What a find this place is! If you're a pizza purist like me and don't go for barbecue chicken and other weird pies, but want a taste of New York-style Italian-American culture, check this one out. Its strip mall location isn't very Gotham, but one can only do so much about geography. And Biagio himself is straight outta Little Italy (or at least Cobble Hill), a real paesan - I assume the place is named after his namesake saint, not that he considers himself a saint.
Because the pizza's good, but not quite heavenly. Excellent sauce, flavorful and fresh-tasting, a bit on the sweet sauce. The crust has a good, bready texture & flavor, and is thin, but lacks the blistered char or crunch characteristic of New York's finest pizzerias. The cheese is standard dried mozzarella - no gourmet bufala here. Toppings are tasty - don't have the bite of the best fresh-made sausage, but he sources from good places.
Decor is very casual, even plain - linoleum, metal chairs, pictures of family and mirrors with beer logos on the walls. To me, this adds to the feeling of familiarity and coziness - reminds me of the simple, friendly pizzerias at the center of every town in Connecticut, where I grew up. (No, Connecticut isn't New York, but we have a lot of Italian-Americans there, too.)
Beer & wine are available, but we didn't try them, as it was a family outing. Takeout available, but no delivery.
And if you go easy on the booze, you'll have trouble spending over $10 a head. Well worth it.
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