Dario's Pizza — Restaurant in Town of Hempstead

After a fellow Yelper, Dan, recommended I try out Dario's, I immediately put it on my list. According to Dan, "Dario was a bread and pastry chef in Italy. He then came to the US, and worked for a very famous pizzeria in Brooklyn called L'industrie. He opened his own pizzeria about a year ago. His specialty slices are really unique and delicious. His regular slices are very thin and crispy, but I think a little lite on the cheese."

I must say, Dan was spot on. Dario's serves some of the best pizza I have had on the Island, similar to pizza that you would get in Brooklyn. The slices are thin and crispy and they have a good selection to choose from. From what I saw, there were regular, white, eggplant, and spicy vodka slices, though their menu offered more. They also some some of the best quality Italian doughnuts I have ever had, which came in the flavors of Nutella, Lemon, and Pistachio. The restaurant is small but clean with modern decor. There are a couple of tables inside and two benches outside. Expect to wait in line because there are a lot of people who are looking to grab a slice and go. I like the fact that they showcased some original sicilian olive oil and soda in the front; it gives a sense of heritage contrasting from a classic american pizzeria.

PLEASE READ:

I am creating a new Pizza Review Series in which I will be rating slices from over 30 different pizzerias in my local area in Nassau County, Long Island. I will use a regular cheese slice as a baseline and a specialty slice as added depth to the review. These rating are solely based on my opinion and taste preference so please do not be offended if one of my ratings does not align with your opinion on the pizza.

I am excited to have Dario's as my fifth review in this series!

#5 Dario's Pizza

Cheese slice: Thin and very crispy with no flop. Crust was salty and crunch all around. Perfect amount of sauce with good flavor. Barely any oil dripping from the slice. Could have used a little more cheese, but honestly not a deal breaker. Overall, I rate it a 9.4/10.

Specialty slice (Eggplant): The slice was on a thicker bread but still crispy. Eggplant was thinly slices and blended well with the sauce. The stracciatella cheese on top complimented the slice well. I just wish the eggplant was breaded and lightly fried. Overall, I rate it a 8.8/10.

For more ratings please see my Pizza Ratings Collection...

Its a newer small business with limited space and help. But HUGE on quality and flavor. It's located on a local road, near the middle school. Parking is street parking, but not hard to find parking. The owner is hands on from start to finish. Takes pride in his work and great with the customers. Recently they we on barstools and had a fantastic rating with supercedes expectation when you go try it out yourself. With their new found viral fame, come with understanding and the expectation that it might take extra time for your orders. Especially on the weekends and later on in the day on weekdays. They are working nonstop and very apologetic if they fall behind. The cashier was still learning how to use the POS and learning what everything was. But as i said they are a newer business...so there's that learning curve. Which they step up and take responsibility for and aim to make sure every customer is properly attended to. Regardless ... I'm telling you...it is worth every minute wait to try everything from their fresh pies to their desserts!! We ordered a whole pie. That's the way to go! The sauce was everything and finished off with the fresh shaved cheese and basil...omg to die for. Between the two of us, we had no expectation that we'd devour nearly the whole pie like we were starved children but before we knew it, it was nearly all gone. We also tried the fried lasagna. The lasagna was good without needing to be fried because of the sauce. The sauce is really that good. If they started selling fresh pasta dishes I'd probably be there weekly. SAVE ROOM FOR DESSERT! The bombolonis are absolutely incredible. My favorite was the lemon marscapone. It was delightfully sweet and creamy, but not heavy. The Nutella was really good too. But the lemon one was mind-blowingly delicious. And you can't leave without grabbing a tiramisu. So good!! Overall, it superceded my expectations and very happy with everything we ordered. Definitely added to our list of top...

I popped by Dario's Pizza during my run with my sister and they had a pretty large variety. I bought a square tomato pizza and the beef birria pizza. I'm not that big of a fan of their square tomato pizza because it's more acidic and less balanced but it was still a pretty good slice. The beef birria however was the best pizza I've ever had. I love the rich and perfectly balanced flavor. There is a sweetness that isn't too overwhelming. The pizza isn't too salty. With my experience with birria they tend to be pretty salty but I didn't have that on this pizza. What I didn't expect was that they actually garnished the pizza after, which just adds a touch of freshness to it. I often avoid going to pizza places because I get the feeling that they are just reheating food they've made but I love what Dario has done. Im also really appreciative that they had cut the slices in half without me even needing to ask because I was planning on sharing with my sister.

However I was a bit disappointed with the service. After ordering, they put the two slices of pizzas in the oven and we sat down to wait. After waiting for a while the pizza was already sitting on the counter but they never actually got our attention to get or pay for the food. The food was probably already sitting out for a couple minutes and they should've definitely put more effort into getting the food to us. The whole experience was just a lot less warm than a cozy pizza place. When asking for recommendations the staff didn't seem as enthusiastic. The service isn't bad at all but there is a lot that could've been done to make this experience...