It makes my heart sing when I walk into a pizzeria and see the glow of burning wood logs in a brick oven. Patricia's serves pizza made either in the aforementioned wood-burning oven or a gas oven. The pizza is the same price, so why anyone would order a pie made in the gas oven is beyond me. My Margherita had the most tender pizza crust I've had east of Phoenix. It had virtually no crunch, but it had the texture and consistency of fresh-backed bread. The mozzarella was fresh, as was the basil, and the tomato sauce wasn't gummed up by too many spices. The sausage, oblong strips cut lengthwise from what must have been a fat link, had a clean porky flavor. The menu here proclaims, "the Best Sicilian Pizza in New York City!" Though I appreciated both the fresh mozzarella and the smoky taste the wood-burning oven imparts to the thick Sicilian crust, this claim could not be substantiated by the half pie I had. I though the crust would have used a bit more olive oil. The menu at Patricia's has a zillion items on it, everything from Rigatoni PavarottiPavarotti to T-bone steak, but I've never had anything except the pizza—from the wood-burning brick oven, not the gas oven.
Note: There are three Patricia's, named Patricia's I, II, and III. I ate at Patricia's I, and I walked into Patricia's II, where I saw the same wood-burning oven. My friendly waitress at Patricia's I told me that Patricia's III does not have a wood-burning oven.
Patricia's I Address: 1080 Morris Park Avenue (b/n Williamsbridge and Lurting aves), Bronx NY 10461 Phone: 718-409-9069 or 718-792-1704
Patricia's II Address: 3764 East Tremont Avenue (b/n Randall and Schley aves), Bronx NY 10465 Phone: 718918-1800 or 718 918-1804
Though I thoroughly enjoy the food at Patricia's I, I have never been blown away by the service. As a matter of fact, the last time I ate there, my better half and I had several blown-off requests for drink refills, and no actual dinner plate was brought to me to eat from (I had ordered a Sicilian half pie, which I ate my fill of and took the leftovers home). I had to cut a piece that would fit my bread plate off a slice (which was on a metal tray on a riser) and just make do from there, because our drink requests had already gone ignored, and while we were asked if we would like more bread (we said "yes, please"), it never appeared. I might have asked for a dinner plate, but at that point I was frustrated enough that if I'd asked for anything else and been blown off, I was going to have a fit. My patience, alas, is not endless. So I ate as quickly as I could considering the arrangements, and we left. Our tip thoroughly reflected our opinion of the service, but I had to be coaxed by said better half to leave without having a few calm but unpleasant words with the manager. After we left, we agreed that we are never sitting down to dinner there again. That night was special, and we were disappointed that dinner wasn't as lovely as it should have been. Thankfully, we would never let a server's neglect of duty spoil a special evening.
The food is good, but my praise ends there. It is cramped and crowded, the televisions bolted to the wall are distracting and displayed images that were not conducive to the appetite (one of those anti-smoking commercials where they show someone's gangrenous foot, among other things, and the television was right in my line of sight when I looked ahead...), and the service leaves a lot to be desired. I am only thankful that my guy was facing the windows and did not see what was on the television behind him.
Thanks for commenting! Your comment has been accepted and will appear in a moment.
Add a comment:
Previewing your comment:
HTML Hints
Some HTML is OK: <a href="URL">link</a>, <strong>strong</strong>, <em>em</em>
Comment Guidelines
Post whatever you want, just keep it pleasant. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. Learn more at our Comment Policy page.
Print
It makes my heart sing when I walk into a pizzeria and see the glow of burning wood logs in a brick oven. Patricia's serves pizza made either in the aforementioned wood-burning oven or a gas oven. The pizza is the same price, so why anyone would order a pie made in the gas oven is beyond me. My Margherita had the most tender pizza crust I've had east of Phoenix. It had virtually no crunch, but it had the texture and consistency of fresh-backed bread. The mozzarella was fresh, as was the basil, and the tomato sauce wasn't gummed up by too many spices. The sausage, oblong strips cut lengthwise from what must have been a fat link, had a clean porky flavor. The menu here proclaims, "the Best Sicilian Pizza in New York City!" Though I appreciated both the fresh mozzarella and the smoky taste the wood-burning oven imparts to the thick Sicilian crust, this claim could not be substantiated by the half pie I had. I though the crust would have used a bit more olive oil. The menu at Patricia's has a zillion items on it, everything from Rigatoni PavarottiPavarotti to T-bone steak, but I've never had anything except the pizza—from the wood-burning brick oven, not the gas oven.
2 Comments:
Though I thoroughly enjoy the food at Patricia's I, I have never been blown away by the service. As a matter of fact, the last time I ate there, my better half and I had several blown-off requests for drink refills, and no actual dinner plate was brought to me to eat from (I had ordered a Sicilian half pie, which I ate my fill of and took the leftovers home). I had to cut a piece that would fit my bread plate off a slice (which was on a metal tray on a riser) and just make do from there, because our drink requests had already gone ignored, and while we were asked if we would like more bread (we said "yes, please"), it never appeared. I might have asked for a dinner plate, but at that point I was frustrated enough that if I'd asked for anything else and been blown off, I was going to have a fit. My patience, alas, is not endless. So I ate as quickly as I could considering the arrangements, and we left. Our tip thoroughly reflected our opinion of the service, but I had to be coaxed by said better half to leave without having a few calm but unpleasant words with the manager. After we left, we agreed that we are never sitting down to dinner there again. That night was special, and we were disappointed that dinner wasn't as lovely as it should have been. Thankfully, we would never let a server's neglect of duty spoil a special evening.
The food is good, but my praise ends there. It is cramped and crowded, the televisions bolted to the wall are distracting and displayed images that were not conducive to the appetite (one of those anti-smoking commercials where they show someone's gangrenous foot, among other things, and the television was right in my line of sight when I looked ahead...), and the service leaves a lot to be desired. I am only thankful that my guy was facing the windows and did not see what was on the television behind him.
Kairuka at 5:34AM on 01/23/08
I forgot to add that this incident took place only about 2 weeks ago.
Kairuka at 5:39AM on 01/23/08