Lucia’s Pizza Soho

[Decoy205]

I walked over to the Lucia's pizza in soho as it's a few blocks away from my job.

The location used to be a Bank of America ATM that I used to get cash from on the way to work lol. So when I went back there it was cool to see what they did.

I never made it to the Brooklyn spot but I know that area well as I grew up not far from there.

I went at 1pm which is Lunch time and it was busy. I was glad to see that.  We waited about 10min to order. But it wasn't crazy.

I ordered a plain and pepperoni slice.  You can't add toppings for slices that aren't in the case. If you want something like that you have to order a pie. 

I could see right away they were putting care into these pies and they definitely wanted the to have a particular look out of the oven.  I liked the options they had but needed to try the plain slices first for judgement.

I also wish I ate it hotter but had to walk back to work to eat.

The dough was light but had body. It had a nice crisp to it and great color.  The sauce was simple not much added. Cheese was baked well and wasnt heavy.  The crust couldve used a touch more salt to put it over the top.  The texture was not like the usual ny slice. It was bready and fluffy and had a soft chew. Easy on the jaw unlike Bleeker street.

Toppings were good the pepps were nicely crispy and it wasn't oily for a pepperoni. They use pizza master ovens.

Overall I enjoyed it and it's reasonably priced for soho.  

The difference between a good place and others I'm convinced is care.  When the operator is hungry to make a name for themselves or just trying to outdo themselves, the customer wins.  I think Lucia is at this point in it's operation. They are trying to sell the best product they can make.  

I see places resting in their name a lot now and have cheap or inexperienced labor making the food and to me that's when the quality goes down.

Joes is like that to me. It was an average slice to me. Nothing to write home about.

Lucia's is looking good so far. A touch more salt in the dough for me but I'd def go back.

[Mikeylikezit]

John, Thanks for sharing this, I've been admiring their pizza on insta.. you can see passion in the pizza being made there in the pictures you posted. 

I think the owner is a young guy whose parents ran a pizzeria for years and now he's carrying the torch. There's nothing like a mom n pop run operation run with pride. 

I've never had Joe's when I was in the city. That's a bummer.

[Decoy205]

John, Thanks for sharing this, I've been admiring their pizza on insta.. you can see passion in the pizza being made there in the pictures you posted.

I think the owner is a young guy whose parents ran a pizzeria for years and now he's carrying the torch. There's nothing like a mom n pop run operation run with pride.

I've never had Joe's when I was in the city. That's a bummer.

Absolutely.  Yes the guy who started Lucia grew up in his family's shop in sheapshead bay Brooklyn.  It was in his blood I guess. 

I can say I see the same about your pizzas from what you post in your shop thread. 

It's very cliche and corny but I think with any food the secret is love.  You have to care about what you make.  

[quietdesperation]

I hope you don't mind me tagging on to your post, lucia recently opened on the UES and unsurprisingly, I had a similar impression of the pizza but in the end, found their vodka slice to be less than the sum of the parts. They get a fabulous bake from what I assume is two or three-day fermented dough, finished with hard cheese which is a nice touch but the vodka sauce lacked flavor which, if you're going light on the cheese, is gonna move it from great to good. And I agree that there needs to be more salt in the crust

My sense is that very few places are selling this style by the slice, so maybe it's new to most New Yorkers, hence the popularity. To be fair, I have to go back and try their plain slice but not sure I'd choose it over Joes which, in the past on the forum, I've described as the canonical NY slice. Also, I didn't take a look at their oven but I assumed it was a pizzamaster and there a number of places around town using that oven and getting these types of bakes.

best,