A solid 4 stars for this pizzeria. Based on the concept of Neapolitan pizza (though it never claims to be one), Speedy Romeo serves wood-oven fired pizzas in addition to a number of grilled entrees (fish, steak, burgers, etc.). The pizzas are what we went for.
We didn’t have reservations, but luckily there were a couple of counter seats open since we went a little on the early side. I highly recommend making a reservation because by 8 pm the entire place was packed. Not an empty table in sight and a line had formed. Though the counter seats are generally less desirable, they allowed us to face the kitchen and watch the chefs cook. We really enjoyed that, especially because it’s not just pizza that they make. One thing we noticed is the crazy crazy crazy amount of cheese that gets grated onto the Caesar salad (which is twice the size of my face). They grate about 1/4 block of cheese on there, which takes maybe 2 full minutes. We kept thinking he’d stop, but he kept going long past the point where we already thought “wow that’s a ton of cheese”.
Also, we got to watch the chocolate cake being prepared, which was cool because it comes with marshmallow on top that they literally use a branding iron to melt on top of the cake. Anyway, back to the food.
I will admit the main reason I was attracted to this place was their super unique and creative “everything crust”. The everything crust is based off of the concept of a NYC “everything bagel”, which, of course, has poppy seeds, sesame seeds, dried onion, dried garlic, and salt. The thought of doing a Neapolitan-style pizza with an everything crust sounded fun and innovative, so we went. This crust is only found on one pizza, but you can request it for no additional charge on any pizza.
We tried the everything crust on the classic margherita and also got a classic marinara for our second pizza, which had to be custom ordered. They have something called a “marinara” on their menu, which is not the same. Very unusually, the margherita here comes with chili flakes, which is awesome because I always ask for chili flakes to put on top.
When we ordered the pizzas without extra olive oil, the server suggested putting extra red sauce so our pizzas wouldn’t dry out. A+ for the suggestion as this is what I love to do! No one has independently suggested that before. And they also provide each table with pickled red and green chili peppers to supplement the pizza if desired.
The first thing we noticed when our pizzas came out was that they had been slightly overdone. This wasn’t a deal breaker with the marinara, which had a normal plain crust, but a pretty big deal for the margherita, which had the everything crust. With an everything crust (as with an everything bagel) if you overcook it, the toppings will burn, and burnt onion, garlic, and seeds is not pleasant. All you taste is char. They offered to remake the pizza and the second time it was perfectly cooked.
The everything crust is amazingly fun! You wouldn’t want to get that every time on a pizza, but it’s completely worth trying at least once. It’s delicious and a great idea and actually goes really well with a simple pizza like the margherita. The pizzas were otherwise pretty solid, too. Not amazing, but definitely good quality. The tomato sauce, which is a hugely important part of the pizza, was quite delicious and flavorful. I’m really glad we got extra of that. Well spiced, nice balance of acidity and sweetness. The mozzarella could’ve been better quality as it was a bit rubbery, but was still good enough that it didn’t detract from the pizza. The basil, oregano, and chili flakes added great flavor to the pizzas. And I added a couple of the pickled peppers they brought out, which were fun, but pretty mild for my taste.
All in all, a good experience and I’d recommend going. Because they aren’t trying to be a classic Neapolitan pizzeria, they have some pretty unique pizza combinations that are totally worth a try. And I love the homages to NYC like the everything crust and the pizza with Katz’s pastrami. Though I wouldn’t make it a regular, I’d happily go back to this place.
