Fat Sal’s Pizza

NEW YORK CITY PIZZA HAS become mythologized over the last few decades; in my opinion, to the point of rhetoric. HAving to remind myself that most people I now now, or who report and gossip about such things, didn’t actually didn’t grow up here.

Difara’s and Grimaldi’s being the gold standard of all the boroughs, even they diffuse the “comfort” appeal of the walk-down-the-slice, Tony Manero-demonstrated, corner “street” slice. The kind of slice that young kids like me—who didn’t have rich parents who could spoil them with a Totonno’s or John’s (or, more recently popular, Keste or Veloce)—grew up eating with the kids from the playground after school or having your very first date with.

The New York slice is a perfection of nostalgia, with a thin, crispy, slightly charcoal-y crust, a rich, garlicky sweet tomato sauce, and a mellow, stringy mozzarella. Three places in Yorkville do this well, the best of them being Fat Sal’s (the second and third best being Mimi’s and Gino’s respectively), which also enjoys the benefit of being the closest of the three to me. Whether for a walk-in, takeout, or delivery order, the slices hit on all the right criteria, they are always hot and fresh (they do high turnover), and they also execute their other dishes with the same legitimacy, including the overstuffed calzones that could easily feed two, baked dishes like ziti and lasagna, and even some excellent Buffalo wings.

They have plenty of specialty pies as well, but the simple plain slice stands well on its own, here. Now if we can get back to simpler versions of burgers/hot dogs/fried chicken, so we can retain more of that nostalgic New York City flavor….

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