Giardini Pizza — Restaurant in New York

Gen-X remembers a time when pretty much every single corner pizzeria was amazing in its own right. Going into the 90's, that started to change, and the trend has been monotonically trending downward ever since.

In my neib, Midwood, we have Di Fara's, of course. But I honestly can't think of any other pizzas that knock my socks off. We have good ones, but other than Di Fara, none that really stand out. We were in Carrol Gardens and stumbled across Giardini. It looked good, so we walked in to get a pie and some calzone. The punchline is, Giardini really stands out.

It's hard not comparing Giardini with Di Fara's, b/c Di Fara's is my "home turf", and I love both pizzas. The difference is, of course, that Di Fara's is known to be NYC's most expensive pizza, which is obviously not a contest anyone should want to win.

What did I like about Giardini?

The cheese was fresh and tastes beautiful. The average pizza these days is flavorless, but not this cheese!

The sauce was not overly sweet. I still like my sauce better, but in terms of pizza sauce, this sauce is savory, not sickening sweet. It has a ripe tomato profile, which has sadly become elusive in the NYC pizza scene. To me, it screams "home made", definitely not canned.

The sausage was savory and vibrant. Very fresh tasting, and not overly greasy. The same for the pepperoni.

The vegetables on our pizza -- roasted broccoli and tomato -- was fresh, tasted delicious, and was done in just the right proportions.

The calzone was unbelievably delicious (I ordered sausage - ricotta - meatball).

What was I neutral on about Giardini?

I wish our pizza box had a pizza saver since we were carrying the pie home. One one hand, a pizza saver really works when you're carrying a pie, but on the flip side, they're environmentally unfriendly, so I can't complain about this too much.

What didn't I like about Giardini?

Nothing. There's nothing I don't like about this place. If they were here in Midwood, we'd be going here exclusively for our...

Nothing is harder to find, but more rewarding once found than a perfect Sicilian slice of pizza. As opposed to many round pies, the square goodness of a Sicilian has so many things that can render the slice an un-chewable mess. Giardini looks to have taken this to heart, and the outcome is a damn good slice.

The place where every slice of Sicilian pizza lives and dies is in the base. If the slice itself is too doughy, its like chewing through a pile of rubbery tires. Too dry, the pizza tastes like eating a stack of matzo bread without any water. Here, the slice is, doughy without being overly dense or chewy. After securing a solid base, the sauce is the next place where pizzerias have been tripped up. Too sweet, its like eating a desert or some processed can of sauce. The sauce here was very good, but a little skimpy with the sauce and cheese covering. Finally, after the dough has been tossed, and the sauce and cheese have been laid, the cooking is where the magic happens. The slice I had had a perfectly cooked crust, without any of the usual burnt edges that are common in a lot of Sicilians slices.

Overall, a fairly reasonable price for the neighborhood, and the ever escalating...

I’m honestly beyond disappointed in this place. It was my first time trying out food in this place and I wasn’t in the mood for pizza, but most pizza places offer different Italian foods, etc. besides pizza. I ordered a Caesar Salad for 11 dollars which is already pricey, but I open the bag after I walk out and the salad is literally just salad dressing and lettuce, not even cheese?? Are you serious? I came back to at least get some explanation and they rudely say that’s what a Caesar salad is and that they don’t have any croutons to even offer me. Only after some push back do they even think to offer me cheese, but at this point I just left because they were extremely rude and I was alone. Never coming here again, this was a waste of my money and time and I honestly want to contact my bank or something to...