I recently had a reader email me that he'd be in town and had one day to hit the following pizzerias:
> Di Fara
> Joe's
> Famous Ray's (Sixth Ave. and 11th Street)
> Sal's & Carmine's
> Patsy's
> Vinny Vincenz
"What would your itinerary be for this, with as much of it using public transport as possible?" he asked.
Here's my response. Slicers, chime in if you have a better route ...
Well, I'd start at Di Fara first, since that place is a MAJOR time sink. You should probably take a cab from the airport right to Di Fara. You should get there at 11:30 a.m., which is when he opens the shutters. If you're one of the first there, you can grab a couple slices and skeedaddle. After that, I guess I'd head into Manhattan (the train is RIGHT near Di Fara), since the Manhattan ones are easiest to get to and you'd at least have a larger sampling if you found you weren't making good time.
Here's what I'D do, given your list ...
JFK > DI FARA
Cab it from JFK to Di Fara, timing it to get there as close to 11:30 a.m. as possible.
DI FARA > VINNY VINCENZ
After you finish your slice at Di Fara, walk out the door. Look to your right. See the subway? (It's actually running aboveground here -- it's the elevated bridge thingy about a half block from you.) That's the Q train. Get on it, on the Manhattan-bound side (the side farthest from Di Fara).
Take the Q to 14th Street-Union Square.
Once at Union Square/14th Street, you need to get to First Ave. You can either transfer to the Brooklyn-bound L train (stay in the station for this) and get off at the First Avenue station or you can walk to First Avenue (exit the station and walk east -- just ask someone for directions). It's probably about the same either way, so you might want to walk to see some of the Big Apple.
VINCENZ > FAMOUS RAY'S
Get on the Eighth-Avenue-bound L train at the First Avenue Station (14th Street and First Ave.) DO NOT get on the Brooklyn-bound L train or you'll waste some precious time.
Take L train to Sixth Avenue station. Exit. Walk down 3 blocks to Famous Ray's.
Again, this leg of the journey, you could probably just walk, as it's about a 15-minute walk -- the train would be only a little faster.
FAMOUS RAY'S > JOE'S
Famous Ray's is only a little away from Joe's. Walk out the door of Framous Ray's, and stay on the same side of Sixth Avenue, walking along Sixth downtown. The street numbers should be getting smaller. Walk past West 4th, past West 3rd, and watch for Carmine Street on your right. It'll be going slightly diagonal to Sixth Ave. Bang a right, and you'll see Joe's in the middle of the block.
JOE'S > SAL & CARMINE'S
Exit Joe's, take a left. Go to Sixth Ave. Take another left. Walk up Sixth Ave till you see the West Fourth Street Station. Go in, take an uptown-bound A train.
Stay on train till 59th Street-Columbus Circle
At 59th, transfer to a 1 train.
Take 1 train to 103rd Street.
You should be pretty much there, within a block.
S&C > PATSY'S
It's probably fastest just to cab it to Patsy's, but if you want to bus it, walk up Broadway to 116th Street106th Street, and hop on the eastbound M116 bus to First Ave.
After Vinny's, why not go to University, between 10th and 11th and do Patsy's there? Isn't it the same one? Then a simple walk through Washington Square Park to Joe's, a few blocks uptown to Famous Ray's and then the train up to Sal and Carmines.
The Patsy's on University is one of the mini-chain Patsy's -- not the original, which is the one in East Harlem. There's no comparison, even when the East Harlem one is having a bad night with the pies.
A nice little brookln-based pizza tour my friends and i have done is: L&B Spumoni Gardens > Totonno's Coney Island location > Di Fara > Franny's > Grimaldi's (we didn't actually make it here b/c we were too full, but it would be easy to tack onto the end of the trip).
There's something discerning about going out of your way to hit Di Fara and Patsy's but then also wanting to go to any of those others. Why not leave it at two pizza places and do something else? Believe it or not, there's more to do than just eat pizza. Besides, after eating at those two places, every other slice will seem insignificant.
Agreed that you could probably skip Ray's, but the pizza-tripper had specific reasons for visiting the places he did. I just thought it would be fun to map the best route among a given set of coordinates, leaving the editorializing about what's worth visiting or not.
Wow, I'm surprised at the love for Patsy's. Granted, I've only been once, but I thought it was mediocre at best. I had really soggy crust, and the slices could not be eaten horizontally. Maybe I ordered wrong. I thought Totonno's was about one billion times better.
At this point, sadly, Patsy's hangs on as one of my favorites in sentimentality only. The last 3 or 4 times I've visited, I've had pizza as you describe, Weekly J. Absolutely flaccid, soggy, and cheese-laden. Even so, I'd rather have that than the chain ones. I just don't like the chain Patsy's. I think their crust is way too chewy.
To skip the Difara cab you should take the Airtrain to Manhattan. Also, you should try to get Difara around before they close so there's less of a line. The itinerary can then be: Take the Airtrain from JFK to Jamaica and switch to the LIRR train to Penn Station. From Penn, take the 1 to 103rd for Sal & Carmine's. Take the m116 from 106/Bway to 116th/1st Ave for Patsy's (my fave). Take the m15 bus from 2nd Avenue/116th (try to get the limited bus). Get off at 14th/2nd Avenue and walk to Vinny Vincenz. Get on the L train from 1st Avenue to 6th Avenue. Walk to Ray's. Walk from Ray's walk to Joe's. EITHER 1. Walk to 14th Street/Union Square take the Q to Difara's, Avenue J. (more walking, but probably faster overall) 2. Walk to Broadway/Lafayette subway stop - take the B and transfer to the Q train at Newkirk Avenue and switch to the Q to Avenue J for Difara's. Done!
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12 Comments:
There is no m116 service at 116th on broadway. You need to pick it up on 106th and broadway.
Slice Matthew Newman at 4:21AM on 01/10/07
thanks! fixed it.
Adam Kuban at 5:11AM on 01/10/07
After Vinny's, why not go to University, between 10th and 11th and do Patsy's there? Isn't it the same one? Then a simple walk through Washington Square Park to Joe's, a few blocks uptown to Famous Ray's and then the train up to Sal and Carmines.
Slice max at 1:07PM on 01/10/07
The Patsy's on University is one of the mini-chain Patsy's -- not the original, which is the one in East Harlem. There's no comparison, even when the East Harlem one is having a bad night with the pies.
Adam Kuban at 2:46PM on 01/10/07
A nice little brookln-based pizza tour my friends and i have done is: L&B Spumoni Gardens > Totonno's Coney Island location > Di Fara > Franny's > Grimaldi's (we didn't actually make it here b/c we were too full, but it would be easy to tack onto the end of the trip).
Slice Jason T. at 4:58PM on 01/10/07
Why not skip Famous Ray's?
Slice Weekly Journalist at 7:07PM on 01/10/07
There's something discerning about going out of your way to hit Di Fara and Patsy's but then also wanting to go to any of those others. Why not leave it at two pizza places and do something else? Believe it or not, there's more to do than just eat pizza. Besides, after eating at those two places, every other slice will seem insignificant.
seltzerboy at 9:31PM on 01/10/07
Agreed that you could probably skip Ray's, but the pizza-tripper had specific reasons for visiting the places he did. I just thought it would be fun to map the best route among a given set of coordinates, leaving the editorializing about what's worth visiting or not.
Adam Kuban at 9:52PM on 01/10/07
Wow, I'm surprised at the love for Patsy's. Granted, I've only been once, but I thought it was mediocre at best. I had really soggy crust, and the slices could not be eaten horizontally. Maybe I ordered wrong. I thought Totonno's was about one billion times better.
Slice Weekly Journalist at 4:12PM on 01/11/07
and yes, that was at the East Harlem Patsy's.
Slice Weekly Journalist at 4:16PM on 01/11/07
At this point, sadly, Patsy's hangs on as one of my favorites in sentimentality only. The last 3 or 4 times I've visited, I've had pizza as you describe, Weekly J. Absolutely flaccid, soggy, and cheese-laden. Even so, I'd rather have that than the chain ones. I just don't like the chain Patsy's. I think their crust is way too chewy.
Adam Kuban at 6:05PM on 01/11/07
To skip the Difara cab you should take the Airtrain to Manhattan. Also, you should try to get Difara around before they close so there's less of a line. The itinerary can then be: Take the Airtrain from JFK to Jamaica and switch to the LIRR train to Penn Station. From Penn, take the 1 to 103rd for Sal & Carmine's. Take the m116 from 106/Bway to 116th/1st Ave for Patsy's (my fave). Take the m15 bus from 2nd Avenue/116th (try to get the limited bus). Get off at 14th/2nd Avenue and walk to Vinny Vincenz. Get on the L train from 1st Avenue to 6th Avenue. Walk to Ray's. Walk from Ray's walk to Joe's. EITHER 1. Walk to 14th Street/Union Square take the Q to Difara's, Avenue J. (more walking, but probably faster overall) 2. Walk to Broadway/Lafayette subway stop - take the B and transfer to the Q train at Newkirk Avenue and switch to the Q to Avenue J for Difara's. Done!
Slice Rachel at 2:33AM on 01/12/07