Pizza | good eats by b

DeFazio’s Pizzeria, Troy, NY

After hearing my Dad talk about DeFazio’s serving one of the best antipasto salads he’s ever had and terrific pizza I asked if we could go while I was home over the Thanksgiving holiday. This joint is small, there are four tables in total, but I never underestimate unassuming locations since I like to think the smaller the place the bigger the magic. And I will give them credit they do take reservations. With no discussion we order the DeFazio’s Italian Sausage Antipasto Salad, the salad came cluttered with goodness– homemade sausage (yes, cooked hot sausage), roasted red peppers, and fontinella cheese were the clear winners if I had to choose. Next we ordered the Puttanesca Pizza, which was topped with artichokes, fresh mushrooms, Kalamata olives, capers, mozzarella cheese and spices. The olives were real and the capers added to the salty goodness that was this pizza. The crust though was what solidified me as a bona fide fan. It was thin and chewy but still had the brick oven bottom. Finally it was cannoli time! Around this time you can either choose regular filling or pumpkin filling plus you have the option of having the shell covered with chocolate or plain. It must have taken a good five minutes before I knew which one I wanted but after much debate I got a Chocolate Covered Cannoli with regular filling. It was freshly filled so no soggy shell here! I was stuffed but that didn’t stop me from eating the whole thing and not sharing… not even one bite. It’s true there is great pizza everywhere these days but there is something about Pizza in New York that no other state manages to achieve.

Who doesn’t love pizza? As children we ate it at soccer parties and birthday parties. In college it cured all hangovers. Greasy cheese pizza or a slice loaded with pepperoni is always nice when you want to travel down memory lane but here in Atlanta there are greener pastures compared to the late night or weekday delivery specials. Before going out and trying a bunch of pizza you really have to ask yourself one sacred question that all pizza lovers ask themselves. Chicago or New York? It’s the yin and the yang of the pizza world and I have never met someone who likes both… it just doesn’t happen. I myself prefer New York style, why would I want to have to use a fork & knife to eat a slice of pizza? Although there are many pizza places to eat I have found two restaurants that are above the rest.

Antico Pizza, The Westside

Now this is a given, if you were to ask anyone in Atlanta who knows anything about food and ask them were to go to get pizza they would say Antico’s. So I don’t want to be redundant but seriously if want good pizza go here. I would however whisper a couple pieces of advice before sending anyone here. One, the wait can be long, like out the door long. Which means parking can be a problem, however, this is not new issue to the people of Atlanta. And two, seating can be tricky. If you come with a large group prepare to stalk the tables. It is seat yourself but I don’t mind since I want all the attention on the pizza and not how to best accommodate needy people. A cool thing about Antico’s is that they have an open kitchen– so you actually get to watch your pizza as it goes through the arduous process of becoming something delicious!! The pizzas are large enough to share and I typically go with the Margherita, I find the better quality the less you have to put on it to really enjoy it. The crust is out of this world, it is airy and chewy but still slightly charred. Once the last bite had been enjoyed it was time to get up and pass our seats to the people patiently awaiting our table. And although I was full and very satisfied I was still somehow jealous that they still had a whole pizza to savor.

Sapori di Napoli, Decatur

I stumbled upon this recommendation from a friend in passing and I was very pleased I decided to check it out. They serve more than just pizza but I wanted to see if their Margherita was even close to Antico’s. I went when it wasn’t too busy and they have a parking lot just for their restaurant so I was already happy with the way my night was turning out here before I even had a menu in hand! When the pizza came it looked amazing; picture perfect melted mozzarella paired with a superb chewy crust that was charred to my liking (crusts are very important to me). I got a cannoli to top off the night but can’t say I was blown away. If you come here stick with the pizza.

As I continue my journey through pizza in Atlanta I may have to update this post but boy will it be hard since these two places both have mighty good pies.