UNA PIZZA NAPOLETANA

[Jesikka]

2 hours ago, sweatshorts said:

Sounds like they have good lawyers.

It’s different ownership- no doubt they were required to dissolve the former entity under the operating agreement.

[Seth Gordon]

On 4/5/2022 at 10:55 AM, Jesikka said:

I felt they had lost quite a few steps.  Zero non pizza items to start (unless you count olives or dramatically undercooked beans) and every red wine by the glass on the list is aglianico with absolutely no differentiation between them other than a few dollars.  No staff member at the bar could explain anything about the wine beyond “this one is best with pizza.”  On the pizza front, all of the pizza options are one ingredient away from one another which I know Mangieri thinks is “classical” but is certainly not the case in Naples these days.  As it stands, I can only imagine eating there for lunch or a snack over wine with a couple of people because you can’t really make a meal of it unless you want two pizzas that are more or less the same but differ by an ingredient or two.  I don’t see this lasting for long- it was more than half empty on a Friday night at 8.

Those beans are terrible.

We left the other other night really feeling the fact that we’d spent $150 on two flatbreads, four glasses of gallery wine, and a bowl of shitty bean salad. I think I’m done trying to let that place win me over  it’s just not happening 

i hate to use the term “overpriced” as things rarely truly are. Most people calling something “overpriced” don’t know the cost of ingredients, labor, rent, etc that all go into what a restaurant charges for a particular dish. But this place is fucking  overpriced. $6 extra to scatter four anchovies around your $24 tomato bread? Get outta here. There was a rumor that there was some kind of salami on the $28 special  I think we found about three nubs not-quite-the-size of pencil erasers. 

I’ gonna say if I’m in the pizza mood in the neighborhood, Li’l Frankie’s > UPN. 

[joethefoodie]

I want to thank everyone for saving us the trip (not that it's far) and the $$. Not to mention the disappointment.

At least when they were sharing ownership with the guys across the street, you could get a salad.  And a good glass or bottle of wine.

 

[sweatshorts]

Funny how two people can have such different experiences. I was actually thinking that I was impressed that they didn't raise the prices *more* in the last two years (especially in light of the price hikes I've seen at other places). But we had one drink each, and two pies with no extras and got out for under $100.

I'll agree that the pictures I saw on Instagram where they added 4 slices of pepperoni for $5 look insulting, but I still think it's the best pizza dough you can get nowadays.

[Steve R.]

I know that I'm just getting older, grumpier and more out of touch, but really?  $50pp for a drink and a pie with no extras?

 

[Wilfrid]

Me 2.

[sweatshorts]

Sadly I think that's the norm nowadays. We're virtually never able to eat for $50/person if we have anything to drink, and it's almost always sneaking up to $100/person, even for mediocre food. We have actually been talking lately about how most of our recent favorite dining experiences have been outside of NYC. New Orleans, Miami, Nashville, and Mexico City in the last year have all had places we enjoyed more (especially when taking into account price) than most of what we eat here.

[joethefoodie]

12 hours ago, sweatshorts said:

I still think it's the best pizza dough you can get nowadays.

Maybe he should start selling the dough?

19 minutes ago, sweatshorts said:

Sadly I think that's the norm nowadays. We're virtually never able to eat for $50/person if we have anything to drink, and it's almost always sneaking up to $100/person, even for mediocre food. 

True here, too, though we try to keep it to food and or an experience we know we'll like. Or spend more of that $100 pp on beverages.

I have no problems with restaurants (and other small businesses, for that matter) making money (see my rant against delivery apps) as long as they're not screwing me.

I guess in terms of economics, it means fewer meals out per week (which hasn't been difficult during the course of the pandemic) and more cooking at home. Where at least I can attempt to buy the highest quality ingredients for my money.

23 minutes ago, sweatshorts said:

New Orleans, Miami, Nashville, and Mexico City in the last year have all had places we enjoyed more (especially when taking into account price) than most of what we eat here.

This can be true, except of course for factoring in the expense of the travel.

[Anthony Bonner]

Sadly if you eat 2-3 high end meals the travel math almost works as well...

[Steve R.]

3 hours ago, sweatshorts said:

Sadly I think that's the norm nowadays. We're virtually never able to eat for $50/person if we have anything to drink, and it's almost always sneaking up to $100/person, even for mediocre food. 

Oh, I fully get that its almost impossible to eat in NYC for $50pp if you have even one drink.  I just don't think that a plain pie and a drink is what I'd consider a restaurant meal.

[joethefoodie]

1 hour ago, Anthony Bonner said:

Sadly if you eat 2-3 high end meals the travel math almost works as well...

The scary part is when it starts working for low-to-mid end meals.

[Orik]

2 hours ago, Anthony Bonner said:

Sadly if you eat 2-3 high end meals the travel math almost works as well...

Sell here and buy in Spain and use the difference to pay for all future meals.

[GerryOlds]

2 hours ago, Steve R. said:

Oh, I fully get that its almost impossible to eat in NYC for $50pp if you have even one drink.  I just don't think that a plain pie and a drink is what I'd consider a restaurant meal.

A plain DiFara pie is $30 now, though it probably feeds 2-4 instead of 1-2.

[joethefoodie]

Just now, GerryOlds said:

A plain DiFara pie is $30 now, though it probably feeds 2-4 instead of 1-2.

But not exactly a restaurant meal, which UPN is pretending to serve.

[Seth Gordon]

2 hours ago, Steve R. said:

Oh, I fully get that its almost impossible to eat in NYC for $50pp if you have even one drink.  I just don't think that a plain pie and a drink is what I'd consider a restaurant meal.

Exactly. Even if the general QPR in NYC isn’t where it was in the Before Times, there’s still far better value for one’s dollar out there.

Even if it is the best pizza dough on the planet - is flour, water, and time ever worth their price? Not for me, personally - not unless it was zhuzhed up more. Or at least had toppings that managed to cross the radius’ halfway point.