New York Style Pizza in Tampa

On my most recent visit to Tampa, I wanted to check out some New York Style pizza places.  I tried two new ones-- East Coast Pizza in Riverview (photos above) and Eddie & Sam's in the downtown area (photos below.)

 

I really enjoyed my slice at East Coast (rated 4.0 of 5) but you can see from the photo that is wasn't exactly a "large slice."  Eddie and Sam's (4.5 of 5), I thought, was better, and the slice was bigger.  

As I was coming into the downtown area, I saw the giant Italian flag above Eddie and Sam's and I knew I was going to be pleased, and I definitely was not disappointed.  

Incidentally, I was in Tampa to pick up some friends at the airport.  After picking them up we headed to Clearwater and they both said they were hungry and would like a slice of pizza.  So where did we end up?  Mike's Pizza & Deli in Clearwater, of course! 

 

Pizza at Bella Napoli in Port Charlotte, FL

PIcked up a couple large cheese pies from Bella Napoli.  Came to my parents house to watch the South Carolina Gamecocks play the Florida Gators.

Slice is Really Where It's At

I just wanted to take a moment to say "Hello" to Adam Kuban and his posse over at http://slice.seriouseats.com/, and thanks for a shout-out on their very popular pizza site.

When I started blogging about New York Style Pizza (almost 4 years ago!), Adam commented on my blog less than twenty-four hours after my first blog post.  He welcomed me to the world of Pizza blogging.  Here's what he said: 

Welcome to the pizzablogging fold. You don't know what you're getting yourself into! I advise you not to turn back, however, but plow forward over the mountains of cheese and through the rivers of sauce that lie on the path before you. Godspeed, dear sir!

I was amazed!  I was still figuring out what RSS was, and I didn't know anything about Technorati, and there was no such thing and there was no such thing as Google Blog Search or Google Alerts.    I was trying to figure out how he knew about me and so quickly?  He told me about Technorati and it really opened my eyes to the power of automated searches and subscriptions across the Web.

 

Madonna's Outrageous Claim: "I Never Had a Slice of New York Pizza"

I've never been a big fan of Madonna's but I've always been intrigued by here ability to stir up a big controversy and get press.  Well, she's done it again and this time it regards a topic very important to me.    On David Letterman recently, she claimed that she had never eaten a slice of New York Pizza. 

According to her Wikipedia article, she lived in New York City for at least 5 years beginning in 1977.  Now tell me, what kind of person would or could live in NYC for 5 years and never have a slice?  This is outrageous!  She is either a bald-faced liar or she is some kind of FREAK!   Which is it, we may never know, but in the meantime, once again, Madonna has made headlines.  You can check out the Letterman clip below...

Looking for New York Style Pizza in Tampa

I am heading back to the Tampa area again.  I am looking for good New York Style pizza in the Tampa  / St. Pete / Clearwater area.   I haven't even blogged all my findings from the last visit yet, and I'm going back for more.

Got any ideas for me? 

Someone suggested CBD's in Tampa but after looking at their menu (click here) I'm not so sure.

Send me your ideas! 

 

Pizza - 3 Meals in One Day in Clearwater / St. Petersburg Florida

I did it.  Three meals in one day.  Pizza for every meal.

I didn't plan it, it just happened.  It started at Mike's Pizza & Deli where I picked up some breakfast pizza.  As noted previously, that was yummy.  For lunch, it was Sardo's over in Largo.   

When it was time for dinner I thought about my options, and decided to try two more pizza places:  Zeko's Pizzeria on Gulf-to-Bay and George's on Belcher.  Zeko's was not bad.  George's I would not recommend.  I would not consider either of them New York Style.  

Sardos in Largo - You Want Some %$@*#in' Pizza?

While in the Clearwater / St. Petersburg area of Florida, the subject of pizza came up, and one of my colleagues, Steve, asked me what kind of pizza  I liked.  "New York Style," I said.  

He looked at me quizically.  "What does that mean?  How do you know if it's the right kind?" 

I then proceeded to enumerate the Sliker Rating Scale:

"It has to be thin crust," I said.   "Check," he responded.

"It has to have pizza by the slice."   "Check." 

"Large slices."  "Check."  (Excitement was building.  We were 3 for 3.)

"Traditional pizza ovens.  No conveyer belts."   "Check. Check." 

"They have Sicilian.  Square slices."   "Yeah, I think so." 

"Run by Italians."   "Definitely."

"Red & Green or Italy in the theme or name."  "Check." 

"Pizza or Pizzeria in the name."   "Check.   I think we've got a match." 

Mike's Pizza-Deli Station in Clearwater / St. Pete

My 3-day adventure at Mike's started Monday afternoon, after returning from lunch at La Pizza Mia Pizzeria.  I mentioned to my instructor that I was looking for the best New York Style Pizza in town and she told me, "It's Mike's"   She then expounded her credentials, having grown up on the outskirts of New York City. 

I mad big plans to go to Mike's Tuesday night for a couple slices to eat in my room while I worked.  I arrived at Mike's at 7:30 pm to find them closed.  CLOSED!  What a disappointment.  I checked the sign on the door, which said 7 am - 9 pm, pulled on the door, walked around to the back door and tugged again.  Sure enough, they were closed.   I had to eat at Panda Express - yuck. 

The next day I went buy in the morning to try a slice of their "Breakfast Pizza" but was disappointed again when I found they didn't sell slices of the breakfast pizza.  Instead I ordered a "Breakfast Hoagie" and it was delicious, loaded with eggs, ham, and sausage and covered with american cheese.  A great start to the morning. 

New York Style Pizza in Tampa / St. Petersburg

I showed up in St. Pete the other night for some training and on Monday at lunch time I set out to find some good pizza in the area.  I am staying and working near the St. Pete airport.  I drove north on #19 then West to Clearwater.  Then I drove south along the beach and east on 686 back to the office. 

I saw two promising pizzerias that were closed-- it was Columbus Day!  Any good Italian-American restaurant is going to be closed on Columbus Day, right?  Maybe, maybe not.   Just a couple miles before reaching my office I spotted a sign across the way that said simply, "Pizzeria."

I crossed several lanes of traffic and did a U-Turn and walked up the steps to a pleasant surprise - La Pizza Mia Pizzeria.   I ordered the lunch special, 2 slices and a coke for under $5.   It was delicious.  The place was run by two Italian women who spoke Italian to one another. 

The slices were perfect!  Just what I wanted.  I didn't do the math, but I'm pretty sure this place ranked 95 on the Sliker Scale (no Sicilian that I saw.)

If you're in the neighborhood, be sure to stop by La Pizza Mia Pizzeria!

Welcome Back to the New York Pizza Finder

After a slight hiatus, the New York Pizza Finder is back and will soon be better than ever.

The history of this site is as follows:

2006-2007 - This existed as a page on the New York Pizza Blog (http://pizza.wordpress.com)
2007-2008 - Existed as an Access Database and an ASP-based application at www.newyorkpizzafinder.com
2008 - Existed as a Wiki using Media-Wiki
2009 - Decommisioned due to excessive Wiki Spam
Current - Being rebuilt with the Drupal content management system.

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