I could have told you that a couple of minutes in the box would dampen the pie a little bit. It comes out of the coal oven so hot and melty that it condensates immediately in the box, resulting in a soggier crust. I think the key is to get the pizza well done and with extra sauce.

You said it about the roni, however, little slices, burnt around the edges, its the ideal.

You can’t really compare Angelo’s and Mariellas, however, because as you said, Angelo’s is a sit down place for coal oven pies only while Mariella’s is a standard slice joint. They’re both good in their own right.

Stay out brooklyn,

I have to agree with you in regard to the poor service but what are we really talking about? Are we looking at speed of refilling water or how many times they checked in during your meal to see how things were going? I had Grimaldi’s this past weekend and at times it felt like the pizza was never going to come, but that was a result of the re-kindling of the coal fire. Angelo’s service has been fine every time I’ve been there, I don’t want to be bothered once my pizza arrives. Let me eat in peace unless I need you. That being said, I have waited a good amount of time for more water after asking for it, so you may have a point.

I went to Franny’s this past weekend too, the pizza did not impress me. It was very smoky and although the house-cured sausage was really tasty, the pizza itself (un-cut and small) was undercooked and covered with a little too much EVO. A nice space with a good, clean feel but not a restaurant whose pizza has me coming back for more.

Lucali, on the other hand, was excellent. I was there the same night as Franny’s and everything was great (aside from the wait). It was an authentic experience (they practically make the pizza by candlelight) and a great eating experience. The pizza is very similar to DiFaras in regard to the cheese composition (buffalo, low moisture mozz and parmagian reggiano) and the 5-cheese calzone, something I never eat, was AMAZING. The crust was awesome, the 5-cheese filling was spicy, salty and rich it was excellent. I reccomend you get over there immediately.

while mariella’s (58th and 8th) holds its own, angelo’s is where its at for QUALITY midtown slices (even though you can’t get individual slices).

i thought the pizza on the whole was a little undercooked, as i would have liked the crust to have been crunchier, but, the softness could have resulted from the fact that i didn’t eat the pizza immediately, but waited instead to eat it in central park.

the pie was very well balanced in terms of the sauce to cheese ratio, but, i could have used a tad more sauce. i felt my mouth getting a bit dry at points.

the kicker – the ‘roni’s. slightly burnt, just the way i like it, and superbly declicious, with the perfect amount of spice. having been around the block w/ the ‘ronis, as soon as i saw that they were the little round “curved up” variety, i knew they were a winner.

for quality individual slices, check out mariella’s. the slices are a bit heavier, but damn tasty. for a better overall meal and eating experience, angelo’s is where its at.