Our Epic National Pizza Day Adventure In Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Food, Trip Reports, , , , , ,
National Pizza Day
map image: googlemaps

It seems like everyday is a National  fill in the blank Day.

While I usually ignore these special days, on Saturday there was one that I couldn’t let pass us by.

Saturday, February 9 was National Pizza Day. Since the Michael W Travels family loves pizza, this was a great excuse to go on an epic pizza tour around one of my favorite parts of Brooklyn- Williamsburg!

Williamsburg is home to many great pizzerias. My initial plan was to hit up three spots including one which is new to the area. While wandering around, I ended up expanding our tour, making it to five excellent shops.

(As far as I’m concerned, we only missed out on visiting one of the local greats, Williamsburg Pizza. Maybe next year we can make room for one more stop!)

Here are the pizzerias we visited during Our Epic National Pizza Day Adventure In Williamsburg, Brooklyn!

Stop 1: Rosa’s Pizza– 374 Metropolitan Avenuea building with a sign on the frontRosa’s Pizza opened in Maspeth, NY in 1975 and recently opened a location in Brooklyn. I’ve seen it mentioned quite a bit recently, so its been on my list of places to try.

We headed over to Rosa’s to give their pizza try.a group of pizzas on paper platesWhen we arrived, we had one minor issue, which slices should we try?

I have a rule to always try a regular slice when visiting a shop for the first time. We ordered a regular slice which was delicious and just about as classic a NY slice as you can get. I’d be happy to have this slice a bit closer to home.

The main purpose for the visit though was to try their upside down Sicilian slice- sauce on top, cheese on the bottom. This slice was incredible- while huge, it wasn’t overly heavy. When you bite in, you get a bit of chewy texture and notice the strong, tangy sauce. I definitely recommend this slice!

Our final pick was the ravioli slice. This caught my eye and was the most interesting there. I immediately said that this was a super- cool, creative stunt slice! However, this slice was no joke, it was just incredible!

The ravioli slice is a bit heavy- covered in delicious vodka sauce and tiny raviolis which give a nice burst of cheese flavor when you bite in. This was Lucas and my favorite slice at Rosa’s. I best describe it as a vodka slice on steroids.

Stop 2: Best Pizza– 33 Havemeyer Streeta sign on a buildingWe’ve been going to Best Pizza since they opened and it really does live up to its name. Besides great pizza, Best also serves excellent heroes.
two slices of pizza on a paper plateI went with our usual order, one plain slice and one white slice.

The plain slice is delicious and feels a bit fancier than your average NY slice. I can’t say that I don’t love it every time I have it! And while, I’m not typically a fan of white pizza, Best serves what I feel is the best white slice in NYC.

The white slice is thin and not weighed down by globs of ricotta cheese. It does have incredible flavor thanks to the awesome carmelized onions and sesame seed crust. You need to order a white slice when you go to Best Pizza!

Stop 3: Joe’s Pizza– 216 Bedford Avenuea person sitting on a stool outside of a pizza restaurantJoe’s Pizza serves a classic NY slice. They opened in 1975 in Greenwich Village and have since expanded to  few more locations.

I was psyched to see them open the Williamsburg location a couple of years back.a slice of pizza on a paper plateWe typically stop into Joe’s if one of the kids needs a snack (or if I do). It’s a block from a Whole Foods that we go to on occasion.

When I think of NY pizza, Joe’s personifies it best. There’s nothing fancy going on here, just a great, classic NY slice.

Stop 4: Vinnie’s Pizzeria– 148 Bedford Avenuea store front with a bench and a signI started hearing about Vinnie’s Pizzeria a few years back primarily due to their bizarre creations. (One of the craziest is the Pizza Box Pizza, a small pie served in a pizza box made of pizza!)

Vinnie’s also has a couple of daily special slices which we’ve enjoyed. (They post photos of their awesome slice specials boards on Instagram.)a slice of pizza on a paper plateVinnie’s wasn’t originally on our list to visit during the tour. However, with it so close by, I wanted to see what was being offered for National Pizza Day. (Lucas also wanted to stop by for his favorite slice when I mentioned it to him.)a boy eating a pizzaIt turned out that the day’s special was sold out but we were able to get a slice of their awesome Mac & Cheese slice.

I’d say that the slice has to weigh in at a couple of pounds! I took a few bites and Lucas ate a little over half of it. We took the rest home which Lucas polished off the following day.

Stop 5: L’industrie Pizzeria– 254 South 2nd Streeta store front with lights on the outsideI saved one of my favorites pizzerias for last. L’industrie is a pint- sized pizzeria and it’s pretty amazing what comes out of their ovens.

Think super high quality ingredients with great care put into each slice.

The owner, Massimo Laveglia is from Florence, Italy and somebody that I consider a friend. When I stop in, Massimo pretty much can guess what I’m going to order…a plate of pizza on a wood tableTheir burrata slice might be my favorite slice of pizza out there. Its a delicious slice topped with creamy, fresh burrata cheese. The cold cheese contrasts nicely with the hot slice. (The burrata is added to the pizza after its heated.)

I also order a plain slice to keep things simple. After our epic pizza tour, the plain slice was taken to go; a tasty breakfast in the morning!

Final Thoughts:

You all must be thinking, how could it be possible to eat so much pizza in one day!

Our little pizza tour was done over the course of around 4 hours. We also made stops in a few stores to take breaks in between.

During this time we purchased 9 slices of pizza. Kim tapped out and didn’t take a bite of pizza after our first two stops. I estimate that I ate around 4 slices of pizza during the day since we shared. Also, one slice made it home untouched.

Overall, this was a super fun afternoon, celebrating a silly holiday. Visiting 5 pizzerias in one day isn’t new to us. A couple of years back we participated in the 5 Boro Pizza Challenge, where we had a slice in each borough in a single day, only traveling on mass transit.

Will I do this again? Most likely and my plan is to hit up 6 pizzerias. We’ll just have to order less slices during each stop!

Related Posts:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *