Polpettina

Opened in 2011 by chef Michael Abruzese, who brings a ton of experience from the restaurant business, including stints at Westchester pizzerias Catania’s in Yonkers & the legendary Johnny’s of Mount Vernon, one of my all-time favorites. Paying homage to Johnny’s thin & crispy pies, Polpettina (which is Italian for little meatballs), created their own razor thin signature style which is a cross between Neapolitan pizza & a bar pie. Truly one of the thinnest pizzas I have ever seen that isn’t 100% thin crust bar pie, this pizza is uniquely textured, unbelievably firm & sturdy designated in a no flop zone. Ultra crispy & crunchy from the tip of each slice all the way down to the light & airy crust. Beautifully blackened with a remarkably charred undercarriage & smokey flavor that dominates the overall taste of the pie. The entire pizza is feather-light with the Neapolitan football style crust being the thickest component. A thinner crust would lean more towards a bar pie instead of this uniquely crisped Neapolitan pizza composition…a wood-fired appearance with coal-fired consistency & taste. Because the dough is so incredibly thin, the other ingredients are also light & thin to match, which I could see being an issue for those looking for a heartier & more filling pizza. The cheese is a paper thin smattering of mozzarella coating the dough tightly, rigidly textured like bar pie cheese but also quite tasty despite the lack of creaminess. Also in line with the thin layers of cheese & dough is the uber light dispersion of sauce. Rather simple & not a particularly sweet blend, the sauce is mildly seasoned & seemingly brushed atop the cheese in upside down fashion. While melding well with the mozz, the sauce is overshadowed a tad by the blackened smokey char flavor from the dough. The cheese-to-sauce ratio is on-point for a pizza of this thickness; but the flavors need a bit of a boost to overpower the pungent char taste. For those who prefer more mozzarella & sauce, I can see why this is a polarizing pizza; but for crisp-lovers like myself, the thinness & texture of this pie is an absolute dream. The crisp & crunch is so outstanding, the cheese & sauce are essentially ancillary, as this pizza combines the best attributes of Neapolitan & bar pie styles. This uniquely delicious creation is very rare; most Neapolitan pies are too soft, while the average football pizza is too heavy. This hybrid signature style is like a fancier bar pie with travel-worthy taste & texture. One caveat: this pizza doesn’t travel or reheat too well; best eaten on sight or within a few minutes of being placed in the box.

Right around the corner from Roma in Tuckahoe, Polpettina is a much newer pizzeria/restaurant opening about 10 years ago and it's obviously influenced by Johnny's (Mount Vernon). It's a sauce on top, cheese on the bottom pizza. It's fairly expensive. Probably $23 for this small with added pecorino and basil (Get it Brooklyn option). Crust was well done without asking, no flop on sight, and yet saucey, with deli slices of mozzarella on the bottom. I had no real criticisms of this outside of the sauce not being that flavorful. It's really a good crust. Crispy but not to the point of being dry crunchy. Well done but not burnt. Flavor added with the basil and mocroplaned pecorino on top. Dave later said he underscored them a bit. But for me without the the added basil and pec I think his score is about right. This is a high 7, low 8. My favorite two spots in Westchester are Baci's in Montrose and Pizza Fenice in Pelham, and they're both somewhat better than this. I've still got several higher profile Westchester spots to hit up, but this will likely make my Top 15 or 20 in the county.

Literally the worse pizza we have ever had. And it was just the Neapolitan that was given such a great review of 8.2!. $27 for a piece of thin cardboard with barely any sauce or cheese. No flavor. Trader Joe's frozen Pizza's are much much much better. Asked for a Diet Coke and they served me some off-brand diet cola in a bottle that they charged $5.50 for. Johnny's, Roma, Patsy's and Pizzeria LaRosa are 100x better.

Totally different type of spot but the classic pizza did remind me of Johnnys. Very crispy, light sauce, maybe just half a notch worse. Here though the special pies are very creative and all the apps and dishes are high end, quality ingredients. My type of spot

Above average bar pie. Real nice place

Really good pizza, really good atmosphere, great location. Way better than sals👏

Perfect crisp with zero flop. Sauce is delicious and tangy, entire slice way above average. Crust is cooked well but a little bland. Still outstanding from top to bottom.

Very cool little spot here, and it has a bar ~ does it get any better?? Ay oh. Pizza was very good. I did NOT get anywhere near the no flop Dave got when he came.. but overall, very good. Thin, with a lil crunch after the first bite (does that make sense? 🤔) ~ I wonder if it matters that I got the small instead of the regular size. Anyway, very good. Highly recommended for the taste and the atmosphere. Will be back!

Thin crust but doesn’t look it. Excellent sauce and flavor

Tremendous crust. Could use more sauce, but great slice.

This beautiful looking pie costed me $23, but worth every penny. This was their small pie, but I could easily have eaten the whole thing alone. The crust, sauce and hint of cheese was all straight heavenly to me. This reminds me of a wood fired version of a pie from Johnny's of Mt Vernon. A must have

Vodka pizza was delish!!

Like Dave and many of you, I love pizza! For many years, I eat it at least 3x a week. Having watched literally all of Dave's reviews over the years, and living in New York, I will travel to all of his 8.0+ scores in the tri state area. FYI, Dave and I probably share similar opinions between 55 and 60% of the time.. I am definitely a much tougher critic, as I don't get caught up in the personalities of the owners, which, particularly as of late (I'm sorry to say), impacts Dave's scores substantially, Let's face it, none of us are traveling long distances to make friends. We're traveling to eat good pizza! As far as Polpettina, the owner is a former pizza maker at John's in Mount Vernon, which I really enjoy (8.4), but whatever he learned working there, he clearly left it behind. Unlike John's of Bleecker, Papa's Tomato Pie, and Defara's, (just to name a few) where eating the crust, is of itself a treat. Polpettina, fails miserably. While thin with a decent crisp, it is far from tasty. The sauce, which for me is the key to any great pizza, is about as bland as it gets. In fact, it has no taste whatsoever. If you live locally, I can understand coming here as it is definitely people friendly, and has a cool trendy vibe to it,...but if it's good pizza you want and are traveling for ...don't bother coming here. New Haven isn't that much further away. My "TAKES MORE THAN 1 BITE SCORE"...I struggle to even give Polpettina a 6.9!

Reminds me of Johnny’s in Mt Vernon, had the grandma too Also 8.1

Excellent pizza!

Great Neapolitan pizza. Some of the best you’ll find in west Chester.

Good crust and sauce but could use some more cheese.