Pizzeria La Rosa

Excellent pizza, even better atmosphere!!!

Very thin, almost too crispy undercarriage. Sauce had a very pronounced and overwhelming oregano flavor. Cheese was fresh but had a neutral taste.

“Crispy, cheesy, so good!”

This is only the 4th nine I have given and it is well deserved, this place is super duper good and should be more recognized within the pizza community. The only other nines I have given are Johns of bleekers, johnnys Mount Vernon, and di fara. This place tasted a lot like Johns of bleekers from the flavor of the brick oven to the undercarriage. They both had little to no flip, however the basil adds much more flavor than johns.This gets the same score I gave johns and I have made well over 20 reviews. 9.1

😋

I’m closer to Dave’s score on this one. This is a Frank Pinello joint of Best Pizza and VICE fame. The tartness of the sauce, heavy char, lack of much basil or any naturally “sweet” note on this pizza added up to a flavor profile I only thought was okay. I’m gonna get dissed over the “heavy char” comment. I like New Haven style apizza. Look at my Frank Pepe and Sally’s scores. I always order a pie well done. But I felt what I got must’ve picked up a lot of the ash and soot of earlier pies in a bad way. That charred flavor overwhelmed the rest of the pie, particularly because it wasn't offset my anything on the pizza except the chersr. The pie I got leans heavily on savory flavor, despite other reviewers talking of San Marzano sauce. You do get milky fresh mozzerella though with does add an element of creaminess and olive oil, which can vary in flavor but it helps carry taste and helps protect the cooked basil. It's best to look at this like a Napolitana type margherita but on a flat New York style crust. So the crust is doesn't have to the delicate chew of a Napolitana that a lot of Americans don't like but I do for that style. Here that makes for a crispy and moderate chew, which is fine. Sauce is looser though not watery. It's tart and I'd've liked it better simmered where it leaned into it's savoriness more in seasoning or naturally sweeter with just raw well picked tomatoes. I'd like to come back to try other pizzas or it may just be that Best Pizza is more up my alley.

I’m going to have to agree with Dave here. 7.9 without looking. You can taste the quality ingredients. More in the saucy side, but slamming good

Even though they’ve only been open since 2017, there is a true old school vibe to this joint. That vibe definitely emanates from their “Peterson oven” that dates back to the 1920s when this place was a bakery. The owners renovated and restored this 100-year old baking oven and converted it into a wood-burning oven, with temperatures as high as 850° and making it possible to cook pizzas in as fast as 2 to 3 minutes. The wood-fired pies served here are 14” Neapolitan style, slightly bigger than personal sized pizzas, certainly shareable. Their Margherita pie is a mix of San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil, salt & extra virgin olive oil. The dough is light, fluffy, and crispier than the average wood-fired pie, with nice char on the crust and a very tasty, smokey flavor. The crust has exceptional crunch & crisp, some of the best wood-fired crust I’ve ever had. The fresh mozzarella cheese is thin and light, spread around the pie in splotches, melted very well with just enough creaminess to meld with the dough. Thanks to the San Marzano tomatoes, the sauce is very sweet, bursting with flavor, carrying the pie to an extent but all of the ingredients work well together to make for a delicious pizza. The fresh basil definitely accentuates the flavor of the sauce, while the oregano dulls the sweetness a bit. I think a dusting of Parmesan or pecorino Romano would be better than oregano, which interrupts the flow of the flavor, to neutralize the sweetness instead. Overall, this is really good Neapolitan style pizza and definitely defies the odds of generic wood-fired pies lacking in crispness. The tasty thinnish dough combined with the outstanding crispy crust puts this pie on another level. If you’re a fan of Neapolitan style pizza, this is a travel-worthy destination in a very cool, little hidden spot of New Rock.

Sorry but Dave undermined this one. I’ve tried their margarita pie and their vodka pie..both phenomenal. To my surprise, the vodka is my favorite of the two. The slices are small. Extremely tasty...very little flop, and the crust is to die for. It’s a bit charred with that brick oven taste..just the way I like it. It’s a light pie..it almost feels as if the box is empty when you carry it out. Great experience. The only downside is the location sucks. It’s on a small narrow street with zero parking which is like 100 feet long and 10 feet wide. Have to park in the auto zone and walk in. It’s a bit pricey for a daily fairly small pie. It’s worth the try though..very good. Just order on line and pick it up. You won’t regret it.

Heaven

For my 150th review, I tried La Rosa. Very good. Good crisp and delicious char. Sauce is light on flavor (could just use a little salt), but very fresh and high quality. Light on cheese, which I like. I didn’t love the little bit of oregano that was sprinkled on top, but it seemed to be fresh (not dried), so it was not a deal breaker. I wanted a little more basil. Must be eaten fresh. A few minutes in the box kills this pizza. The eggplant pie was better than the plain, and the arugula salad was a 9.6. Amazing lemon dressing.

Nice people, tasty pizza, not too expensive

One bite everybody knows the rules. Solid pizza all around. Very good especially if you like thin crust pizzas. The addition of basil without asking was great. The sauce was very tasty and had some tang, but you could definitely tell it was fresh. Additionally the sausage was very tasty, better than the sausage at most pizza restaurants. The crust was thin, crunchy, and delicious. It was a pretty firm piece of pizza and had little to no flop. The only negative was that it was a little greasy. Also, some cheese did slide off when you picked up slices, but not a lot. Solid pizza definitely very fresh so I’d say 7.7.

Margherita pizza and a can of Coke, $18 and change, 1:30pm on a Friday Pros: Artful looking pie, cooked beautifully with nice char spots on the crust. Undercarriage tasted like a Frank Pepe pizza, great oven char flavor. Delicious fresh mozz Cons: Not a crispy slice yet not much flop either, making for instead a slightly tougher tear than average. Still within reason. Verdict: Overall a great pie, better than the vast majority of pizzas, even in this pizza rich region. Might be an 8, if I didn't get it to-go or struggle to find a parking spot for 10 minutes when picking up. Sorry, Bank of America. Thanks for not towing my vehicle.

Excellent pizza, even better service.