Midtown Lunch

Papa Perrone’s has not made a visit to Midtown in at least a year now. He’s found a bit more success downtown and in Williamsburg over the last few months, but word on the street is that owner JohnPaul has sold his truck and the Papa Perrone truck as we know it is sadly no more. Thankfully, his rice balls live on. You can find them at Jianetto’s Pizza truck daily and at certain days on the Valducci’s Pizza truck. Based on his Twitter feed, JohnPaul is hoping to eventually distribute the rice balls across the country. But the truck itself will surely be missed around these parts…

Last week, I found myself in a lunch conundrum. I hadn’t brought anything from home and I was bored of my old standby quick lunches. To further complicate matters, it was Friday during Lent, so no meats for me. Much hemming and hawing ensued until I heeded the siren call of the Midtown Lunch Twitter Tracker and hit up Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck (on 47th btw. Park+Mad) to check out their vodka slice.

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Wafels & Dinges isn’t the only truck in Midtown to make some New Year’s changes. The Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck (on 45th btw. Park+Mad) has added some new items to their menu for the first time in… well… as long as I can remember. The biggest news is, they’re now serving proper torpedo shaped chicken and meatball parm heroes. (The original versions were served on these smaller round rolls.) And, in a Papa Perrone twist of student schooling the teacher, they will make the hero on garlic bread for an extra $1. In addition to the sandwiches, they’ve also added a fresh mozzarella vodka pie, a chicken vodka roll, and a pepperoni roll.

Related:
Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck (Original Post 8/28/06)
Papa Perrone Will Put Any Hero You Want on Garlic Bread

For those who didn’t realize that there are actual ovens in the famous Jiannetto’s Pizza Trucks, proof came yesterday in the form of a lunchtime fire that was large enough to draw the NYC fire dept.  I got this on site account from Lunch’er “Alan” yesterday afternoon:

I went to lunch at about 2:00 and wanted some Jiannetto’s pizza only to find it mobbed with firemen dousing it with water. The fire seemed to be out by the time I got there. I left the scene at about 2:15 and they were pretty much tearing the truck apart inside making sure the fire did not spread anywhere. I heard someone say it started from a small oven fire which could of been put out by a fire extiguisher which they did not know if they had in the truck.

Papa Perrone’s (on 55th btw. Mad+Park) is fine, but it’s no replacement for Jiannetto’s- which has at least two trucks, possibly three, so I’m guessing there will be no interruption to service on 47th btw. Park+Madison, but I don’t know that for sure.

What can I write about Pizza that hasn’t already been written? 

1.  The history? Pizza is not Italian.  At least not originally.  Started in Greece… no tomatoes… Queen Margherita… colors of the Italian flag… WWII… Italian Immigrants… Pizza Hut… 30 minutes or your pizza is free… Mexican Pizza at Taco Bell.  I covered everything right?

2.  The best pizza in New York?  I don’t even want to start that argument…

3.  Tourists visiting New York eat at the worst pizza places.  How else do you explain the existence of a Sbarro’s in Times Square?  (It still amazes me every time I walk by that place and there are people eating in there)

The list could go on and on.  The simple fact is, I’m not a pizza aficionado.  Don’t misunderstand this for pizza hate… I love pizza just as much as the next guy- I’m just not a connoisseur.  I guess some places are better then others, but I can’t really pinpoint exactly what I love and hate about each slice.  If you’re into that sort of thing, there are plenty of blogs that talk about pizza… and only pizza.

But the truth is, pizza is one of those things that has so many different varieties that trying to determine the “best pizza” is futile… because everyone likes something different.  You’ve got deep dish, thin “New York” style pizza, Sicilian, pizza with tons of toppings, pizza with no toppings, crunchy crust, floppy crust… it’s no wonder people love to argue about this crap.

Anyway, when talking about great pizza in Midtown, one name comes up all the time:   Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck.  I finally went last week to check it out, and found an amazing slice of “pizza” that will find just as many haters, as lovers.

The pictures, +/- and more… after the jump.

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