Ogliastro Pizza Bar — Restaurant in New York

It's difficult not comparing this place with Barboncino -- they're in close proximity in the same neighborhood and serve the same thing: brick oven pizza. Furthermore, Barboncino is the big brother of all the brick oven pizzas in the area since it was first, and arguably, the best. Yes, it's unfair to compare them. But it's hard not to. My apologies to Ogliastro. I hope you understand:

Both menus are mostly just pizza with just a few high quality mouth watering appetizers. Ogliastro has slightly more items on the menu.

The staff at both restaurants are as friendly as can be. Love the people at both places.

Barboncino is a slightly more minimalistic pizza. Ogliastro is slightly more busy.

Both pizzas sure are pretty. These are pizzas you can be proud of taking to the prom.

I dunno. Although both pizzas are phenomenal, for me Barboncino just works better. I think the cheese is tastier. I like the dough a bit more. Don't get me wrong -- I am definitely a fan of Ogliastro, and I wouldn't hesitate coming back, not for a second, but Barboncino is as good as it gets, while I'm a "fan" of Ogliastro.

What would make Ogliastro 5 stars? I'm not a chef, so I don't know how to express "make the cheese more delicious and dough tastier" in a helpful way. Perhaps it should research putting even more tastier / gourmet small side items, like a gourmet Italian tapas. I'll tell you, that Carciofo is one of the best things I've eaten in months, and I would come back for the meatballs alone! I think this is an area where Ogliastro can really compete.

Carciofo: A+ Delicate, yet delicious. You would be doing yourself a bad disservice not trying this gourmet delicacy.

Polpette (Meatballs): A+ It had my 1.5 year daughter asking for meatballs all day long.

Bufala: B- Nice, but a bit too bland for me. I didn't feel like it was savory. The flavors were a bit too weak. I think the sauce should stood out more. Same problem as the carbonara, except the carbonara was a blanket of spiciness instead of a blanket of blandness. Too homogeneous, which makes it uninteresting.

Vongole E Gamberi: B+ I didn't care for it. It wasn't savory: the flavors were all too muted; they blended with the crème fraiche, and the whole thing was just too homogeneous. However, my wife and step father liked it, so I'm giving it their rating, not mine. I'd give it a C-.

Carbonara: D I don't mind spicy, but the whole pizza just tasted the same no matter where you ate it. Spiciness doesn't work like that for me. Picante flavors should be used tastefully, to punctuate something interesting, not as a blanket to hang over the entire dish. The bufala has similar, except with bland flavors instead of picante flavors.

Margherita with sausage and shaved Parmesan: A- My favorite of the bunch. It had distinct flavors which I could enjoy -- definitely more sophisticated and less homogeneous than the other pizzas. I wish the Parmesan was stronger -- perhaps they should offer Romano? The sausage was fantastic. Savory,...

The pizza at Ogliastro is phenomenal. The ambiance is, somehow, even better. We’ve been a few times but on our last visit we got to witness two warring tables of Prospect Heightsians very vocally confront each other across the beautiful backyard. It seemed like one person was not thrilled with the admittedly earsplitting hijinks of a cadre of toddlers and decided to stand up and give their parents a very loud lecture on how they need to control their kids. Not the method of delivering that message I would have chosen but here we are. The backyard went totally silent. The families got up to leave but not before firing back. There was a tense back and forth that ended with the final dad of the group declaring “You should be ASHAMED of yourself” as he marched out. Other tables at this point had started to murmur their opinions. It was dinner and a petty, totally entertaining show. I mean it completely seriously when I say that it made my boyfriend and my weekend. Go for the black garlic pizza, and the great service, stay for the...

Ogliastro serves really fantastic, creative personal pizzas alongside a great selection of beers and Italian wine. The decor is a warm, although a bit overly "crunchy". They have a large backyard with a lot of seating (for those nice days). Generally the staff is really kind and accommodating though we did once have a bit of an altercation when we accidentally miscalculated the tip and one of the managers made very passive aggressive comments and ended up yelling at one of the people in our party (alongside some borderline racist statements). Very, very unprofessional. Having worked in hospitality myself, nobody - especially not a manager - should act that way no matter what the occasion.

In general, I love this place - the food and the people are really wonderful. I would love to give it 5 stars but that one management experience leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I will definitely be back - I just hope that...