Boo in New York - Grimaldi's Pizza

It was New Year's Eve, it was snowing and the plan was to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge and go to Grimaldi's Pizzeria, where, it is claimed by many, that they serve the finest pizza in New York.

Being a little early for lunch we head to the UN building to do a spot of sightseeing and despite best efforts our spirits (and bodies, literally) were somewhat dampened by the snow. It was just too cold to be walking across the bridge so we copped out and got the subway. It was, however, not too cold to queue outside in said snow for a table at the pizza place, determined as we were to see what Grimaldi's have that others don't!


It was VERY cold. But it didn't actually take that long, around 20 minutes and we were seated inside, thanks to the super efficiency of the guy on the door who yells out numbers of groups he can accommodate.

I feel special mention is deserved for the group of 7 guys who were at the front of the queue when we arrived (so who knows how long they had already been waiting) and were seated only a minute or so before us because they were a larger group. We ended up sitting next to them. The room is larger than you'd think upon viewing the building from the outside and the kitchen is open so everyone can see the masters at work. Anyway, the group of guys shared one pizza between them, I guess they were students but what a great indication as to the quality of the food that they would wait so long in the snow for a slice each!


Laminated menus usually put me off but here it is somehow in keeping with the place and didn't bother me at all. Once seated we immediatley ordered 2 brooklyn beers, (when in.....er....Brooklyn!)


Grimaldi's is, after all, a no frills experience, no deliveries, no credit cards, slightly stern waiters all on top of the long queue. When it comes to ordering you select the size of the base (large or larger, I think it was 13" or 17") then you can choose any toppings from an extensive list. We went for the larger size pizza with roasted peppers, anchovies, pepperoni, extra mozzarella and fresh basil.


The absolute best thing for me was the tomato sauce. Most rave about the base though, special because of the coal brick oven they use to cook the pizzas. I polished off almost half, more than I could usually eat and savoured every mouthful. If only we could have walked back across the bridge to work off the full stomachs, alas, still snowing, we hailed a cab.

Grimaldi's Pizzeria
19 Old Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY
8.5/10