Joe's Brooklyn Pizza Review and $30 Gift Card Giveaway

While I always look forward to trying new places - and I've got more coming up, soon - at some point I always return to old favorites.
Which is why the other day I stopped into Joe's Brooklyn Pizza for lunch with a couple of friends.
I always have a tough time at Joe's, deciding between its classic, New York style thin-crust slices and its thick-crust Sicilian squares. Add on top of that the stuffed-crust pizza and it can be a real, if happy, dilemma.
This time around, I went with a thin-crust "old fashioned" tomato pie slice, and a thick-crust grandma's slice. The toppings are similar: both include tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, shallots, basil, and pecorino Romano cheese, but the grandma's pizza adds processed mozzarella. Sometimes I want two contrasting slices, like a red and white slice, or a minimalist and loaded slice, but this time I went with my gut, and this is what I wanted.
I don't think I can say much about these that I haven't said before, because Joe's is consistently good. But this blog is an account of my pizza experiences, so I'll describe them.
The thin slice was crisp but foldable, black-blistered but not burnt. The toppings both balanced the crust and blended together beautifully. The red sauce built a base of tomatoey sweetness, offset by a sharp edge from the cheese. Add aroma and flavor from shredded basil, garlic and thinly sliced shallots, and I was in pizza heaven. 
As good as that slice was, it had a strong competitor in my "grandma's" slice. Although "New York style" is often thought to be synonymous with "thin crust," thick, pan-baked, Sicilian-style pizza is commonly found in NYC, and Joe's produces a fine example.
At my request, they cut this slice in half, because I thought I might save half for later, but that proved unnecessary, as I ended up eating both on the spot. But that's why it looks like two triangular slices in the photo.
A lot of "sheet" pizza is soft or oily, or both, underneath. This was neither. The underside was crisp and crackly, and the interior was chewy and breadlike. The addition of mozzarella added an extra dimension of flavor and texture that helped balance the thicker crust.
I didn't sample my friends' pepperoni slices, but I've included a photo. They've accompanied me on prior trips to Joe's, and they were as happy as ever with their slices. In fact, as I look at the photo, I'm Jonesing for a pepperoni slice.
This barely begins to describe the pizza options at Joe's. They also offer Buffalo chicken pizza, BBQ pork pizza, and several white pizzas. I've reviewed some of them before, here, for example, but I may tackle more of them next time. They also offer wings, which I have yet to try. That's another one for my to-do list.
The best way for you to sample Joe's offerings would be for free, right? So enter now to win a $30 gift card from Joe's. The card is good toward anything on Joe's menu, and it's good at both Joe's locations. I haven't been there yet -- yet another item on my list -- but Joe's has opened a second location at the corner of Routes 31 and 250 in Fairport.
To enter, send me an email at ROCPizzaGuy@gmail.com. Put "Joe's" in the subject line. Please include your name and address in the message. I will NOT use your information for anything but the contest, or give them to anyone else, ever. You may comment on this post here on the blog, but that will not get you entered in the giveaway.
I'll pick a winner at random, using random.org, on Wednesday, June 10, a little after noon. So email me by noon on June 10 to get your entry in. Win or lose, do yourself a favor and get to Joe's. And when you go, do me a favor by letting them know that you read about them on The Rochester NY Pizza Blog.

Joe's Brooklyn Pizza, 1100 Jefferson Road, Henrietta
585-424-JOES (5637)

Perinton Square Mall, 6720 Pittsford-Palmyra Road, Fairport
585-364-0361


Mon., Tue. 11 AM - 9 PM
Wed. - Sat. 11 AM - 10 PM
Sunday noon - 8 PM

Joe's Brooklyn Pizza - Beyond the Cheese Slice

When I go to a New York City-style slice joint, I tend to stick to plain cheese slices. Yes, I like other varieties, but in its simplicity, a well-made cheese slice really captures the essence of great New York pizza.
But I also know that man does not live on cheese pizza alone. In fact, if you really want to get down to basics, pizza doesn't have to have cheese at all to be good. What it needs is a good crust and tasty toppings.
You'll find that - in various permutations - at Joe's Brooklyn Pizza in Henrietta. I've been a fan of Joe's since my first visit back in early 2009, not long after it opened (its roots go back well before that, but I won't get into all that here).
Since then, I've tried several varieties of Joe's pizza, and I've yet to run across one I didn't like. So it was with great expectations that I ventured deeper into Joe's menu on my most recent visit, and my optimism was again proved justified.
I've done a few posts about old-fashioned tomato or "sauce" pies, which around here typically are topped with tomato sauce and a generous sprinkling of Romano cheese. Joe's Grandma's pizza fits roughly within that description, but Joe's now offers, in addition, a tomato pie that omits the cheese altogether.
With a blend of tomato sauce, shredded basil, and garlic, all atop Joe's signature, crisp, thin crust, I hardly missed the cheese at all on this one. If given a choice, I'd probably still opt for the Grandma's, most of the time, but it wouldn't be a slam dunk. This was a very tasty pizza - and a great option for vegans, too. Speaking of which, this reminded me in a way of a good vegetarian meal - it might not make you ready to give up meat altogether, but it makes you realize how good a meal can be, even without animal products.
Next up was a Buffalo chicken slice. This is a relatively recent, but to me very interesting style of pizza, as it's subject to so many interpretations.
Joe's version consists of a thin crust, topped with a generous helping of diced chicken, in a tangy, spicy, medium-hot sauce, along with a moderate layer of mozzarella cheese. This was a simple, straightforward approach to a Buffalo chicken pizza, with no blue cheese, celery, or other accompaniments - just chicken, hot sauce, and pizza cheese.
Next to the Buffalo chicken slice in the photo, you'll see a thick-crust, Sicilian version of the Grandma's pie. This had the same blend of tomatoes, herbs, garlic and cheese that's made me such a fan of the thin-crust version, on Joe's thicker, crunchy, pan-baked Sicilian crust. As much as I love thin-crust pizza, the toppings on this one in some ways seemed to go even better with a thicker, breadier crust - kind of like sopping up the sauce from a plate of pasta with a good thick slice of Italian bread.
Speaking of which, Joe's has recently added pasta to its menu, and I tried that as well, compliments of Joe. This consisted of a bowl of fettucine, cooked al dente, which was mixed - not drenched -  with homemade tomato sauce and topped by a sprinkling of grated cheese. The quickly cooked sauce of fresh tomatoes, herbs and olive oil had a bright, vibrant flavor that set it apart from its canned or all-day-on-the-stove cousins, and the only thing I was lacking was the aforementioned slice of bread to soak up what little of the sauce was left in my container.
While that's plenty of food for one visit - or one blog post - I've saved, if not the best, at least the most unusual, for last. If you're feeling just a bit adventurous, or want something a little out of the ordinary, you must try Joe's hot dog pizza. According to Joe (seen proudly showing off a freshly made hot dog pie in the photo), this is something of a cult favorite downstate, and since Noo Yawkas know their hot dogs as well as their pizza, it's a good bet that they're on to something here.
I guess you could call this a white pizza, inasmuch as there was no tomato sauce, though the copious amount of wiener slices and caramelized onions gave it an overall reddish-brown hue. I don't think this would ever be an everyday, go-to kind of pizza for me, but topped with some spicy brown mustard, my hot dog slice was really rather good, and more than just a novelty item. The vinegary mustard (which I added myself) provided a nice counterpoint to the salty, meaty franks and the sweet onions. Next time, I'd love to try one with a bit of warm sauerkraut on top as well.
One of the many great things about pizza is its versatility, as evidenced by the offerings at just this one pizzeria. When all is said and done, I'll still end up going back to my basic cheese slice, but once in a while it's good to mix things up a little, and Joe's offers pleny of opportunities to do that.
I'm not going to give individual ratings to these pizzas. I haven't been rating Buffalo chicken pizza at all, and how can I rate a hot dog pie? My ratings are intended to be guidelines to how a given pizza compares with others like it in this area, and there's nothing around here, that I've tried at least, to compare with this pie.
But I've made clear before that as far as I'm concerned, Joe's Brooklyn Pizza consistently serves up grade-A pizza, and nothing I tried on this visit changed that opinion. If you haven't been there yet, it's high time you did so. When it comes time to pick from among Joe's array of options, though, you're on your own.
Joe's Brooklyn Pizza, 1100 Jefferson Rd # 23B, 14623. 424-JOES (5637)
Mon. - Tue. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Wed. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. noon - 8 p.m.

Original New York Pizza, Empire Boulevard, Revisited

Note, Aug. 15, 2011: this establishment was formerly a second location of the downtown pizzeria, The Pizza Stop. It is no longer associated with the Pizza Stop and is now operating under a different name, although ownership and management remains (partly) the same as when it opened. The following review was written while this pizzeria was still operating under the name "The Pizza Stop" and remains here as a historial record. 
Last June, I did a post about the then-new, second location of The Pizza Stop, on Empire Boulevard in Penfield. Based on the two slices I had gotten, I wrote that "Pizza Stop seems to have pulled it off - opening a second location that's as good as the original. So once again, a solid A rating from me."
Well, I later learned that there had been some sort of split or schism between the owners and managers of the original Pizza Stop on State Street, and of the new location on Empire. I added a note to my original post to that effect in December of last year.
Since then, I've seen various postings about whether the quality had declined at Pizza Stop 2 ("Pizza Stop 2" is my terminology, by the way, just for the sake of convenience; both locations go by the same name). I meant to go back to check it out, but of course there are a lot of other places I wanted to visit too, so I never seemed to get around to it.
Well, about a week ago, a reader left a comment on my Pizza Stop 2 post stating that in reliance on my "A" rating, he went to Pizza Stop 2, and ended up with some of the worst pizza he'd ever had. That prompted a response from the owner of Pizza Stop 2, and some comments from other readers as well, both good and bad.
So that got me off my butt and back up to Pizza Stop 2, to see for myself. I've been there twice now in the past week, and gotten four slices in that time. Here's what I found.
On my first visit,I got a grandma's slice, and a white garlic slice with peppers and onions, which is almost the same as what I had the previous time, when my white slice didn't include the peppers and onions. I picked them out of a pretty wide variety of lunchtime slices.
The undersides were brown and very slightly charred. They were maybe a tad less charred that on my previous visit, but the crusts were good, with a very light dusting of cornmeal, and a crisp exterior with some surface crackling.

The white slice was a little greasy, but that's not uncommon with white pizza, which usually involves a brushing or swirling of olive oil, plus there's no red sauce to absorb any oil from the cheese as it melts.
Otherwise, both slices had good flavor and balance, and were close to what I had last time.
On my second visit, I got a Sicilian slice and a Buffalo chicken slice. The pepperoni slices looked especially good, but two slices are about my limit for lunch, and I really wanted to try these two varieties.
On both occasions, service was good, and this time around the server (who may have been the owner) let me select my Sicilian slice, which allowed me to choose a big side slice. It was appropriately quite thick, with a dry, firm bottom, a crunchy edge, and a somewhat dense texture with countless tiny air holes in the crust. The crust was just very slightly gummy on top where it met the thick, herbal sauce. Overall, again quite good, even if Sicilian's not generally my thing when it comes to pizza.
I think this was the first time I've ever tried a Buffalo chicken pizza from either location of The Pizza Stop, so in that regard I can't compare it to past examples. The crust on this one was very thin, even paper thin toward the tip of the slice. It was a bit thicker, with some breadiness, toward the outer edge, and the dough had good flavor. The tip was too thin to really have any interior, but near the edge there was some internal "airiness," if that's a word (well, it is now). It was topped with chunks of breaded chicken in coated with hot sauce, which was, well, pretty hot. There was no blue cheese, celery or tomato sauce, so the overall flavor here was of spicy chicken and mozzarella.
After reading some of the comments, I really wasn't sure what to expect on these visits to Pizza Stop 2. Would it be good, terrible, the same as before, radically different?
Well, in general, it was about the same as what I remembered, and close to the original. Was it exactly the same? Does it still deserve the A rating I gave it before?

That's a harder question. It may not have been quite the same, maybe not even quite as good. Then again, given the circumstances, I think I was approaching this one in a hypercritical way, looking for any subtly different nuance.
But in point of fact, if I hadn't had any reason to expect anything to be different, I don't think I would've noticed any difference, at least no significant difference. And the fact is that if you go get a slice of pizza at a particular pizzeria ten times, you're going to get ten unique slices. They may, and should, be pretty similar, but given the vagaries of yeast, temperature, humidity, etc., each one will be subtly different from the others.
So what I decided to do is approach this the way that football referees do on instant replay. Unless it's clear to me that the quality's changed, I'm going to stick with the same rating. That's not to say that each slice shouldn't be graded on its own merits, but if I'm going to change the grade, I need to be sure that I'm not doing it just because of things I've heard, or read, or because I'm subconsciously applying a stricter standard than I ordinarily would, based on what other people have said.

And again, this pizza was about the same as what I had before. I can't speak for others, and I have no firsthand knowledge of others' experiences. So if your experience with this or any other pizzeria differs from mine, feel free to leave a comment, preferably with some factual detail to back up your opinions. But based on these two recent visits, I'm again giving Pizza Stop 2 an A rating.
The Pizza Stop, 1773 Empire Blvd., Penfield 347-4050
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. noon - 8 p.m.

Guida's Sauce Pie

I've been intrigued for some time now by the basic, tomato-sauce-based pies that appear on the menus of some pizzerias around here. Often these are found at well-established places with deep local roots, and it seems to me that these pizzas come from an older tradition, before today's emphasis on heavy toppings took hold. Whether they go by the name or not, these pizzas, I think, are related to the "grandma's pizza" often found downstate. Though the specifics vary, this style of pizza generally deemphasizes the cheese, with a tomato sauce providing the dominant base for a few simple toppings, which frequently include a sprinkling of Romano.
One such pizza is found at Guida's. While Guida's does make a "Gramma's" pizza, they also offer something similar that goes by the simple name of "sauce pie." While that might sound like nothing more than a pizza with sauce but no cheese, this is in fact a little more than that. Any doubts on that score were removed when I opened the box, as my nostrils were greeted by an intoxicating aroma of tomato sauce, Romano and garlic, which is about as winning a combination of ingredients as there is.
That heavenly aroma again got me thinking about the term "grandma's pizza." I can imagine a lot of Italian grandmothers' kitchens smelling exactly like this, with a pot of sauce simmering on the stove. The name makes perfect sense now. And it's the addition of garlic that, I think, chiefly differentiated this pie from the Gramma's I'd had before at Guida's.
But what an addition it is. You could put this stuff over ice cream and I think I'd like it. Over pasta, it would be divine.
And aside from pasta, what goes with a good tomato-based sauce better than bread? And what is a pizza crust but a disk-shaped bread? (For that matter, bread and pasta are pretty close culinary cousins, apart from the inclusion of yeast in the former.)
Of course, not just any bread will do; ideally you want a nice, chewy Italian-style bread, and on that score Guida's delivers, with a crust that's firm on the outside yet chewy on the inside, with good bready flavor. That also differed from the Gramma's, which had a softer crust that seemed to have risen and been baked in a pan. Personally I love a very crisp, crackly exterior, which this didn't quite have, but it's hard to fault it nonetheless, as it was still firm, and had a mouth-pleasing chewy texture and good bread flavor.
The bottom of the crust was lightly dusted with corn meal, and there was a bit of oil underneath as well. While eating this, my lips and tongue picked up a faint hint of oil too, suggesting that perhaps the dough got a light swirl or brushing with olive oil before going into the oven, or maybe the oil came from the sauce or the garlic, I don't know. Whatever its source, that might also account for the crust being a little less crisp than some, as oil will typically tenderize bread dough. But it certainly wasn't what I'd call a greasy crust, and with its breadlike flavor and texture, it was more than just a vehicle for the toppings.
Speaking of which, the sauce was of course the star here, and, consistent with the overall simplicity of this pie, it had a straightforward character, with enough herbs to add some flavor accents but not enough to get in the way of the bright flavor of the tomatoes.
The same held true with the Romano cheese. With its sharp flavor, a little Romano goes a long way, and Guida's wisely avoided overdosing this pie; again, a plate of pasta comes to mind, with a sprinkling, but not a dousing, of Romano on top.
Frankly, I would've been happy with just the sauce and Romano, but things get even better with the addition of garlic. The garlic stood well out from the background, completing the trinity of toppings, and was assertive without being harsh; there wasn't the unpleasant aftertaste that raw garlic or garlic powder can leave behind. Finish all that off with the thick, bready outer crust and you've got one very good pizza indeed.
Having said that, this pizza might not be for everyone. If your ideal pizza is one that's covered with thick, gooey cheese, or loaded with toppings, well, this isn't it. But if you're one of those people who likes to sop up your pasta sauce with a thick slice of chewy Italian bread, then you'll love this pizza. It proves once again that for all the pizza ads you see trumpeting topping-heavy pizzas, with pizza sometimes less really is more. I'll give this one an A-.
Guida's Pizzeria, 440 Empire Blvd., Rochester 14609. 288-0590
Mon-Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. noon - 10 p.m.
Other locations at 1837 Penfield Rd. in Penfield, 166 W. Main St. in Honeoye Falls, 964 Ridge Rd. in Webster, and 736 Elmgrove Rd. in Gates.

Lunch with Gramma and Schwartzkoff at Guida's

I've visited several Guida's locations now, and tried several varieties of their pizza, and I've been pretty consistently pleased with it. The crust is generally pretty good, and the flavor as well.
In my first-ever post on Guida's, in June '09, I liked my cheese slices, but wondered what the "Schwartzkoff" pizza was like. The Guida's sub of that name comes with ham, chicken, Swiss cheese, mozzarella, lettuce, onion, mayo, and sweet & sour sauce. They couldn't possibly put all of those items on a pizza. Could they?
Well, I recently returned to the Empire Boulevard Guida's, on a Friday, when word is you'll find the widest selection of slices. I picked up a Schwartzkoff slice, as well as a "Gramma's."
 The Schwartzkoff turned out to be a modified version of the sub. It was a white pizza with mozzarella, ham, onion and chicken, overlaid by a tangy, sticky sweet & sour sauce, something like a Rochester-style chicken wing sauce. The crust was the crisp, slightly charred crust that I've come to expect from Guida's. As for how it all worked, well, I probably wouldn't order this again, but not because of anything "wrong" with it. I just wasn't crazy about that particular combination of toppings. The honeyish sauce really dominated, and to me, pizza shouldn't be sticky. But is there a place for it in the pizza universe? Sure. Just keep some wetnaps handy.
I've been on something of a "grandma's pizza" kick lately, as this strikes me as a very traditional style, typified by tomato sauce and herbs with very little cheese. True to form, Guida's version was very heavy on the tomato sauce, which had a cooked-tomato flavor, with some herbs in the background. It was topped with a generous sprinkling of Romano, and that was about it.
Interestingly, though, the crust on the Gramma's was different from the Schwartzkoff, or indeed from any other Guida's pizza I've had. It was not as crisp, and had a more bubbly, browned underside. My guess is that it was pan-risen and -baked, which is perhaps another frequent characteristic of a grandma's pizza. I'm thinking that "grandma" would've been more likely to spread the dough out in a pan, let it rise, add some sauce and a sprinkling of cheese, and slide the whole thing, pan and all, into the oven to bake.
Both the crusts on these were medium thick, but the Gramma’s was a little softer. Both had a nice bready flavor, though, with a crunchy edge.
Neither of these pizzas would be an everyday pizza for me. Again, the Schwartzkoff was just a little too out-there, particularly with that sweet & sour sauce. And the Gramma's, while nice enough, didn't have the crisp crust that I like, and though sometimes less is more with pizza, just sauce and some Romano was, for me, a little too minimalistic. But they were both well made, and I appreciate their distinctiveness, so I'll give them both a B.
Guida's Pizzeria, 404 Empire Blvd., 288-0590
Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri & Sat 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. noon - 10 p.m.

Pizzeria Americana, Long Pond Road - Grandma's Pizza

Having recently done a post on Pizzeria Americana Ohana on Monroe Avenue, I decided that it was time to make a return visit to its erstwhile sister pizzeria on Long Pond Road in Greece. I say "erstwhile" because it's a word I don't get to use that often, but also because according to RocWiki, the two locations have been under separate ownership since 2007.
So, nearly a year and a half after my previous post on Kip's Pizzeria Americana, I returned there recently, primarily to try their version of "Grandma's" pizza. Prior to this, my only previous experience with this particular style of pizza was the Grandma's that I got from Joe's Brooklyn Pizza (although the Pizza Stop's meatball parm pizza is very similar, except for the addition of meatballs).
Kip's menu describes its Grandma's as consisting of "a thick crust with red sauce" and Romano cheese, topped with sausage, broccoli, and black olives." Contrary to that description, the crust on my pizza was not particularly thick, not that I'm complaining. The underside was crisp and nicely charred but not burnt, and the interior was bready.
Naturally, the sauce took center stage here. Yes, there is cheese, but since Romano has such a sharper flavor than mozzarella - and doesn't melt very well - it doesn't blanket the pizza, but is just added as more of a flavor accent.
The sauce on this was very tomatoey, with a slightly sweet, cooked-tomato flavor.
Next up, flavorwise, was the sausage, which was mild, with a pleasant, meaty flavor.
Despite its sharpness, the Romano stayed mostly in the background, as did the broccoli and olives. They were obviously visible, and I could taste them, but they came close to being overwhelmed by the sauce.
I also picked up a Margherita, which was pretty similar to the one I got at the Brighton location, except that Kip's used sliced rather than diced tomatoes, and the basil was not shredded as finely, nor was it as wilted from the heat of the oven as the Ohana Margherita. Again, this was not, as far as I know, a "classic" Margherita, which typically are topped with crushed tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil, but the flavors of the components here blended well together, with a prominent garlic flavor and the tangy low-moisture mozzarella forming a base for the fresh tomatoes and basil. The crust was crisp and bready.

As evidence of their common heritage, Kip's and Ohana share a lot of similar menu items, and there are still more specialty pizzas I'd like to try here, such as the "Rosemary," with olive oil, garlic, oregano, mozzarella, potato and rosemary, or the Mediterranean, with basil pesto, pine nuts, spinach, fresh tomato, mozzarella dn feta cheese.
Speaking of the menu, though, for whatever reason, the menu I picked up at Kip's last year lists 29 specialty pizzas, while the one I got this last time only has 19. The Grandma's doesn't appear on the newer menu, nor does the Mediterranean, although it does show up on the online menu.
I hope that doesn't mean that they're trying to phase out the Grandma's, because it was good pizza. Not an everyday pizza, or for everybody, but if you're a lover of red sauce, and don't mind a (nearly) cheeseless pizza now and then, you should enjoy this. With that nicely baked, crisp crust as a base, this was good enough to rate an A- from me.
Kip's Pizzeria Americana, 516 Long Pond Rd. (Carriage Stop Plaza) 227-9913
Mon. - Wed. 3 p.m. - 10 p.m., Thu. 2 p.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. 2:30 p.m. - midnight, Sat. noon - midnight, Sun. noon - 10 p.m.

Back to Brooklyn: Joe's Sicilian and Grandma's

I mostly try to avoid venturing into the cultural wasteland along Jefferson Road in Henrietta, but once in a while it can’t be helped. Fortunately, there is one oasis in that culinary desert, and that’s Joe’s Brooklyn Pizza.
I’ve written about Joe’s before, but I recently found myself in the area, so I took the opportunity to stop by Joe’s and try something different from my usual cheese slice. Instead, I got of Joe’s Sicilian slices, and one “Grandma’s” slice.
The Sicilian slice seemed like the same basic setup as a typical sheet pizza, but unlike most sheet pizza I’ve had, it wasn’t greasy. Compared with Joe’s thin, New York style slices, it was more chewy than crisp, but the crust had a pleasant bready texture and aroma. And while the typical sheet pizza has a hard edge with a “fried” crunch, the lip here likewise was more like a fresh breadstick. The sauce was thick and flecked with herbs, and the cheese was just a bit browned. All in all, it was like an improved version of sheet pizza.
The real standout for me, though, was the Grandma’s slice. This is made with the same thin crust as Joe’s more familiar New York style pizza, but is topped with tomato sauce, extra-virgin olive oil, diced garlic, basil, and romano cheese. It’s difficult, and would be pointless, to describe each of these components separately, because what made this so good was the way that the ingredients blended together. It shared what seemed to be the same thick, herbal sauce with the Sicilian slice, but rather than simply forming a layer between crust and cheese, the sauce took center stage, but blended with the other toppings so remarkably well that, to use a cliché, the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.
And then of course there’s that crust. Crisp yet chewy, not at all greasy, with a charred, toasty underside and gluteny, bready interior, it formed a perfect, complementary base for the sauce and other toppings. It really showed how great a pizza can be with relatively few, simple toppings. To resort to another cliché, it demontrated that with pizza, sometimes less is truly more.
Getting back to the Sicilian, I liked it well enough, though it didn't exactly make me a convert. I can appreciate the style, and though I'm no connoisseur I imagine this was a well made example, but for me, NY style remains the way to go. It may have something to do with the fact that Sicilian is baked in a pan, which doesn't yield the same crisp crust as a pizza baked directly on the oven floor.
The Grandma's, though, immediately jumped into the short list of my favorite pizzas. All those flavors - tomatoes, herbs, chunky garlic, that sharp romano tang, with the olive oil to bring it all together, and the crisp, bready crust underneath - damn, that was good.
As I mentioned in my previous Joe's review, Joe's is very similar to Pizza Stop, but the sauce at Joe's seems to have more of an herbal flavor profile than Pizza Stop's, which has a tomatoey brightness with a bit of natural acidity. For a regular NY style cheese slice (which to me is still my all-time favorite style of pizza, the one I fell in love with the first time I had the real thing in the City), I think I prefer Pizza Stop's. To me, a simple, straight-ahead tomato sauce is a better fit on a "plain" cheese slice, where it's essential to keep the three components - crust, sauce and cheese - in balance. But Joe's sauce worked beautifully on the Grandma's pizza, which I guarantee you I will be eating again. For that pizza in particular, but also for continuing to serve consistently good pizza in general, I'm bumping Joe's up to an A.
Joe's Brooklyn Pizza, 1100 Jefferson Rd # 23B. 424-5637
Mon. - Tue. 11 AM - 9 PM, Wed. - Sat. 11 AM - 10 PM, Sundays 12 AM - 8 PM