On my last trip to Manhattan, I sought out a Ray’s Pizza joint on the Lower East Side that as I expected turned out to be a dud. Working my way through the grimy streets after parking deep in the Orchard Street Shopping District, I noticed a late night pizza joint called Rosario’s Pizza. Their boastful sign of “The Best Pizza in Town, Pizza-By-the-Slice since 1963” made me put this place on my list for next time.
Rosario’s sits on a corner tucked away in the less traffic-laden part of the Lower East Side. Out walking on a recent pretty spring day, I made it my destination for a late afternoon slice. The place was in open-air mode on this nice day. The medium-sized room had ample tables for seating and a large four-deck glass counter separating the dining and oven areas.
There were plenty of plain “classic” cheese slices waiting there for me, so I summoned one up at the reasonable $2.50 asking price. Rosario’s also has some Italian restaurant fare in the form of sandwiches, salads and pasta dishes. While waiting for my slice, I visited the rest room where the graffiti-covered walls were reminiscent of the side panels of a vandalized subway train.
After a reheat in the big oven, I inspected my slice concluding that it was near perfect in content and construction. The mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and crust all seemed to be assembled just right. The temperature too was perfect and just right for eating.
But for whatever reason, the taste of both the sauce and the crust were off and just didn’t taste right. On top of this, my slice was excessively oily. Even after draining it, this unwanted abundance of oil further contributed to its rather un-classic taste.
It was a shame that a slice looking this good turned out to be such a disappointment. My taste expectations were not met, and I also had to deal with messy hands from all the oil and some runny cheese.
For as much as I don’t care for the Lower East Side and as disappointing as Rosario’s was, the Pizza Snob won’t be back.
PIZZA SNOB RATING ***1/2 Working on a Good Thing
Rosario’s Pizza
173 Orchard Street (corner of Stanton Street)
New York, NY 10002 212-777-9813
[no website]
