Over the past six years, The Pizza Snob has visited and given his two cents about 365 pizza joints across this great land plus a few overseas. I’ve given each a rating from one to five and the average rating of all I’ve so far tasted is 3.85. This score falls in somewhere between my 3.5 “Working on a Good Thing” and my 4.0 “Near Perfection.” So, if we call the 3.85 average “Working on Perfection,” you may ask, why is my overall rating so high? Good question.
The answer is simple, in my travels, I try to seek out places that are rated highly on Yelp and in my long-term planning, I take note of favorable reviews I’ve read and recommendations that have been sent my way. I guess you could say that I’m no fool and am simply trying to seek out the best pizza I can find. So where do the bad ones come from? Another good question.
Sometimes I just see a place that I decide to try or as a simple matter of convenience, I grab a slice from somewhere close by. I’m lucky to say that through all the recommendations I’ve received, I’ve never been led to a klunker!
This all leads up to my latest trip to Atlanta where after my splendid experience at Antico Pizza Napoletana, I had no further pizza plans for the weekend. However, after Sunday morning shopping at Ikea on the west side of the city, I was a bit hungry after having passed on the Swedish meatballs. I also needed an iced coffee first, and the coffee place I discovered led to the nearby Baby Tommy’s Taste of New York.
The New York in the name of course caught my attention, so I was up for a quick slice. It did take a bit of an effort to find the place since although their address was on 14th Street, its location was more on the side street than it was on the main drag. But, after you read my dismal review of this place, knowing how to get there probably won’t be a concern.
It was still on the early side of lunch time, and when I ordered by slice at the counter, there were only two other folks inside who were munching on some non-pizza Italian fare. I ordered my plain cheese ($3.00) which when I saw it sitting on the counter, didn’t look all that bad. However, when the guy behind the counter started dumping a pile of shredded cheese on top of an otherwise decent-looking slice, I had to keep myself from screaming “What in the world are you doing?”
I was surprised to find out that the pre-made slice pie that was sitting out had no cheese on it, and that this cheese dump was gonna be it. Well, this just turned out to be a total disaster. Although during the reheat he was able to put a good dark char on the bottom crust, all that cheese on top just didn’t adequately melt. The crust was also thicker than I thought, and it toasted on the bottom but didn’t heat through as well. This slice would best be categorized as cold.
In addition to not being hot, the cheese simply just didn’t taste that good either. Despite not being melted enough, it also somehow managed to create a big glob of oil in the middle. Overall taste wise, this was a “taste of New York” that I’d rather forget. After sampling that cheese mess in the middle, I wound up eating just the front tip of my slice and the end crust and disposing of the rest.
While I don’t recommend Baby Tommy’s, and I’m not turning into the Coffee Snob, I would like to give a shout out to the great nearby Caffeine Atlanta. While essentially just an adjunct to a gaming spot and Hookah bar, they make a fantastic cup of coffee and offer some quite comfy quarters.
PIZZA SNOB RATING ** Why Did I Waste Those Calories?
Baby Tommy’s Taste of New York
365 14th Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
404-874-4445
www.babytommystasteofny.com