Midtown Lunch

I never made it to Battery Park City to check out Samantha’s which was apparently a bastion of good, authentic Italian food. They shuttered, and in its place Benvenuti opened. Pictures of all their fresh pasta and other various Italian goods caught my attention, as did the fact that they were really proud of their Sicilian pizza. So I resolved to trek across the West Side Highway (and through a bunch of construction sites) for my lunch and I wasn’t disappointed.

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If you were one of the people who got sad when the original Ray’s Pizza (no, really) closed on Prince St. btw. Mott & Elizabeth never fear because the replacement is not too shabby. The straightforwardly-named Prince St. Pizza opened just last week and specializes in square slices and rice balls. An inquisitive neighbor peppered the counter guy with questions while I was in there and I learned that they’re not messing around with anything healthy like salad. The lightest option you’re going to find is a thin-crust slice.

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I’m not quite sure why the stretch of Broadway bordering Tribeca is getting all of the $1 slice love, but those of us working elsewhere downtown are jealous. Roll and Go opened a location at Broadway & Franklin trafficking in pizza, gyro and breakfast sandwiches and last week Joey’s Pepperoni Pizza opened a block up the street at Broadway & White selling only slices and the odd Jamaican patty. I decided that cheap pizza was just what I needed for lunch and staged an impromptu matchup between the two places. One of them came out the clear winner, but you’ll have to click through to see what $2 worth of pizza looks and tastes like.

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There are times when you want a greasy New York-style slice and others when something more refined sounds good. Since we are lacking in fancy, affordable Neopolitan-style spots in the general downtown area, I decided to go check out the newish Piazza Seventeen on Cleveland Place (at Lafayette), purveyor of square Roman slices. When they first opened the gimmick was that you could buy slices of pizza and pay by the pound so I was curious as to how much pizza I could get for my $10 budget. My dreams were dashed when I stepped inside the small shop, heeding the call of the “Eat Pizza Here!” sign out front.  Read more »

There are so many pizza places downtown that I haven’t even begun to chip away at eating at all of them. While walking down Cedar St. between William and Pearl the other day I noticed a pizza place called Liberatos next to Pita Press and after deciding to go inside to take a look, couldn’t resist getting a couple of slices for research purposes. What I found was some decent pizza, and a great foundation.

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It’s hard to remember that Harry’s Italian Pizza Bar exists since it’s off the beaten path of Maiden Lane, down Gold St. on a short little stretch of Platt St. that’s only a couple of blocks long. In the summer eating there is a nice treat as there is plentiful outdoor seating and the lunch menu is vast and full of pizza, parm sandwiches and pasta (or macaroni, as the menu calls it). The only problem is that nearly everything except the sandwiches and a small calzone are $10 or more. Sometimes it’s nice to sit and have table service instead of eating on a bench or at your desk, but is the extra cost worth it? Read more »

If you like bar pies and work or live in Tribeca there’s good news. Eddie’s Pizza is going to have a cart parked at Greenwich & Reade streets starting next week selling the same bar pies, heroes and salads that can be found at their truck, including the $10 lunch special. The cart will be there Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. It’s part of the growing fleet of carts from Eddie’s that they first debuted at the ML Fifth Birthday Party back in June, and part of a trend as it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find street parking for food trucks.