A Visit to the New & Highly Anticipated Sorbillo Pizzeria in NYC

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Sorbillo PizzeriaBack in February I wrote how the top pizzaiolo in Naples, Gino Sorbillo was opening a pizzeria in NYC.

While there’s lots of great pizza throughout NYC, the upcoming opening of Sorbillo NYC drew lots of attention. Kim, Lucas and I have been to Italy many times but haven’t yet made it to Naples.

The idea of trying authentic Neapolitan pies in NYC from one of Italy’s top pizzaiolos got me super excited for the opening of Sorbillo Pizzeria.

Sorbillo Pizzeria opened on Tuesday, November 28. While I would’ve loved to have gone for the opening, it just wasn’t possible. The Michael W Travels family headed to the NoHo location of the new pizzeria later in the week, on Saturday December 2.

Here are our thoughts about NYC’s new Sorbillo Pizzeria.
a group of people sitting at tablesWe showed up for a late lunch and Sorbillo Pizzeria was pretty full but luckily didn’t have to wait for a table at the new shop.

The restaurant features a bar, decorated white walls and waiter service. This isn’t a place to come for a slice. Pizza is ordered by the pie at Sorbillo.

a poster of two men a menu on a tableKim and I looked over the menu and had a hard time deciding what to order.

Pizzas are organized on the menu by region. There are 14 pizzas to choose from. We figured that we had to go with a basic pie to get a true taste of the pizzas being made by Sorbillo. This made our first choice easy, we decided on the Antica Margherita.

A few pies topped with meat caught our attention but Lucas asked us to order a white pie. Initially we leaned towards a pie either topped with hot spreadable salami or with guanciale.

While chatting with the server, I asked about a pie called Porto Cervo. He mentioned that it was like quattro formaggi (four cheese) pizza. We figured it was a good option and one that Lucas would enjoy.
a man standing behind a counter with a man behind himWhile waiting for our pies to come out, Lucas and I took a walk to the back to check out the wood fired oven.

Around 10-15 minutes after we ordered, the pizza started to arrive.

Antica Margherita: Organic flour, San Marzano Tomatoes, “Terre Francescane” Organic E.V.O.O., Fresh Mozzarella, Basil

a pizza on a plate The margherita looked and smelled delicious and we couldn’t wait to dig in.

The pie is very saucy and isn’t overloaded with cheese. I’m not sure that this mattered much since the sauce was the star of this pie.

We like to pick up our pizza when we eat it. This was a tough thing to do since the pie was very flimsy all around the middle (tip of each slice). I was able to fold my slice and take a bite but it did fall down with cheese falling off at times.

For Lucas, I cut a slice in half and he had no problem picking it up. Kim had to be cautious while trying out this pizza. She carefully leaned over her plate for the first few bites, so as not to drop hot sauce or cheese on sleeping Theo’s head.

I liked the pizza more and more as I ate it. When it comes to texture, I’m not a big fan of a droopy pizza. However, the crust was delicious and most noticeable when eating it at the ends. The texture was light and pillowy. I’d eat that crust as a bread stick if it was served that way!

Overall, the Antica Margherita isn’t the best pizza that I’ve ever had but it was damn good, especially that delicious sauce!

Porto Cervo: Sardinian Pecorino, Salt Ricotta Cheese, Acacia Honey, Basil, “Terre Francescane” Organic E.V.O.O.
a pizza on a plateThe Porto Cervo wasn’t as droopy as the margherita, maybe because we ate it after it sat a few minutes.

When I took my first bite, I noticed a funky flavor which reminded me of blue cheese or gorgonzola. The pie’s description only mentioned pecorino and ricotta so this was a bit surprising. I really enjoy blue cheese so I didn’t mind but I did worry that Lucas wouldn’t like it.

a hand holding a piece of bread
The undercarriage with some nice char

Lucas took one bite and let it sit for a while. He asked for more yummy sauce pizza and said that he didn’t want the white pizza. Not good- we had already finished off the margherita!

We could see the blue cheese on the pie which wasn’t evenly spread out. This allowed Kim and I to cut Lucas part of our slices for him which didn’t have the funky taste.

Overall, Kim and I enjoyed the Porto Cervo, Lucas not as much.

Our visit to the Gino Sorbillo Pizzeria in NYC was a tasty one. True to the Neapolitan style, the pizzas were droopy in the middle, not our favorite but still delicious. You can really taste the quality in the ingredients.

Kim and I both agreed that we felt like we were in Italy. We are looking forward to going back and trying out some of the other pies.

Sorbillo NYC is located at 334 Bowery between Great Jones & Bond Street.

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