Midtown Lunch

From the outside, My Pie Pizzeria Romana doesn’t look like much. In fact, I’ve hurried by dozens of times without noticing it at all, since it almost blends in with its neighboring shops. But, once I walked into the tiny shop for one of their square slices, I was in love. And that’s something, considering the stiff competition in the pizza department in this city. There are several signs that will tell you they’re serving up homemade Romano-style pizza crust, which has no sugar, and they use flour imported from Italy. I was intrigued.

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Pizza joints don’t get me too enthused these days… especially after MJP’s fantastically written $1-Slice-O-Rama, it’s hard to seriously enjoy a slice at a $3-$4 price anymore. I had been walking by Uncle Paul’s Pizza (Vanderbilt btw. 45th + 46th) for several months, assuming it had either been covered by Midtown Lunch already, or it had faded into the fray of mediocre Midtown pizza joints. After I went on a Slice-O-Rama excursion with MJP a few months ago, I was inspired to research Uncle Paul’s to do a comparison, and I realized it was a fairly new pizza restaurant, only opened for a few months, that hadn’t yet been covered.

I’ll start off by covering the things about Uncle Paul’s that are gonna catch some hell…

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I can’t quite figure out why more people aren’t buzzing about Bella Napoli and their pizza. It was Brownie’s pick (she’s into their vodka slice) for the 2011 readers’ poll, even though the ML community favored Previti and Pizza by Cer Te. But Bella Napoli’s pizza has been consistently good for years now, and even though it’s on West 49th — a street with a lot of really good lunch options — it’s definitely worth ducking into. More specifically, look past all the pies covered with fancy toppings and go straight to the simple grandma slice.
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As much as we love a deal here at Midtown Lunch, the trend of cheap pizza has been a little bizarre to watch. Last fall, 2 Bros. popped up just doors away from Indian Newsstand (and pizza joint) Bombay and a price war ensued. Early this week, luncher ‘jonhack’ posted in the forums that Pizza King, Bombay’s pizza joint, was selling slices for 79 cents and that 2 Bros had responded by knocking their price down to 75 cents. As you can see from the photo above, it looks like Pizza King has matched their price. How far will this pizza brinksmanship go?!? Are we looking at 50 cent slices soon? Only time will tell.

Last week, Rachel announced the March specials at Certe and Pizza by Certe. This month’s pizza comes topped with spicy lamb meatballs, fava beans, goat cheese and sautéed minted cherry tomatoes. Certe, you had me at spicy lamb meatballs…but clinched it with goat cheese. Everything seems great on paper, but did the execution stack up?

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Good news for all lunchers looking for authentic Neapolitan pizza in Midtown – Don Antonio is open for business (on 50th btw. 8+9th Ave.)  The new pie shop boasts some serious culinary chops, as its owned by Roberto Caporuscio, the pizzaiolo in charge of Kesté, as well as Roberto’s long-time mentor, Antonio Starita of Naples’ Pizzeria Starita. While most of the pies are well above the $10 range, almost all of the restaurant’s calzones and paninis are at the $9-10 range. Serious Eats has a drool-worthy preview of the place, and we can’t wait to check the place out ourselves for lunch. And if anyone has tried Don Antonio’s, please let us know what you think in the comments.

Don Antonio, 309 W 50th Street (btw. 8+9th). 646-719-1043

Late last year, Uncle Mario’s Brick Oven Pizza (9th ave btw. 49+50th) opened to little fanfare and Yelp reviews ranging from overly enthusiastic to apathetic all the way to contemptuous. What else would you expect from a slightly gussied up version of a generic pizzeria like Abitino’s, the local chain owned by the same people? None of this made me eager to try it, but when I walked by and spied a macaroni and cheese pie, I felt compelled to investigate Uncle Mario’s world for myself. Here we go!

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Thanks to fellow Lunch’er pshinnyc for giving us heads up about J&V Pizzeria inside the same basement food court as Urban Lobster Shack on 805 3rd Ave. Their website said the original J&V is in Bensonhurst and has been making pizza since 1950. Reviews on Yelp seem to be mostly positive (if Yelp reviewers give good reviews, it must be good right?) I had high hopes that there might be more good pizza close to my work than just Previti Pizza.

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Crain’s announced earlier in the week that Roberto Caporuscio, co-owner of Kesté (one of my favorite pizzerias in the city) and Antonio Starita his mentor and owner of the oldest pizzeria in Naples, will open up a Neapolitan pizzeria called Don Antonio in the fall. It will be on 50th Street just west of 8th Avenue and will serve wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, those crispy, pillowy delights. Only two of the pies at Kesté are under $10, so I imagine this restaurant might also be a little out of our price range. But here’s hoping they offer some lunch specials. [via Eater]

When I passed by Harry’s Italian in the concourse at 30 Rock on Monday, I took a few other photos of the new shop. Get a closer look, including a menu shot, after the jump.

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