's taste.  It's good.

Peps!--Very good.  The curled slightly and were ample.  I liked them a lot.  

Overall: I found myself totally dominating this pizza.  I don't know if it was my hunger or what but it hit the spot.  Dave was less hungry as you can see from the photo his side needed my help.  We both agree that the Villa Nova is worth a trip.  Solid 4/5 pies.