Flatiron Lunch: Forget the Pizza, Maffei’s Baked Stuffed Fish is Where It’s At
Now that Downtown has its very own section of the site, what are we going to post on Fridays at 10am? Answer… how about a new column devoted to those lunches just south of the ML boundaries. Please give a warm welcome to Jason Lam from the blog Me So Hungry. Every Friday at 10am he’ll post about lunches in Murray Hill south, Grammercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or as we’ll call it from now on: Flatiron Lunch.
Everybody loves pizza, and it’s not unusual to see my co-workers come back to the office from Maffei Pizza (on 6th Ave. and 22nd) with a Grandma slice. It’s very much your usual New York pizzeria –pizza, pastas, soups, and parmesan sandwiches. But what I think sets them apart is their baked stuffed fish.
Salmon or flounder with bread crumb stuffing, mixed shrimp and imitation crab meat. Some bites are delicious and buttery, some tasteless, dry or drowning in oil. Nonetheless, I can’t stop getting it. Perhaps it’s because of the heaping portions that include a side, for which I usually pick the best looking pasta that day. At $8.75, it’s at least two meals. Plus you get garlic knots or buttered bread. Carbo load! (BTW, Salmon > Flounder, IMO)
Of all the pastas I’ve seen them offer as a side dish the best pasta I’ve had there recently was the Gorgonzola Gnocchi. Dense creamy cheese sauce with a strong Gorgonzola aroma over the potato pasta dumplings. I can see it being a Mac N Cheese lover’s dream. Sadly, they don’t have this every day. I’ve only seen it once as a special, so good luck.
I’d pass on the lasagna and spaghetti & meatballs. Those are my favorite things in the world, but sadly it’s underwhelming here. I think it’s the meat filler, which makes for a spongy meatball.
Now here we’ll talk about the pizza. I was never a fan of Maffei’s pizza, which happens to be the local favorite of my co-workers. Could it be that I don’t understand New York pizza or at least pizza by the slice? I did grow up on Domino’s down South, and my best friend in high school crashed his Jeep Cherokee to get to Papa John’s. We agreed it was well worth it after we ate it. And when I moved to New York over seven years ago, I couldn’t wait to try Pizza Hut’s Big New Yorker pizza. What I found in New York is that you get a slice from a pizza that’s been sitting out for hours and then reheated. I’m used to the pizza that burns the roof of
your mouth because it’s just been cooked.
New York pizza –it took me a while to get it. I went into Maffei’s once and happen to get a fresh Grandma slice straight out of the oven. Okay, I got it in that brief moment and understood New York, the crust and its water. Maybe it’s all a matter of eating fresh pizza. Perhaps that’s part of the reason popular pizzerias are good –slices go as quick as they’re taken out of the oven. Makes sense.
Maffei’s is a well-rounded New York pizzeria with a loyal local following. You get what you expect. You’ll hear New York accents, a rarity these days in New York. They have a rug that says “Pizza.” The guys there are nice and generous. One time I handed my money and one of my quarters dropped into the marinara sauce. They told me to forget about it.
THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)
- I love hefty portions that can feed two or me twice
- I like a good ol’ local pizza shop.
- I’ve never met a grandma slice I didn’t like
THE – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)
- I don’t get New York pizza by the slice.
- Some of the standard pasta dishes are disappointing
- (Oh I forgot to mention) I don’t like the dry breaded chicken that’s occasionally in the pastas.
- I’m afraid to get that quarter Jason dropped into the sauce
[Post review thoughts: After writing this and thinking about all my past experience with Maffei's, that Gorgonzola Gnocchi is truly the only thing I can strongly recommend enough to walk those extra blocks for. Here's hoping one day they'll make it a daily or at least weekly standard, because I really think it's something special.]
Maffei Pizza, 688 6th Ave (@ 22nd St), 212-929-0949
Posted by The ML Team at 10:00 am, February 5th, 2010 under Flatiron Lunch.
35 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
35 Comments
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calm down Jay, it’s Friday.
the post is more about the baked fish, than the pizza.
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lol @jay for this line
“Wow, I’ve never read anything that so immediately disqualified someone’s culinary opinion so quickly.”
if you want a hot slice thats fresh you have to go to one of the one dollar places like 2Bros at 6th and like… 18th?
or if you really want to sample a good pizzeria pizza you have to order a pie (like you and your friends do at those fast food chain places because i have never heard of any of them serving pizza by the slice)
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Jay is absolutely right about the Maffei’s grandma slice, ie my favorite pizza in NY. It’s so popular that each pie disappears pretty quickly, keeping things fresh and toasty. those plum tomatos! the perfect crisp to the crust! steve, are you the foolio that wrote this?
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nope, my name is steve. not jason lam. read above the 1st pic.
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Zach is the best, and I would chip in on that ticket too in a heartbeat. Some of these “Replacement Zach’s” are definitely on the the JV team of food writing/photo taking, but we have to give them a chance…. I guess.
Maffei’s pizza rules! I hope to get them to deliver to me Sunday!
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I’m surprised he’s not recommending Sbarro’s.
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Hey guys, there’s a paragraph missing where I wrote how I finally understood the Grandma slice. So don’t let Maffei read this yet!
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To clear things up. I do like a fresh Grandma slice. Sbarro’s had the best food in a suburban mall in the 80′s. Disqualifying myself was classic, if only to mention Pizza Hut’s Big New Yorker pizza. But there was a paragraph missing that talks about how that’s in the past and I’ve learned to like New York pizza by the slice. Steve is my only friend here. Maffei is going to kick my ass.
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Sorry! I put the paragraph back in… don’t know what happened. Got deleted by accident?
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it felt like there was something missing!! he never went into eating the grandma slice.
I hate calling these “grandma slices”. it’s a SICILIAN! I don’t want to eat grandma.
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There’s Pizza Hut in NYC? Don’t they serve “Pizza Hut’s Big New Yorker pizza” outside of NY – isn’t that the point?
I loved Maffei’s when I worked nearby.
@Jayspec – Well said.
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We gotta give the new ML team a chance. I think they’re doing their best to keep Midtown Lunch going so give it time.
The mystery (salmon? flounder? with fake crab?) stuffed fish probably isn’t something I would order though. Is it really big enough to feed two? I can’t tell by the pic alone. If the portions are hefty, does it apply to the other standard pastas too?
I’m a chicken parm with pasta type of guy.And definitely learn “New York pizza by the slice” the best you can even if you’re not from NY and don’t like reheated slices. If you want it fresh and piping-hot, you will have to do pie or be nit-picky, wait til the dudes pull one out the oven for you. ;P
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A few years ago when I was working two blocks away from Maffei’s I use to eat there damn near every day. I agree that some of the dishes are hit or miss but the best thing on their menu will always be the shrimp parm. Those large, juicy and damn near beautiful shrimp covered an a nice thick sauce and topped with enough cheese to constipate an elephant…. I think I’ll have to stop there for dinner on the way home now.
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I used my early lunch break to hit the Best Buys a block a way, I had my first Maffei’s grandma slice and it was damn tasty! My slice had to be warmed up in the oven and but still was hot (but not piping hot) and was I able to taste the sweet tomatoes, gooey cheese all on top of a crisp and chewy crust.
Place was packed even before noon and every person there ordered a grandma slice, either by itself or with another slice.
Jason, whether you like NY pizza or not, thanks for the heads up!
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Looking at that slice made my mouth water.
If nothing else we found the person to review the forum post about whether Domino’s new pizza is any better.
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YEAH, I agree with StreetMeat!
Give the B-team a chance, for Pete’s sake,(whomever ‘Pete’ is). After all it took Zach a while to become a superstar.
P.S., I would also chip in for the return ticket, but why on Earth would ANYONE playing with a full deck want to leave California and move back to New Yawk City?
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I grew up in NJ and never heard the term “grandma slice” until I went to Bella Napoli on 49th yesterday for the first time. The pizza that people were calling grandma looked like a thin Sicilian slice. So I figured that’s what is was…A thin-style Sicilian slice. So grandma is just another name for Sicilian? Learn something new every day!
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Grandma slice is not just another name for Sicilian. Sure, both are square, but it’s what goes on top that’s supposed to be the difference. At any Long Island pizzeria I go to (partial to Umberto’s, like many others), I always order Grandma slices. I guess you can say it’s a level up in refinement (and price).
Zach discusses here: http://midtownlunch.com/downtown-nyc/2009/08/03/what-exactly-is-a-grandma-slice-anyway/
And here’s an active link to the original Newsday story Zach mentioned: http://www.exploreli.com/restaurants/feed-me-1.812004/grandma-pizza-the-full-story-1.825269
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I like the comments on the non-pizza options at Maffei’s. People should know that most of the options change daily. (The stuffed fish may not be available every day.) But they do give you a pile of food in those stuffed aluminum dishes. You can usually mix-and-match 3-4 things also–they’re very flexible about that. The meatballs are kind of springy, as Jason noted.
I also have to agree that pizza comments from someone who cites Pizza Hut, Papa John’s *and* Sbarro’s is highly suspect. Maffei’s regular thin crust slices are also really good–better than the average NY slice. Chicken parm subs are also good–no Labeleca, but decent.
Given the new “team” approach for ML, I plan to submit a few reviews of my own favorite Flatiron spots. Can’t hurt. I don’t have any other blog (I’m “ML Pure”), but I think I can do justice to a few local places. If anyone wants to join me on this, let me know. (It’s easier to sample and describe several dishes when there’s more than one person!)
Now here we’ll talk about the pizza. I was never a fan of Maffei’s pizza, which happens to be the local favorite of my co-workers. Could it be that I don’t understand New York pizza or at least pizza by the slice? I did grow up on Domino’s down South, and my best friend in high school crashed his Jeep Cherokee to get to Papa John’s. We agreed it was well worth it after we ate it. And when I moved to New York over seven years ago, I couldn’t wait to try Pizza Hut’s Big New Yorker pizza.
Wow, I’ve never read anything that so immediately disqualified someone’s culinary opinion so quickly.
Maffei’s Grandma Slice is a) not a typical New York slice, and b) an amazingly awesome alternative thereto. It’s legendary, and for good reason. I suppose it’s okay to dismiss one of the most popular foods in New York City, but to then compare Maffei’s utterly-unlike-that Grandma Slice to it? Have you ever even *seen* pizza?
Is it too late to chip in for Zach’s return ticket?