Thin-crust pizza this good shouldn’t be so inexpensive

 

 

"Some of Tucson’s tastiest and most reasonably priced New York style pizza is made at a diminutive joint on North Fourth Avenue, a little Big Apple deed blown west.

 

Brooklyn Pizza Company cranks out delectable thin-crust slices bulging with fresh, jumbo-cut toppings that tempt diners to ditch their Atkins diets for an evening.

 

Owner Tony Vaccaro has operated his bustling operation for 11 years. The restaurant is a nerve center for students, guys in suits swinging by on their lunch hours, night clubbers and an eclectic walk-by crowd.

 

The Vibe

Cooks toss pizza dough in full view of the dining room, which is separated from the kitchen only by a counter. The walls are lined with obscure artwork some of which looks as though it was painted by kids.

 

As usual, the place is packed with customers queued up in two lines; one single-file behind the order counter, stretching 10 deep to the door;  and the other, a loose chain of those who have placed their orders lining the walls and eyeing the packed tables for openings. Few are willing to brace the pulsing heat the tables outside. At one of the indoor tables, a couple of student types make out in between slices.

 

The air smells like tomato sauce, toasted cheese, garlic basil and fresh bread. In other words, heaven

 

The Food

The pizzas come in one size – 16-inches. We tried the Flatbush Feast, a specialty pie slathered with thick helpings of pepperoni, sausage, mushroom, bell peppers and onions. The slices were wide enough that they required us to fold them before biting. On the side we munched on garlic knots – an ingenious appetizer consisting of pizza dough lumps slathered in buttery garlic. Watch out with these things – they’re addictive and take up valuable stomach real estate.

 

Just to pig out and sample the range of the menu, we also ordered a hero sandwich with salami, ham, provolone, pepperoncinis, tomato and lettuce, all topped with oil and vinegar. The Wop is a hearty change of pace for those who go to a pizza place and for some reason don’t want pizza.

 

Fliers at the counter detail a smattering of specials, a lunch special (available from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily), including a ganga that lets you snag a slice of cheese pizza and a fountain soda for $2.54, as well as the daily happy hour from 4 to 7:30 p.m. that offers $1.85 beers. Food this good really shouldn’t be so cheap, but don’t tell Vaccaro.

 

   

   

"...We decided on a lunch special, which included a 16-inch pizza and a dozen garlic knots. The huge pizza (way too much for two people) - topped with tomatoes, garlic and olives - was simply excellent."

 

  

    "Unlike many pizzas, the consistency of this pie was more juicy than oily. The crust was perfect, thin on the bottom, thick on the edges, chewy in the center."The garlic knots ($2.95 per dozen if ordered separately), made with the same dough, were even better. Sprinkled with garlic oil, garlic salt, Parmesan cheese and oregano, these finger-licking treats were served piping hot, with a side of fresh marinara sprinkled with herbs and Parmesan. When we took the leftovers back to the office, these were a hit with everyone who happened by."

 

 

 

 

   

    "The soul of a genuinely scrumptious Brooklyn-style pizza doesn't reside in fancy gimmicks or a host of bizarre toppings. The key to a New York pie is an obsessive devotion to ingredients of the highest quality and consummate freshness. When tossed together, the result is magnificent."

   

    "At Brooklyn Pizza Company it all starts with the crust, made fresh on the premises, as is the bread used in the restaurant's hero sandwiches. While on the surface this may seem merely a nice touch, rest assured: the yeasty aroma of pizza and bread in the oven is as profoundly satisfying as the finished product. Just to step inside Brooklyn Pizza and inhale deeply is to be rewarded."

  

    "The list of potential pizza toppings includes artichoke hearts, fresh basil, cilantro, broccoli, chicken, eggplant, feta, ground beef, meatballs, potato, ricotta and spinach as well as more traditional cappers like pepperoni and mushrooms. The crust is thin, yet fully detectable in its delicious simplicity. The sauce is full-bodied and flavorful, gracefully blending tomato, garlic and olive oil along with a measured hand of fresh herbs. The cheese tantalizes with its stringy-creamy texture without eclipsing the other ingredients."

   

    "It's hard to find fault with this pizza, especially considering the price for a 16-inch pie (the only size available) hovers below $15, even with five toppings. A daily lunch special of one large single cheese slice and a soda costs $1.87, making Brooklyn Pizza particularly popular with the starving student crowd."

 

 

"Hold everything, transplanted New Yorkers! - There may not be any reason to visit those sorry relatives still on the East Coast this summer because the only thing you truly like about the Big Apple has shown up on Fourth Avenue... Brooklyn Pizza Company, 534 N. Fourth Ave., would make its namesake borough proud."

 

 

"They only offer two rotating flavors, but that hardly matters when one of them is 'nocciola'. This silky delight of super-smooth chocolate texturized with flecks of hazelnut is pure ambrosia. The biscotti flavor, another taste-bud tour de force, combines gorgeous vanilla gelato with the eponymous broken biscuits. "

 

 

"Located on 4th Ave., you can actually watch your pizza being hand tossed the old-fashioned way. Tucson's best gelato and Italian Ice make dessert a must, but saving room will be difficult."

 

 

"Best place to get some greasy New York-style 'za

Brooklyn Pizza Company, 534 N. Fourth Ave.

   "...We can all agree on one thing: they've got some amazing garlic knots. They've got greasy, NY-style pizza with good toppings, but they've really improved the traditional side of bread you can dip in marinara sauce. You always want to have a pizza appetizer that's pretty much identical to the main course, and these knots of bread with garlic are far superior to your run-of-the-mill breadsticks. They've also got a student discount that can drive down the price of a large to around $7."