REVIEW'D: South Brooklyn Pizza

This past Tuesday, Park Slope got its seventh-zillionth pizza joint, when the fourth outpost of South Brooklyn Pizza opened up just off of 7th Ave on 1st St. It'd been a while since I'd had pizza, so on Wednesday I decided to swing by and check it out.

If you aren't looking for the place, there's a good chance you'll walk right by, as it's off the main avenue and has an exterior that, other than an A-frame outside the front door that reads "Yep, this is the Place," has zero signage. In my case, since the storefront used to be home to "Comfy Body & Foot Rub," I was used to ignoring the locale all together.

Inside it's a tiny place, with five tables in all, so when I entered I was immediately at the front counter, which was manned by a friendly guy. Other than a woman and her fussy baby, who were (THANK GAWD) on their way out, it was just friendly guy and I. I looked above the counter for a menu, down at a lonely pizza sitting on the counter and back up at the guy.

Me: Um, do you have a menu?
Guy (pointing to the one lonely pizza): We have pizza Margherita. It comes in slices and squares. $4 and $5.
Me (looking around, still expecting that there has to be a menu): Ok…I guess I'll have a slice of that pizza then.

That's fine, I suppose. At the moment, they only have two options—pizza Margherita in slices or squares. I guess I'm just so used to expansive menus with thousands of options that the lack of choice threw me for a moment. You can apparently spice up your pizza with cherry peppers or garlic, but friendly guy mentioned nothing of these accoutrements to me, so I went with the simple slice.

Is $4 for a slice of pizza Margherita worth it? Sure. Why not? I'm not the biggest fan of pizza, but I do enjoy a well-done slice. Usually my rule is the more crazy toppings the better. This slice was an exception to that rule. It's straightforward, with crust, sauce, mozzarella & a few other cheeses, fresh basil and olive oil. The crust is firm but chewy with a little bit of char and the sauce is slightly sweet and balances nicely with the saltiness in the cheeses. Other than the drizzle of olive oil, it's not greasy at all, which gets it bonus points in my book. On a scale of 1-500 slices, where more slices means better pizza, I'd give their pizza 403 slices.

While I was eating my slice, I was also treated to a radio station that played "Eye of the Tiger" and a few shitty songs from a few shitty post-grunge bands…so they've got ambience down.

At one point, a group briefly stopped in to ask if they had a menu they could take. The friendly guy told them "no," but did mention that for now they have the pizza Margherita and they'll be adding salads and breakfast (huh, breakfast?) to the menu by the end of the week. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe he said "breadsticks." That’d make MUCH more sense.

Will they succeed? Maybe the drunk 3am crowd will embrace the lack of a menu. Maybe they won't. Maybe people will start going to pizza joints for breakfast. Maybe they won't. Maybe the elementary school kids from PS 321 and their breeder parents will start choosing South Brooklyn Pizza over the Two Boots just a block away. Maybe they won't. It's good pizza, but with the rate that businesses have been coming and going recently in Park Slope, fuck if I know how it'll do.

Read way more from Shawn at eatdrinksnack.com.