Archive for 'Naples 45'

The Polpetini at Naples 45 is Tasty, But Way Too Small & Expensive

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Naples 45, which was voted “Best Pizza” in this year’s Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll, has entered the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge with a “Polpetini” sandwich (which just means mini-meatballs). When I first posted about the sandwich last week, commenters remarked (correctly) that a meatball sub wasn’t exactly “sandwich challenge” material, but a deal is a deal. So last week, I went to check out this “polpetini”, thinking that this better be the best meatball sub ever if they want to impress the Midtown Lunch eating public…

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Naples 45 Introduces a Polpetini to the Sandwich Challenge:

Posted in the comments, and confirmed by the restaurant: Naples 45 (on 45th btw. Mad+Park) is now serving a "Polpetini: Neapolitan meatballs, mozzarella cheese, provolone cheese and basil.  The price at the take out counter is $8.95, and on the sit down menu it’s $9.95." Hmmm.  $9 for what sounds like a standard meatball sub? This better be a damn good sandwich, or we may have our first Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge loser. Early adopters, please report back.

Free Topping at Naples 45: Eater reports that Naples 45 (on 45th btw. Park+Mad) is offering a free topping on any regular or large pizza as a special recession deal. This, of course, is in addition to their standard late lunch special: after 2pm, slices are all $1.75 ($2.50 with a soda.) And it looks like the restaurant is already flaunting their ML Readers' poll victory... at least I'm guessing that's why the post calls them "Midtown's Top Pizza."

Naples 45 Responds to Outrageous Price Hike Accusations

Wednesday I allowed a Midtown Lunch’er to air his grievance against Naples 45 (on 45th btw. Mad+5th), a restaurant that has raised the price of their after 2pm slice special twice in the past year.  The restaurant responded yesterday with an email of their own:

Dear Zach,

The article about Naples 45 posted [Wednesday] on Midtown Lunch saddens us, as the afternoon slice discount has always been a program of goodwill towards the community.The price of flour has gone up four times over the past 12 months, and the dollar is at a record low against the Euro — which means that the Italian ingredients that we import to make our authentic Neopolitan pizza (San Marzano tomatoes, Italian low-gluten wheat flour) have gone up multifold. We have been forced to raise the price of the afternoon special slice to $1.75 from $1.25 (available after 2 PM).

But we are still keeping the price at under $2 — whereas elsewhere in the city slices have similarly gone up and many charge up to $3 (see a recent article in The New York Times here.)

Patina Restaurant Group

It’s all fun and games until somebody gets saddened.  All Some kidding aside though, as much as I’d like to get sarcastic and tear this email to shreds, I do feel bad for these restaurants who are forced to find a balance between the rising cost of goods on one side, and cheapo bastards with blogs on the other side.  It also helps to know that commenters will probably do it for me. 

Airing of Grievances: Naples 45 & Woorijip Sushi Scam

I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to vent. Every once in awhile I’ll share some of the more angry useful emails I get in a post called “Airing of Grievances”. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)

Pepperoni Pizza @ Naples 45, Midtown NYC
Naples 45 Pizza Deal. Photo taken (what seems like) 17 years ago.
 

While Z Deli was rolling back the prices on their slice, it appears as if Naples 45 was doing the opposite. Originally you could get a $1.25 slice after 2pm at Naples 45.  At some point it was raised to $1.50, but now it appears as if the price has increased again.  And this guy sounds super pissed: 

“Needed a quick pizza fix and remembered your mention of this late lunch special. Guess what?? The price was $1.70… $1.90 with tax. True, it was tasty… but the ‘magic’ is definitely gone. And I’m sorry, the price of oil to blame is bogus.. they are just milking the attention your site gave ‘em. That’s my opinion. Even worse, I’m still hungry. Grrrrr.”

Dude… don’t blame this shit on me. It *is* probably this country’s dependence on foreign oil. Yeah, that sounds right.

Woorijip’s new sushi subterfuge, after the jump…  Read more »

Naples 45 (aka The Pizza Deal of the Century… if you can hold out)

As you can tell, lunch time is very sacred for me.  I am definitely not one of those “whenever I have time to go” kind of lunch people.  With me, it’s more of an “Only 17 minutes left until the socially acceptable lunchtime of Noon” kind of thing.  I still don’t understand how people can forget to eat lunch.  I don’t care how busy I am, I could never forget lunchtime.  In fact, if I haven’t eaten by 1pm, there’s a decent chance I’ll just pass out.  I’ve never tested this theory, but I’m pretty sure that’s what would happen.

Of course, there are occasions when I do go for a “late lunch”.  Usually these days coincide with times when there is some sort of free food in the kitchen to serve as a mid-morning snack, or I’ve eaten a late or extra large breakfast.  On these days, I get to take advantage of all the late lunch specials that midtown has to offer.  If you can wait to eat, there are some great deals to be had in Midtown and hands down, my favorite is Ho Yip.  I have a soft spot for cheap chinese food, and I love by the lb. buffets- but the price always kills me.  Ho Yip solves this by lowering their price after 2:15pm.  A great deal, and my favorite place to eat a late lunch.  I’ve also heard that alot of chain delis charge less for pre-packaged sandwiches at a certain time.   

A few months ago, a reader tipped me off to another one of these late lunch specials.  Naples 45, a nice sit down pizza place in Midtown, lowers their take out slices to $1.25 after 2pm.  For months I have been waiting for an opportunity to take advantage of this deal… and finally last week I was looking for something to eat around 2pm- so I headed over to Naples 45 to check it out.

What I found, pizza porn and the +/- after the jump… Read more »