Opened in 2018 by brothers Cosimo & John Tiso who bought the legendary Louie & Ernie’s Pizza in the Bronx when they were just 17 & 20 years old respectively. If you’ve ever had Louie & Ernie’s pizza before, you’ll notice this pie is strikingly similar with nearly identical ingredients & texture; essentially the same traditional, round, gas oven New York style football pizza. Thinnish & fairly firm, the undercarriage of the dough is coated in semolina seeds to help prevent moisture buildup & keep the pie from sticking in the oven. Rather soft & lacking crisp, the dough has above-average taste with subpar texture, providing a decent base; but the bulk of the crunchiness comes from the crust. The cheese is an extremely pungent & very sharp shredded mozzarella blend with an overpowering taste that dominates the overall flavor of the pizza. Melted well, the consistency of the mozz is creamy; but the truly overwhelming flavor within the cheese is the excessive black pepper, the prevailing flavor of the pie. The visible specks near the center provide a significant amount of spice, kick & punch, popping you right in the mouth upon first bite, swimming in a moderate amount of grease that doesn’t interfere with the other ingredients too much. More vibrant near the crust, the sauce is a bit overshadowed by the strong cheese flavor & the omnipresence of pepper. Not especially sweet, the tomato sauce blend is more savory than salty with modest seasoning also conquered by the spicy pepper. All in all, this a solid, neighborhood, Friday night, spiced-up NY football pizza, very close to Louie & Ernie’s, just a notch below with excess pepper & much less oregano. A crispier, more well-done pie with the pepper dialed back has potential to score much higher. This is pretty good pizza as is; but there’s plenty of room for improvement.
