La Manda’s Restaurant

OK, here we are. On a nice Thursday. Great pizza review with my family. Always wanted to do this place. Unfortunately my buddy Brad passed away and im a tad sad. Lets go. Wiffle ball baby. Good crunch, great undercarriage, zero flop. No grease. No way this is a 5.9.

This historical restaurant dates back to 1934 when it was known as Albanese’s. Joe La Manda took over in 1947 and eventually sold the joint in 1967 to new owners, keeping the name of this brick oven, cash only, bar & pizzeria. In old school fashion, they’re closed on Mondays & Tuesdays; and they don’t open until 4pm Wednesday through Sunday. The OneBite community gives this place a collective 8.1, while Portnoy scored it a damning 5.9, driving my expectations all over the map going into the review. When I first opened the box, I was overcome with dread. Aesthetically, this pie looks like an abomination scoring between a 1 & 2, pale & sloshing with an oily discharge, like a crying ghost, abysmally unappetizing. The box was also incredibly heavy, likely from the 7 lbs of mozzarella, smothering the entire pie like a blanket and sweating all over itself. While it may look like grease, it’s actually moisture from the extremely thick and massive amount of mootz, pouring sweat like Tony Soprano walking up 12 flights of stairs on a 90-degree day. The moisture is pooled and rolling around the surface, cascading and gushing down each slice. The dough is soft, floppy and soggy, not nearly firm or crispy enough to handle the hefty weight of the cheese, despite the undercarriage caked in flour that’s supposed to prevent moisture buildup. And even though the mozzarella is creamy and flavorful, it just swallows up the entire pie. Entirely too much cheese suffocating the pizza; it needs to be dialed back significantly. The crust is the only salvageable part of the dough, in both texture and taste. As if the excess mozzarella mayhem wasn’t enough, the sauce is completely MIA…not an ounce on the pie. All I can see and taste is flimsy dough and highly moisturized mootz. This is un-sauced, tomato-less, pale white pizza. I was so full from just one slice, it had felt as if someone melted a block of mozzarella and poured it down my throat. Good pizza often lives and dies by the quality & quantity of the sauce; so this was massively disappointing. I have nothing but respect for the history of this establishment; but the pizza here is a poorly constructed atrocity. I’m not sure who is giving out these ludicrously high scores; but Portnoy’s assessment is accurate.

Outstanding pie. Light on sauce. Excellent cheese. Could’ve had more crisp. Definitely better than Dave gave it credit for.

Huge Westchester review. Old school joint, old school pie. Super simple, very thin crust, and well-cooked. A tad oily, a tad under-sauced, and a bit of a dry crust combined to prevent 8+ glory but overall major complaints here. 10/10 tomatoes would eat again

Crispy thin crust great cheese. Only complaint it’s a little oily

Top pizza in Westchester. Right there with Johnny's. Professional score....9.1 all day

Too much cheese...

Sauce and cheese are very good. Tastes like bread not pizza crust.