There is something that gets really feral about the outskirts of Times Square. Something that calls to mind the Times Square of the past, a time when it was a rugged wasteland where teen runaways consorted with radio DJs, a time when men were men. Italia Mia is sandwiched in between one of those strip clubs you always see billboards for when you ride bikes over the Pulaski Bridge, and one of those ubiquitous Times Square electronics shops. Where you can buy a stolen mp3 player or laptop, a statue of liberty snowglobe, or a tiny license plate that says "Fuggedaboutit," the latter of which I need for my bike. I'm not sure how much my slice cost because I bought a fancy bottle of water too and the whole thing was $8.75. Oy vey! The water didn't even have any bubbles. I'm gonna guess the slice was $2.75 but if I'm wrong, you can try and take me to court for the difference you fucking jerkoff, get outta here!
I wish this slice was incredible. I really do because this place was incredible. This slice has perfectly reasonable sauce and cheese. Maybe even great cheese, but the problem lies almost entirely in the dough. This is an instance of not enough yeast/not enough rise time. As thin as this dough is, it should not be so dense. Once again, I will equate the sensation of biting into a slice of this style with biting into a piece of corrugated cardboard. It is unpleasant. However, I will still come back here and hang out and watch people if I am in the neighborhood, because this place is insane, but instead of pizza I'll get a chicken parm or something.
The space here is a long corridor that widens out towards the back end. Along the counter there are a number of neon signs advertising people and things. "PERONI BEER," "CAPPUCINO," "CASHIER," and then, perplexingly, "RAGES". And it doesn't look like RAGES was once the beginning or end of another word. I mean, maybe there was once a "BEVE" at it's beginning, but there is no indication that it ever said anything but. I guess that's the part of the restaurant I should go to when I feel compelled to Freak Out on someone.
Italia Mia - $2.75
1674 Broadway
New York, NY 10019
Brilliant post
ReplyDeleteI know you're already a little past the Times Squareish area, but you missed one spot that actually has pretty solid pizza (in my opinion), especially compared to everything around the area (Ray's, Italia Mia, etc.). The place is called Luigi's. It's on 8th Ave between 55th and 56th. Check it out.
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