Brooklyn’s J & V Pizzeria Now Open in Midtown East

J&V Pizzeria
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.


J&V Pizzeria
Sometimes I’m in the mood for a white slice or a Sicilian slice and the day that I visited J&V, I was in the mood for both so I got both. Just by looking at the 2 slices, they looked pretty damn tasty.

J&V Pizzeria
The Sicilian slice ($2.75) had a nice crunchy bottom and sadly that was the only highlight of that slice. The crust was a little too dense and chewy. And I have to agree with Lunch’er Milkman about the sauce. It had potential but not enough flavor.

J&V Pizzeria
I’m sure if I had eaten this white slice ($3.50) when it came straight out of the oven, it would’ve been great. The flavors were totally there (unlike the Sicilian slice) and the slice tasted pretty good. But as with most white slices, it became tough and chewy once it cooled down. Also the crust had no taste at all which made me very sad because I love eating the crust.

It seems like J&V Midtown has real potential to become a great pizza place. The 2 slices I ate weren’t greasy at all and I didn’t feel disgusted afterwards for eating 2 slices. J&V Midtown made me curious about the original J&V in Bensonhurst, I may just trek out there for pizza. Also on the menu (picture above) they have a grandpa slice? What is a grandpa slice?!

The + (What somebody who likes this would say)

  • J&V in Bensonhurst is my favorite and now I don’t need to travel into Bensonhurst.
  • Not so greasy pizza, sure!
  • I have always prefered grandpa slices over grandma slices.

The – (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

  • The tomato sauce was bland.
  • The crust had no flavor.
  • I’m not going to pay more than 99cents for slices.

J&V Pizzeria, 805 3rd Ave. (btw. 49+50th) in the Basement 212-888-7755

7 Comments

  • Can’t read the menu without squinting. Ow ow ow.

  • So let me get this review straight… crappy crust + bad sauce = the place has potential?

  • holy $#!+!!!

    This is the pizza I grew up on! I grew up on 70th & 18th (my cousin owned a store across the street from Alba, and I lived on 65th st).

    Now, I havent really had a slice from there in like 2 decades [ I’m old :( ] but thats interesting that they opened up outside of bensonhurst. When I think of what pizza should be, I think of NYC. When I think of NYC Pizza, I think of J&V (from the 80’s).

  • I tried this place last week and the assessment in this post is correct. There is something off about the crust. It’s more of a bread than a crust.

    I got the Chicken ala vodka slice and a plain slice. Both were mediocre. The thick crust on the chicken slice might have been stale. I’m not sure, but it wasn’t right. It was kind of hard for a reheated slice. The chicken was cut too thin, so it was indecipherable, and the ala vodka sauce lacked flavor. Overall it was pretty bad. Sophie’s Cuban is in that building. They are a much better choice. There’s also a taco stand that looks interesting.

    There is something weird about the J&V thing there. The sign in the photo says G50. So did the uniforms on the workers. Is this really associated with J&V?

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