New York Za vs. New Haven Za [SPLIT]

[Spacey]

Here is one link to one publications, 10 top Pizza Joints in NYC

NYC Top 10

Best of NYC 2004

[skalnbyc]

I have actually been on a hunt for the best taquerias in the Bay Area.  I usually pick places to try based on the number scale ratings provided by consumers on citysearch.com.  I\'ve noticed that the high rankings don\'t necessarily yield a great menu.  Some taquerias that are located in trendy neighborhoods place more emphasis on the interior\'s atmosphere than on the quality of the food, yet the consumers give them high marks.  Some of the best taquerias place less emphasis on the decor and get low marks, even though their food kicks the ass of the fancier and trendier places.  

NYC definitely has the recognition factor weighing in it\'s favor.  I don\'t have the extensive NYC knowledge of those of you that live there or nearby (Westchester and CT people), though I have had plenty of pizza during my visits.  I really don\'t remember anything spectacular, though I\'m sure there are thousands of merchants to comb through.  Are there some decent pizzas in Little Italy?

Wolfman, I\'m curious to know if the fine pizzas and Italian cuisine of the New Haven have spread northward up I-91 to the Hartford region.

[Wolfman]

In the end, we will all be winners and full.

Absolutely.  There are no losers in apizza tourneys.  Except, of course, for inferior apizzerias.

Wolfman, I\'m curious to know if the fine pizzas and Italian cuisine of the New Haven have spread northward up I-91 to the Hartford region.

The only things that spread upwards from New Haven to Hartford are disease and pestilence.

[kindm's]

Wolf I think your arguments are sound but where the hell u paying that kind of DOUGH (heheh, ya im gay) in NY or NYC for a pizza !

30 - 40 dollars for a large ? Even in Westchester they only charge like 16bucks for a large plain.

In a city like NYC where you cannot fall down without hitting a place to eat the food tends to be fairly priced in my experience. There are so many places to eat that your theroy lacks the competition variable.

There is tremendous competition for your food dollars in NYC. That alone forces food places to either be affordable and good or expensive and great. Now thats not to say i havent had a less than desirable meal there but those places dont tend to stay around very long.

Now Of all the places you mention in New haven the only place i have had the pie was at Bar. And it was not all that. their pizza was OK. I tried many different slices that night (NYE pre-breakfast) and It was ok but nothing my toungue wanted to write a poem about.

I have always wanted to hit Sallys and the others but waiting as long as you guys say the wait is for Pizza, that to me is silly. If I am gonna wait for food there better be red meat on the plate

Thank god we all can agree on the Breakfast

[skalnbyc]

Wolf I think your arguments are sound but where the hell u paying that kind of DOUGH (heheh, ya im gay) in NY or NYC for a pizza !

30 - 40 dollars for a large ? Even in Westchester they only charge like 16bucks for a large plain.

I actually shared a pizza with a friend that cost $29.80.  It was an x-large with about 5 or 6 toppings.  The name of the place was actually New York Pizza and it was delicious, though I\'m used to picking up good pizza in Massachusetts for $10+.

[stabmasterarson]

ah what a debate. i must say that i feel like whenever somebody says nyc they mean manhattan.  maybe im wrong but im just sayin. especially when you say a pie was thirty bucks.  i havent ever seen a large pie with two toppings go for over twenty in queens or bk, both of which places i have extensive knowledge.  i had sally\'s pie while i was in nh one day, it was delicious must admit, but i dont think it compares to a slice of sals in williamsburg (lorimer st). where ive seen cops double park and make patrons move their cars so they can eat there.  i feel like pizzia outside of manhattan hasnt been tainted with tourists, since no toursit is gonna go to williamsburg or myrtle ave in queens to try pizzia.

as for the water thihg, i am almost positve only seventy five percent of croton res. goes to the city, the rest we get to keep. i also remember seeing a water taste testing possibly on the today show or something stupid. it was nyc water which is really westchester water, and like evian or something equivilent and nyc water was perferred overwhelmingly.  the northeast has best water hands down, cant get a good bagel anywhere outside new england, which is a shame since im in montana

[Wolfman]

There is tremendous competition for your food dollars in NYC. That alone forces food places to either be affordable and good or expensive and great.

Great point.  Pretty much anywhere on earth the theory of supply and demand reigns supreme.  But in New York, even a theory as mighty as this one gets pushed around.  That\'s not to say it\'s out the window by any means.  It\'s prevalent every day in New York.  But there are enough unique and outstanding forces acting upon the New York market to severely dampen the strength of supply and demand.

1.  New York loves the hot trendy thing.  Hot trendy things are usually priced higher than the nearest similar version.  A pizza restaurant (or anything else) in New York will often raise the price to enhance the perceived value.  When two pizza restaurants are a block or two apart and making virtually the same pie for the same price, one is very likely to raise their price so that they are perceived as being higher quality.  

2.  New York is a bitch to get around.  Conveniece plays a monstrous role, especially when it comes to low-cost convenience items such as pizza.  Residents, especially in Manhattan, walk to everything.  There is enough money going around (at least in Manhattan) to negate much of the advantage of being lower-cost.  Being priced lower than the guy 5 blocks down doesn\'t do you much good if nobody\'s going to walk the extra 5 blocks to save $2 anyways.  This removes a lot of incentive to be lower priced.

3.  On any given day, half of the people in Manhattan are tourists.  The vast majority of them are not out to price shop.  It requires far too much effort.  Whatever it is they are looking for, they will almost always take the first thing they see regardless of price.  This is incentive for stores to keep prices up.  In addition, those people who do end up choosing from similar alternatives based on price are just as likely to go to the higher priced option for perceived quality as they are to go to the lower priced option to save a few dollars.  Again, more incentive to keep prices up.      


BTW for those who it matters to, when I say New York I pretty much mean "Manhattan" since that\'s where I lived and it\'s what everyone from outside thinks of when they hear "New York."  I\'m sure there\'s plenty of good pie in the other boroughs.

[Gordo]

you guys are all fucked. eat a slice of Uno\'s, Giordano\'s from Chi-town and you\'ll all shove this debate up your brown-eyes. hope it happens, cuz you\'ll know the truth then. however, realize that relativism might play a huge role here and no matter what ill probably never enjoy CT za as much as chicago\'s........ and vice versa,,, obviously.

just read the last couple posts before mine, dude its like $16-$18 for a large at Uno\'s for thee dankest pizza I HAVE EVER EATEN.

ya better put some water on that daamn shit.

Hooray beer.

[antbach]

Gordo, Uno\'s is a chain restaurant, we have them in the northeast, and their so-called Chicago brick oven pizza is pretty awful.

[Spacey]

Is UNO\'s a chain restaurant in Chicago?

[obsession600]

There is tremendous competition for your food dollars in NYC. That alone forces food places to either be affordable and good or expensive and great.

Great point.  Pretty much anywhere on earth the theory of supply and demand reigns supreme.  But in New York, even a theory as mighty as this one gets pushed around.  That\'s not to say it\'s out the window by any means.  It\'s prevalent every day in New York.  But there are enough unique and outstanding forces acting upon the New York market to severely dampen the strength of supply and demand.

1.  New York loves the hot trendy thing.  Hot trendy things are usually priced higher than the nearest similar version.  A pizza restaurant (or anything else) in New York will often raise the price to enhance the perceived value.  When two pizza restaurants are a block or two apart and making virtually the same pie for the same price, one is very likely to raise their price so that they are perceived as being higher quality.  

2.  New York is a bitch to get around.  Conveniece plays a monstrous role, especially when it comes to low-cost convenience items such as pizza.  Residents, especially in Manhattan, walk to everything.  There is enough money going around (at least in Manhattan) to negate much of the advantage of being lower-cost.  Being priced lower than the guy 5 blocks down doesn\'t do you much good if nobody\'s going to walk the extra 5 blocks to save $2 anyways.  This removes a lot of incentive to be lower priced.

3.  On any given day, half of the people in Manhattan are tourists.  The vast majority of them are not out to price shop.  It requires far too much effort.  Whatever it is they are looking for, they will almost always take the first thing they see regardless of price.  This is incentive for stores to keep prices up.  In addition, those people who do end up choosing from similar alternatives based on price are just as likely to go to the higher priced option for perceived quality as they are to go to the lower priced option to save a few dollars.  Again, more incentive to keep prices up.      


BTW for those who it matters to, when I say New York I pretty much mean "Manhattan" since that\'s where I lived and it\'s what everyone from outside thinks of when they hear "New York."  I\'m sure there\'s plenty of good pie in the other boroughs.

Locals will find and patronize quality restaurants. They will try new establishments but word gets out fast whether it is worth spending your money there. Not every part of Manhattan sees as many tourists as Times Square.
Real estate prices mandate that you do a high volume of business for a sustained time. Mediocre does not tend to last long unless you are somewhere like Times Square where advertising plays a bigger role than quality or you are in a place like Central Park where availability is your biggest selling point. I still can\'t believe that people eat hot dogs from cart vendors.

[Wolfman]

Uno\'s...the dankest pizza I HAVE EVER EATEN.

OOF.  You might as well say that Applebee\'s makes the best burger you\'ve ever had.  Uno\'s is a huge national chain.  Their pizza isn\'t bad, in fact in can be quite tasty.  But at the end of the day, their pizza is still mass-produced in a factory, freeze-dried, and shipped to their locations all over the USA for reheating and serving.  It is made by clueless teenagers reading instructions off of a sheet as opposed to bona-fide Italians who have owned their store for generations and made millions of pizzas.  Uno\'s does a good job with what they do and they get the pizza to taste good everywhere, but when 800 Uno\'s all manage to serve pizza that is exactly the same, you know something is wrong.  Only the most severe Chicago provincialism could lead someone to say that Uno\'s is the best pizza.  I feel bad for you bro.  Come out to New Haven next time next time there are shows and we\'ll take you out for real pizza.

[ChrisF]

wolfy, from what i hear the pizza is prepared differently at the real unos in chicago than it is at the chain across the country. the ingredients are pretty much the same, however.

gordo, ill take your word for it that the pizza is ser at the chicago unos even though i have had it at the unos here and it wasnt that great. i would probably settle for it if i was hanging out with some unser pizza eaters that wanted to go, but not without a fight.

[Gordo]

Is UNO\'s a chain restaurant in Chicago?

you got it all wrong.. ive eaten the chain Uno\'s before, it blows. in the heart of the city they have the original Uno\'s and Due\'s kiddycorner from each other. the chain doesnt even have the same pizza, its a fucking crime that it carries the same name. if you\'re ever in Chicago you have to go to the original Uno\'s or Due\'s, i promise this shit is incredible. i agree, the chain is brutal, ate there once and will never go back.

[Spacey]

I didn\'t get it wrong. I was just asking an informative question. Those other .infoers are the wrong ones

I asked because like your answer tells me, it is not a chain restaurant and that is what I thought.

Having never heard real Chicago deep dish pizza or real chicago pizza, I have no say how good it is. However, the LA County Fire Department, according to a Food Network program last evening that I caught, chose NY over Chicago.

When the breakfast comes back to Chicago, you will have to point me in the right direction of this pizza. Cool?