Wandering around Carroll Gardens with a posse of serious eaters we came across what could only be described as a pizza kiosk attached to the longstanding watering hole P. J. Hanley's. It turned out to be the slice annex of the adjoining South Brooklyn Pizza Company. Good-looking Di Fara–esque pies and slices were being made in a conventional pizza oven by a Mexican pizzaiolo, who would then hand the pizza to the P. J. Hanley's barkeep. The south-of-the-border pie man was putting three kinds of cheese—mozzarella, grana padano, and fontina—on his plain pies, along with fresh basil leaves, followed by a quick pour of olive oil.
The slices we had that day were quite extraordinary. The crust was crisp yet pliant and cooked all the way through. Discrete areas of sauce and cheese dotted each pie. (Follow-up visits, however, have revealed consistency issues; sometimes the crust is cooked properly, sometimes you encounter raw, gummy patches.)
"These look like Di Fara slices," I said to the pie man. He shook his head. He obviously didn't know Di Fara. "This is the kind of pizza I learned how to make in Mexico," he said in halting English.
So if you're looking for a fine slice in Carroll Gardens, where should you go?
To the Irish bar P. J. Hanley's, for a most excellent Mexican pizza. Makes perfect sense, doesn't it? Like Cindy Adams says, "Only in New York, kids, only in New York."
this pizza is pretty good, and was written up in the middle of the winter so i checked it out. definitely good pizza, but the olive oil thing at the end... i just don't get it. i don't WANT my pizza slicked in oil, even if its fancy pants olive oil. just cheese fat, thank you very much.
@mh330: Agreed, to some extent. I don't mind the pour at Di Fara, because there, I can usually get a seat, throw on some extra grated grana padano, and wait for it all to sort of gel. At South Brooklyn, there are no seats, so that's not an option. Also: Where did you see this written up in mid-winter? I can't find a write-up anywhere.
I hear Rocky Sullivan's in Red Hook has a pretty good pie as well. Haven't been there yet so can't say for sure. When I saw this headline, I thought that's who this story was about.
PS My old friend Antonio, from Antonio's on McClean Avenue in Yonkers (until he got busted for selling coke like the guy last week--no wonder Antonio was pouring sweat all the time--I thought it was the brick oven)
told me in no uncertain terms "It has to be an Italian that make-a the pizza".
also, maybe i'm confused, or maybe they just opened another slice annex, but the South Brooklyn pizza i went to (attached to PJ Hanleys) was a sit down bar/restaurant..... i went there as recently as about 1-2 months ago and that was still the situation. Maybe they opened up another annex where there are no seats, that you're referring to, in ADDITION to the sit down place next door? The sit down place is not really well signed, so i can see missing it....
@mh330: I think Ed may not have written this clearly enough. Here's the deal:
Yes. South Brooklyn Pizza opened first, making coal-oven pies. It was sit-down, eat-in only. I think they may now do take-out there.
South Brooklyn Pizza to Go opened in mid December and it's pizza from a different oven.
There's sort of a weird space between Hanley's and original South Brooklyn Pizza, and they've wedged a gas-fired pizza oven in there and a take-out counter. So this is essentially a different pizzeria altogether, although it uses the same dough, cheese, and sauce as original South Brooklyn Pizza.
Personally, I like the To Go pizza more than the coal-oven pies I've had from original South Brooklyn. But I'd still go to Lucali or Sam's before original South Brooklyn.
@bronxpizzaboy: Gotta disagree with you on that one. While there are Italians making some of the best pizza around, there are still non-Italians making great pizza, too. I've never subscribed to the notion that you have to be a particular ethnicity to make great examples of food from that ethnicity's cuisine. You just need a good teacher and the willingness to learn.
@mh330: Oh. Look at the top array of photos above. The one at bottom left tells the story. The left-most door is the TO GO place. The right-most door is original SB. The space as a whole sort of wraps around the stairwell for the apartments above. And they squeezed in the TO GO place to the left of the apartments entrance. The original SB wraps around the stairwell in a sort of L shape.
Whoa. My mind is a little bit blown. I've tried to get the sit-down SB pizza at PJ Hanley's before so i can eat outside -- no dice, even though same owners and the spaces are connected. Never did it occur to me that the non-sensical nature would extend to TWO separate pizza ovens within 10 feet of each other, owned by the same people, cranking out DIFFERENT pizza under the SAME name (SB & SB "to go" sound like they would be the same damn pizza, no?).
@mh330: You can get the TO GO pizza in the bar. Not sure if you can get the coal-oven in the bar. Now that you put it that way above, it's all very farcical.
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13 Comments:
this pizza is pretty good, and was written up in the middle of the winter so i checked it out. definitely good pizza, but the olive oil thing at the end... i just don't get it. i don't WANT my pizza slicked in oil, even if its fancy pants olive oil. just cheese fat, thank you very much.
mh330 at 2:40PM on 04/07/09
@mh330: Agreed, to some extent. I don't mind the pour at Di Fara, because there, I can usually get a seat, throw on some extra grated grana padano, and wait for it all to sort of gel. At South Brooklyn, there are no seats, so that's not an option. Also: Where did you see this written up in mid-winter? I can't find a write-up anywhere.
Adam Kuban at 3:16PM on 04/07/09
@mh330: Unless you're talking about the Andrea Strong Buzz opening notice, which doesn't really go into specifics other than "it's open."
Adam Kuban at 3:17PM on 04/07/09
I hear Rocky Sullivan's in Red Hook has a pretty good pie as well. Haven't been there yet so can't say for sure. When I saw this headline, I thought that's who this story was about.
bronxpizzaboy at 3:38PM on 04/07/09
PS My old friend Antonio, from Antonio's on McClean Avenue in Yonkers (until he got busted for selling coke like the guy last week--no wonder Antonio was pouring sweat all the time--I thought it was the brick oven)
told me in no uncertain terms "It has to be an Italian that make-a the pizza".
bronxpizzaboy at 3:42PM on 04/07/09
Here's the write up i referred to:
http://abrooklynlife.com/2008/05/new-south-brooklyn-pizza2nd-be.html
turns out they wrote about it last May, it just took me until the middle of the winter to check it out. :)
mh330 at 4:03PM on 04/07/09
also, maybe i'm confused, or maybe they just opened another slice annex, but the South Brooklyn pizza i went to (attached to PJ Hanleys) was a sit down bar/restaurant..... i went there as recently as about 1-2 months ago and that was still the situation. Maybe they opened up another annex where there are no seats, that you're referring to, in ADDITION to the sit down place next door? The sit down place is not really well signed, so i can see missing it....
mh330 at 4:07PM on 04/07/09
@mh330: I think Ed may not have written this clearly enough. Here's the deal:
Yes. South Brooklyn Pizza opened first, making coal-oven pies. It was sit-down, eat-in only. I think they may now do take-out there.
South Brooklyn Pizza to Go opened in mid December and it's pizza from a different oven.
There's sort of a weird space between Hanley's and original South Brooklyn Pizza, and they've wedged a gas-fired pizza oven in there and a take-out counter. So this is essentially a different pizzeria altogether, although it uses the same dough, cheese, and sauce as original South Brooklyn Pizza.
Personally, I like the To Go pizza more than the coal-oven pies I've had from original South Brooklyn. But I'd still go to Lucali or Sam's before original South Brooklyn.
Adam Kuban at 5:07PM on 04/07/09
@bronxpizzaboy: Gotta disagree with you on that one. While there are Italians making some of the best pizza around, there are still non-Italians making great pizza, too. I've never subscribed to the notion that you have to be a particular ethnicity to make great examples of food from that ethnicity's cuisine. You just need a good teacher and the willingness to learn.
Adam Kuban at 5:18PM on 04/07/09
@mh330: Oh. Look at the top array of photos above. The one at bottom left tells the story. The left-most door is the TO GO place. The right-most door is original SB. The space as a whole sort of wraps around the stairwell for the apartments above. And they squeezed in the TO GO place to the left of the apartments entrance. The original SB wraps around the stairwell in a sort of L shape.
Adam Kuban at 5:35PM on 04/07/09
Whoa. My mind is a little bit blown. I've tried to get the sit-down SB pizza at PJ Hanley's before so i can eat outside -- no dice, even though same owners and the spaces are connected. Never did it occur to me that the non-sensical nature would extend to TWO separate pizza ovens within 10 feet of each other, owned by the same people, cranking out DIFFERENT pizza under the SAME name (SB & SB "to go" sound like they would be the same damn pizza, no?).
Wow.
mh330 at 6:26PM on 04/07/09
@mh330: You can get the TO GO pizza in the bar. Not sure if you can get the coal-oven in the bar. Now that you put it that way above, it's all very farcical.
Adam Kuban at 7:16PM on 04/07/09
Adam, thanks for the clarification(s). I have learned much today. :)
mh330 at 9:59PM on 04/07/09