Friday Food: John's Pizzeria
While Brianna was in town, I realized that she had never been to John's Pizzerria. My man and I discovered John's on Bleecker Street kind of by accident on a trip to the city a few years ago. We were hungry, they had pizza, so we gave it a try. We ended up loving it so much that we went back two more times during our three-day trip, and many many times since. I like to joke that I've taken every single person I've ever met for a pizza at John's, but that's really not far from the truth. Since 2009 I've shared pizzas with: my mom, dad and uncle, as well as at least seven friends that I can think of off hand. I also once took a four-hour detour on a return trip from Cape Cod just to grab a pizza to go (pro tip: it doesn't travel well). It's just that good.
I've since had pizza at Grimaldi's, Juliana's, Rubirosa, Patsy's and many others but still nothing compares to John's. While the Rubirosa vodka sauce pie was insanely delicious, I consider that more of a specialty item. When I want PIZZA pizza, good old sauce, cheese and pepperoni on a thin crust, I haven't found that I can do any better than John's.
The Bleecker Street John's is the one I've been to, not to be confused with a few other "John's" locations. There must be something to the location, however, because the tiny strip of Bleecker east of 7th Ave. is filled with tons of amazing places to eat, including Murray's Cheese Bar (and store) and Cones (home of the incredible sweet corn ice cream, and right next-door to John's). It's also conveniently located a few minutes from Magnolia Bakery, and I've had the pizza-cupcake (or lemon bar, or banana pudding…) combo meal more times than I'd like to admit.
John's has a coal-fired oven, and they've been in business since 1929. This type of cooking leaves little black bits of charred dough on the bottom of the thin, delicious crust which is all sorts of good. I've experimented with a few different topping choices, but I can say with confidence that double pepperoni is without a doubt the best way to eat John's. Changing up the magic formula does something bad to the whole experience, and I don't recommend going rogue. I tell everyone the same thing when I take them, as I slowly close their menu and push it away from them: just trust me, let me order, and I promise it will be good. The extra pepperoni means extra grease puddles, which sounds gross but I swear it's really amazing. I never feel fatter than when I'm sopping up the extra grease drips with my slice of pizza as I eat, but if you've ever had John's then you'll understand.
They're militant about not offering slices, as indicated by the multiple mentions of the policy around the inside and outside of the restaurant. This has never been a problem, because the pizza is so delicious and I always bring someone to help me. I've never had leftovers, but trust me when I say that the medium is more than enough for two people. Everyone has opinions about the best New York pizza place, and I'm sure there are a ton of other amazing pies out there, but John's still has my vote. I am, of course, always open to suggestions for better places but it's nice to know that when I'm really craving pizza, John's is only just a short subway ride away.
