ElMar's NY Pizza — Restaurant in Plymouth

When you order from this place, you’ll need to make some space—the pies are the size of the moon 🌕 But you’d can expect nothing less from a shop called El-Mars… 😉

Alrighty, enough cosmic comedy. With noo further ado, here’s some New York style for you:

Meat Pie 🍖 🥩 🧀 House meatballs, cup-and-char pepperoni, fresh sausage, ricotta cheese, white onions, and fresh garlic oil

Chicken Parm Pie 🍗 🥫 House red sauce instead of pizza sauce, pecorino, shredded mozzarella, fresh mozzarella balls, house breaded chicken cutlet, fresh basil, fresh oregano, and fresh garlic oil

Meatball Pie 🍝🌱 House meatballs, roasted tomatoes, red onions, fresh basil, and fresh garlic oil

From ElMar’s on Vicksburg in Plymouth

When I tell people “Can’t talk, in a meeting,” this the kind of meat-ing I’m talkin’ about 😏 The Meat Pie is my to-DIE-for favorite 💯 The house meatballs are simply little Italian miracles—slightly spicy and super savory—make sure you’re sitting down when you eat this one 😅 But it doesn’t end here, because you’ll pro’lly shed a tear when you hit a bite of ricotta 🫢 No cheese pun, it’s simply unbelievable. And we haven’t gotten to the pepperoni. It’s the kind that cups and crisps for maximum deliciousness, each slice a chalice for fresh garlic oil 🍷 Boy, this pizza was an experience! ⭐️

Coming in second was the Chicken Parm. Herbaceous, sensatious, and utterly temptatious… 🤣 shoot, so good its messing with my vocabulary. This one’s meant for meat lovers and cheese huggers who can’t resist this classic poultry/pasta combo 🤩

And finally, the Meatball pie. Any vegetable fans out there will enjoy the plentiful tomatoes, onions, and basil 👏 And y’all know where I fall on the meatballs 😮‍💨

Here’s a slice of truth: ElMar’s is far from New York, but their pizza is straight outta N.Y. 🔥 It’s a whole different experience than any other pie, and totally worth a try!

Thank you to Jami Doyle and Ethan Clinite for the darn good suggestion! Not to mention my brother Joseph Smith who makes these pizza dreams...

I started eating at ElMar’s Pizza since very soon after they opened. I love this pizza. After 44 years in Minnesota (actually 50 years in the Midwest), I was thrilled when I finally discovered honest-to-God excellent pizza that finally was something I was happy to eat.

I grew up in New York, but I am NOT one of those New Yawkers who yearn for the day when they can return to NY. I love Minneapolis and I love Minnesota. I am here for the long haul. Still, you can love a place, but not love everything about that place. And pizza was #1 on the list that I did not like in the Midwest.

This review includes a compliment that I never thought would come out of my mouth (or, as is the case, out of my fingers typing this message). Last weekend, I went back to the NYC for the first time since before Covid. I stayed in Manhattan.

During the course four days, I went to four different pizza places in New York. Although, I love ElMar’s Pizza, I had always compared it to my memory of New York pizza. We all know that “New York Style” pizza means nothing. What matters is the taste. Having had many, many slices of ElMar’s Pizza, I could very accurately compare it to the slices I just had in New York.

I had thought that the highest compliment I could ever give is that a pizza from Minnesota was that it was almost as good as New York City pizza. In my dreams, I hoped I could say it was AS good as NY pizza. However, honestly, I can now say that I like ElMar’s pizza BETTER than any of the four slices I ate last weekend in New York City.

Only someone from the East Coast can truly appreciate the enormity of this statement! All I can say is that they have completely nailed it. I live 20 minutes away from El Mar, but happily travel down Rockford Rd (even with detours) to get my Elmar’s fix. It certainly is closer than NY, and now I dare say,...

A group of 8 of us came in around 5:30. It was busy, and cramped in the store, totally understandable. We put in our orders for dining in and returned to our seats. 20 minutes later apps came to our table, except my wife and I's. We figured it was just coming out later. We waited another half hour, so about 6:30 still nothing. We asked at the counter, and they said "oh, did you want your appetizer now?" The answer, a resounding yes. App hit the table 7 minutes later. Mozz balls, flavorless cheese with a panko crust. A couple with us were also waiting with their receipt on the table. I noticed on the top of their receipt it said "delayed 7:25", they went up and asked what that meant, their pizza was going to be out at 7:25 because they were backed up with online and Togo orders.

Working in the industry I understand backups, and holds, however we were NEVER told there would be any wait. I would never wait an hour and a half for a pizza, had we known, we would have went elsewhere. My wife has diabetes, and if she hadn't waited to take her insulin it could have been a hospital trip.

We got our pizza at 7:20, 2 hours after arriving. We got the meat pie, it should be renamed the ricotta pie. I was expecting some ricotta, not the 3 cups that were a top it in tablespoon sized clumps. The rest of the ingredients were proportional, and tasty on their own, but the immense amount of ricotta drown out any of the flavor and texture of the slices. I would suggest a thin layer of ricotta be spread on the dough under the red sauce or folded into it.

2/11/24 I would like to reiterate that we were NOT informed of the wait, and that vital communication needs to be coming from the kitchen to the guest. Better work on...