622 NW 23rd Avenue, Portland OR 97210; map); 503-227-5423 Pizza Style: New York–style Oven Type: Steel-deck gas oven The Skinny: A stand-up stand-in for a New York–style slice — but in Portland! Price: $2.95 for cheese (plain) slice; $3.50, pepperoni
It's long, narrow, and often crowded. The folks behind the counter are reputed to have a bit of attitude but are actually pretty nice. It's cash-only and is open late. Sound New York enough for you yet?
Well, the slices deliver on the promise implied in this joint's name.
Yes, Escape from New York holds up surprisingly well against a typical true slice from New York. It's thin, crisp, cheesy, and greasy. It's not the best New York–style pizza I've ever had, but it's notches better than many of the honest-to-goodness NYC-based slices I've eaten.
Oh, and it has the price to match: $2.95 for a "cheese" slice (that's a "plain" slice for our New Yorkers in the audience) and $3.50 for a pepperoni slice. Actually, that's even a bit pricey (or "spendy," as Oregonians would say) for New York. These folks have balls.
Which is, again, very New York authentic. [After the jump, the upskirt and crumb shots.]
Escape from New York Pizza gets the upskirt treatment. This photo, when I posted it on my Flickr account, prompted normanhathaway to say, "When are they going to cook it?" But there's one Yelper who apparently digs it this way: "Best pizza in Portland. Simple affordable and good. Thankfully not artsy with burnt crust, no cheese, and no sauce like so much Portland pizza...."
The comment about under-done pizza is interesting. I'm a Seattle native and I've noticed that maybe more than 50% of the pizza places here undercook their pizza. The only thing I can think of is that people here like doughy pizza.
I usually order pizza "well-done" and it comes out with a nice brown crust.
@andrewm I find that most of the pizza joints anywhere undercook their pizza. It's a chronic problem.
There may be many reasons for this and I don't pretend to know them all, but many pizza operators fire their pizzas at relatively low temperatures, with 450°F to 525°F being a quite common range of cooking temps. At these temps, cooking the dough until it's properly cooked can actually result in a completely dried out crust and sauce and toppings which are somewhat "nuked".
To me, that upskirt looks cooked, as the fault lines from the fold reveal the crust has lost some of its pliancy. The hole structure definitely looks like a step up from the everyday pizza shop slice for sure.
I ate there once when I was a starving cab driver and they were off 12th and Burnside (near what used to be gay bar Flossie's). Don't know how authentically NY it was, but it was way too greasy for me. Sorry :(
Oh, and I almost forgot that you missed another woodburning oven pizza by a pizza maker that used to work at Nostrana, but has been making wood oven pies at farmers markets for a while. It's Tastebud pizza and it's definitely more in the vein of Ken's Artisan than Nostrana. Here's a report and pictures from my first visit there:
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7 Comments:
The comment about under-done pizza is interesting. I'm a Seattle native and I've noticed that maybe more than 50% of the pizza places here undercook their pizza. The only thing I can think of is that people here like doughy pizza.
I usually order pizza "well-done" and it comes out with a nice brown crust.
andrewm at 4:17PM on 10/31/09
@andrewm I find that most of the pizza joints anywhere undercook their pizza. It's a chronic problem.
There may be many reasons for this and I don't pretend to know them all, but many pizza operators fire their pizzas at relatively low temperatures, with 450°F to 525°F being a quite common range of cooking temps. At these temps, cooking the dough until it's properly cooked can actually result in a completely dried out crust and sauce and toppings which are somewhat "nuked".
To me, that upskirt looks cooked, as the fault lines from the fold reveal the crust has lost some of its pliancy. The hole structure definitely looks like a step up from the everyday pizza shop slice for sure.
Pizzablogger at 5:49PM on 10/31/09
glad to see this pizzeria listed here. haven't been there in 20 years but i remember it as being a very good slice
chefmcc at 8:07PM on 11/02/09
Finally tried this place last night. Not "good" pizza, but as a NY-style slice? Damn tasty.
WikiAdam at 2:48AM on 11/03/09
I ate there once when I was a starving cab driver and they were off 12th and Burnside (near what used to be gay bar Flossie's). Don't know how authentically NY it was, but it was way too greasy for me. Sorry :(
HakunaFritatta at 7:26PM on 11/04/09
I'm disappointed you wasted a meal here. Sure, it's a decent slice joint, but you missed some truly good places like Firehouse:
http://www.firehousepdx.com/Firehouse_Restaurant_Our_Pizza.html
Or Apizza in Stayton:
http://www.portlandfood.org/index.php?s=&showtopic=2773&view=findpost&p=60178
extramsg at 7:45AM on 11/10/09
Oh, and I almost forgot that you missed another woodburning oven pizza by a pizza maker that used to work at Nostrana, but has been making wood oven pies at farmers markets for a while. It's Tastebud pizza and it's definitely more in the vein of Ken's Artisan than Nostrana. Here's a report and pictures from my first visit there:
http://www.portlandfood.org/index.php?s=&showtopic=6385&view=findpost&p=93074
extramsg at 2:53PM on 11/14/09