To be honest I don't care what people call my pizza as we continue to get great reviews from young and old NY/NJ people as well as west coasters. Last night we sold out of dough with our last customer and our business has doubled since opening a year ago. I think of my pizzas as a combination of the best NY/NJ pies I ate growing up. We got another wonderful Yelp review last night. It is very moving to see people take the time to write such heartfelt reviews in todays world where people are relying more on icons and 1 sentence responses for written communication. Walter
I haven't reviewed a place in a long time now but if any of you walks into this place, you will leave with the need to tell all the World about it, too. The second one walks through the doors of this true Mom & Pop operation you feel the positive vibes; you quickly understand that this place is NOTHING BUT positive. Go ahead....I dare you to even think of one negative thing about it! Look at all the posts on this blog. Who can say anything bad? When you walk up to the counter, employees (and you'll immediately love them) warmly welcomes you and get you situated. However, the first thing they warn us about is that they're out of small thin crusts so all they have left is large size pizzas (Ah, FINALLY, something negative I can say). Problem is, it's just the wife and me. Well, we really want to try this pizza so we order the large with intention of bringing some home for later. Anyway, you're part of the phenomenon as soon as you walk in. It's not hard to tell that this place is pizza with a cause. I could go on forever about this part of the business but, well, I did come here for some pizza.
Ah yes, the pizza. You can smell the authenticity from outside the restaurant and then you enter and hear them yelling orders and statuses back and forth in the tiny kitchen space. You can see the perfectly browned crust of their pies as they come out of the oven and anticipate that you've made the right decision to give this place a shot. Yeah, they do crust right. Perfectly thin & crispy on the outside, little bit of chew once you take that first bite. On their pizza oven, there must be a setting labeled "perfect". Don't know how else to describe it. You see them pouring sauce on the pie from the bucket as they make it and wonder, "What's the secret to that part?" Then you taste it and realize....there may be no secret except for the use of great canned tomatoes. Not sure if they added a darned thing to it but somehow, it's in perfect harmony with everything else on the pie. I could say the same for the amount of cheese and all of the 4 toppings I ordered on ours. By the way, I recommend that you make sure sausage is one of the toppings on yours. It's made in-house and delicious.
Oh, and about that "out of small pizza" problem. Turns out my petit 5'2" wife and I polished off the whole large pie and left nothing for my teenage son at home despite that we promised him we were coming home with leftovers. We ended up having to get him In-N-Out. It was that good.
Overall, this place is a small, hidden dive that serves great, authentic, New York style pizza, arguably the best. Service is friendly, prompt and sincere. I encourage you all to eat in and take in the art, the employees and the whole vibe to truly understand what this great business is all about. Its name is appropriate: When you leave, you'll be smiling because you just ate the best pizza in the Truckee Meadows. You'll be Smiling with Hope because you've just been reminded that there are still good people left in this World!