Rossopomodoro strikes again! The first time we ever ate at Rossopomodoro was in London, and that was quite begrudgingly, mind you. As a chain restaurant, it’s something we always wanted to avoid. One day, we were desperate as the restaurant we had intended to go to had an incredibly long wait and we were too famished to wait, so we decided to give this place a try. It actually turned out to be one of the better Neapolitan restaurants in all of London, despite its chain status. Later we would learn that its quality was very likely due to the fact that the owners are actually from Naples and opened the very first Rossopomodoro in Naples itself where lackluster pizza simply will not stand.
Despite having had only positive experiences at Rossopomodoro, we were still skeptical of whether the quality would be maintained in its first and only US location. In fact, we put off trying it for a long time. But we finally took the plunge, and we couldn’t be happier with it. The pizza menu is more limited than it is overseas, and there are many more non-pizza additions like pastas and meat entrees. But the pizza itself is still the same great quality.
Rossopomodoro of course offers the classic Margherita, made with tomato sauce, buffalo mozzarella, and basil, and it’s executed flawlessly. Fantastic crust, the right balance of tartness and sweetness in the tomato sauce, and top quality mozzarella that melts perfectly into the sauce with a soft, slightly chewy texture.
However, the other classic Neapolitan pizza, the Marinara, made with tomato sauce, oregano, basil, and fresh garlic, is not on their menu, though they do prepare it upon request. This is such a shame! To not prominently display both of the classic Neapolitan pizzas on the menu of a pizzeria that literally started in Naples is just not ok. But, I suppose the fact that it still can be ordered is better than nothing. And that’s exactly what we did, but we also chose to add gorgonzola. I really can’t complain much at all about the Marinara’s omission from the menu because it was just fantastic with no real room for improvement.
The restaurant also has a nice vibe going on. It’s made up of multiple small rooms, so the space is much larger than it looks from any given spot. But boy is it packed on weekend nights. If you’re going to eat during prime time, I’d highly recommend making a reservation. And it’s nice that the restaurant is large enough to accommodate bigger groups as most pizzerias are too small to do so. But make sure you book in advance.
Perhaps the least favorable thing about the place is the service. There were a lot of communication problems with our server who didn’t understand what we were ordering and as a result brought us the wrong pizza initially. Further, upon being informed of his error (which seemed inevitable given his incredible initial confusion), he was slightly combative and highly defensive. Though it is true that one of the pizzas (the marinara) we were ordering was off the menu, if the restaurant still allows it to be ordered, then it should be ordered right, and the server should understand what the dish is.
Still, it is definitely one of the best Neapolitan pizzerias in NYC and it’s worth not just giving it one try, but coming back regularly.
