Brooklyn's Brick Oven Pizzeria

A descendant of Patsy’s in Harlem and Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, this joint uses the same coal-burning brick ovens set to 1,000° the same way they did in the 1930s. Despite cooking at that insanely high temperature, the pizza is still surprisingly soft & doughy with virtually no crisp. The dough is very similar to a zeppole in texture and taste, which is not a bad thing, it’s just not crispy. Essentially a Margherita style pie, the ingredients are outstanding. Deliciously sweet & tangy sauce with plenty of zip rests atop exquisitely fresh house-made whole milk mozzarella in kind of an upside down pie. Super fresh, melty & creamy, this is some of the tastiest cheese you’ll ever find on a pizza. Overall, this is right on par with Grimaldi’s pies, which has basically become an upscale chain pizzeria since being franchised. The lack of crisp & relative softness of the dough is really the only thing holding this pizza back from reaching the 9s. I’ll order well-done next time and see if that changes things. But this is as close to authentic Brooklyn pizza as NJ gets.