Whether a tourist or a New Yorker, a perfect way to spend a fall day is walking over the Brooklyn Bridge and getting a nibble on the other side. To enter the Manhattan side of the bridge, do so right near City Hall from the intersection of Park Row and Center Street.
I finally did so. And because once on the Brooklyn side, I sampled the famed Grimaldi’s pizza pie, I also walked back.
Grimaldi’s is the Pepe’s of Brooklyn. It serves brick-oven pizza pies and has legendary lines that often stretch for at least a block. To get there once you reach the Brooklyn side of the bridge, head down the stairs, turn left and go south on Front Street until it crosses Old Fulton Street. Turn right and follow your nose to Grimaldi’s is at 19 Old Fulton St.
Timing is everything at Grimaldi’s, just like Pepe’s in New Haven.
We were surprised to find a very short line of only 15 people. We then learned the pizzeria wouldn’t open for another half hour and — not surprisingly — by that time, the line was over a block long.
Tip: Plan your walk over the bridge to arrive before Grimaldi’s opens, that’s noon on weekends, 11:30 am on weekdays. And once in line, check out the menu and decide which pie you want so you can order once you’re seated.
Once the doors opened, the seating was very systematically with a greeter inviting and seating one party at a time. No rush for tables. Impressive – as I’ve been in places (Prune on Sunday mornings) where as the doors open everyone rushes to grab a table! Grimaldi’s small 6-slice pizza is quite large, so be sure to come with a couple friends. It costs $12 for a “small” 16-inch pie plus $2 per topping other than tomato sauce, homemade mozzarella, basil and grated cheese. Cash only.
But how was the pie? Delicious, but no match for New Haven pizza.
– bonnie
19 Old Fulton Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201
718.858.4300
The author of “The 50 best things to eat in the world, and where to eat them” agrees with you — that New Haven Pizza is the best…. He (Killian Fox) says the ” Best place to eat: Pizza
Frank Pepe Pizzeria, New Haven, Conneticut
You could generate enough heat to fuel a brick oven with the argument over which country bakes the world’s best pizza: Italy, where the concept originated, or America, where it was globalised. Neapolitan purists will make pilgrimages to hotspots such as La Sorrentina, outside Naples, whose chef has won the prestigious Naples Pizza Championship, but we contend that the upstart Yanks do it better. The best American pizza can be found, not in New York as is commonly assumed, but in New Haven, Connecticut, where the Pepe family has been spinning dough since 1925. Their white clam pie has no equals.
157 Wooster Street, New Haven, Connecticut, 001 203 865 5762, http://www.pepespizzeria.com“