Slice vs. Vice II: Grimaldi's Ain't That Old

Posted by Adam Kuban, October 17, 2008 at 12:00 PM

On Wednesday, we had to bring out the truth hammer and give Vice magazine a knock to the skull with it for some wack stuff they'd written in their NYC pizza guide.

Today, friend of Slice Scott "Pizza Tour" Wiener writes with this follow up:

They say Grimaldi's has been one of the best for 1,000,000 years? I understand hyperbole, but it's a common misconception that the spot is one of the oldest in the city. It opened in 1990. Nothing to get all worked up about, but the year puts things into perspective. I was watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1990. Papa John's was already three years old. My point is, as good as Grimaldi's is, most people don't realize it opened as recently as it did.

Word.

5 Comments

Tags: Dear Slice, Grimaldi's, Scott Wiener, truth hammer, Vice magazine

5 Comments:

Please truth hammer, don't hurt 'em!

JudgeFudge at 12:48PM on 10/17/08

We store the truth hammer wrapped in a pair of gigantic baggy pants.

Adam Kuban at 1:38PM on 10/17/08

I'm glad you're calling them on this stuff. That pizza guide was a real POS.

sloppy at 2:20PM on 10/17/08

Good bust on the hyperbole...Grimaldi's Brooklyn pizzeria may be of fairly recent vintage but isnt the family connected to the Patsy Grimaldi of upper Manhattan fame, Patsy's, and all are branches of the pizza tree that extends back to the Lombardi root at the turn of the century?

L.A. Pizza Maven at 9:58PM on 10/18/08

The owners at Patsy's claim that Patsy Lancieri never worked at Lombardi's. They say he came directly from Naples to East Harlem to open shop in 1933. If that's true, it severs the Lombardi's relationship. Patsy Grimaldi, however, is Lancieri's nephew and he worked at Patsy's (E. Harlem) in his early teens. Rumor has it he went on to learn more pizza technique at Totonno's in Coney Island (Anthony "Totonno" Pero worked at Lombardi's). Patsy Grimaldi opened a Patsy's under the Brooklyn Bridge in 1990 but changed the name within a few years as a result of confusion between the other eateries with the same name (sound familiar?) Grimaldi's is awesome but people incorrectly jump to the conclusion that it must be one of the city's oldest pizzerias. The age of a pizzeria doesn't necessarily indicate to the quality of its pies, so Grimaldi's shouldn't fall in anyone's mind just because it isn't a century old.

ScottWiener at 10:51AM on 10/20/08

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