Friday, August 28, 2009

Fivo Pizza: "Ooooh, that looks gooood"

That's what Kevin said when we got our slice. By the time we got to Fivo Pizza, we had eaten 7 slices already and were NOT in the mood for another, but since we were right there, we decided to just go for it. First things first, this place looked amazing:


No sign anywhere mentioning the name of the place. Just a simple facade and neon letters in the window. This pizzeria does not need to try to impress anyone. Because the slice is so damn good. Check it out:


I was just talking with a buddy the other day about the possible drawbacks of this whole venture. The week prior I went to nine places or something, and none of them had a totally amazing slice. I started thinking that maybe I had developed some notion in my head of what that perfect slice might be, and it was based more on childhood nostalgia than real life. Maybe I was on an impossible mission. The mythic, perfect pizza in my head didn't even exist in the real world, and all I could possibly do by continuing my journey would be to disappoint myself and possibly ruin all the potential Good Pizza in the world by trying to get it to measure up to some unreachable standard. I thought perhaps I was using the same mechanism that our culture uses to try and make women hate themselves as a weapon again one of my only true loves, pizza.

But then I ate this slice. And GODDAMN! Everything was perfect. Salty enough, sweet enough, tangy enough. The textures were unbelievable. Perfect crunch on the bottom, halfway congealed cheese on top, a squirt of sauce in the middle but nothing too drippy. I didn't want to eat any more pizza when I got to Fivo, and by the time I was done I almost ordered a second slice. I will definitely come back to this place.

Fivo Pizza
804 W 187th St
New York, NY 10033-1218

9 comments:

  1. im from australia. ive been to NYC once, and i tried pizza at a few places, none of which were amazing. im coming back, and im trying this place, thanks for the heads up. love the blog so far.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Damn. You've got me thinking of trekking up to 187th from 67th. Go Slice Harvester Go.

    ReplyDelete
  3. peccato che non abbia affatto l'aspetto di quello che io considero VERA pizza.
    Ninte di personale, sono solo italiana!
    ;-)

    Unfortunately this slice has not the aspect of the REAL pizza.
    Nothing personal, I'm only italian!
    ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous, when he refers to "real pizza," must be referring to Neapolitan Pizza. Well, I've heard that Neopolitan pizza can be life changing to us statesiders, if you eat it in Naples, but I think that most New Yorkers find the crust too soft in the middle.

    I, personally, have eaten pizza with the VPN logo at a couple of places in DC and elsewhere. (VPN, I forget what it stands for, is a kind of Neopolitan trade association that gives its logo to a select few restaurants that cook pizza in a very specific way, hand rolled dough, wood fired brick oven, and pay a fee to the association. And yes, it is mighty mighty good, but I certainly woundn't call it "real pizza." It's a style of pie, much like New York Pizza is.

    There is also New Haven style, Chicago, California (yuck). Being that New York style has been around successfully for about one hundred years, I don't think Italians can lay claim to making pronouncements like this.

    Obviously I disagree with you, and also would hesitate to guess that you haven't even tried the slice that you are dissing. I look forward to going to this place when I get a chance.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have visited 7 of the recommended places, but this is my first disappointment. Crust was crispy as reviewed, but slice was too salty and dried up.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i have no idea where you went, but it couldn't have been fivo's. my husband is from wash hts, his mom still lives there - and that is the worst pizza either of us has ever had. i always said there's no such thing as bad pizza, until i tried fivo's.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Jessica from the BronxJanuary 11, 2012 at 5:09 PM

    I went to all 7 places and Fivos Pizza was the BEST!! I had 3 slices & took a pie to go, & still I was craving more! One of the best pizzas I've eaten in NY.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Eaten pizza all over NY, Fivo's is the Best! Their calzones are a must try!!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wow, talk about personal preferences, absolutely the worst pizza in the neighborhood (outside of the chains, of course). I live here and never eat the stuff.

    ReplyDelete