photo from Marcus V. on Yelp.comPizza by the Park, on 7th Avenue and 42nd Street, has been around for about six years. It's made a slow transition to its current pizzeria-and-healthy-food-cafe. Currently, it provides WiFi, several pizzeria style tables and a small stool seating area by the window, a huge menu, fair trade and organic coffee, and local owners who want to become the IN place to get your order on. The cheesy sticks ($2) are popular with local parents because most kids will gobble them up happily. Also, many local freelancers/laptop owners/iTouch folks will be relieved to learn of another location for WiFi, especially near the park. (If you do use their WiFi, try to purchase more than a coffee - my request, not theirs.)
Check them out if you get the chance. See below for my recent experience with their delivery.
Last week I was feeling poorly and decided to treat myself to a lunch ordered in that would also guarantee a lunch my toddler would eat. I'd only ever ordered cheesy sticks and a slice of pizza at Pizza by the Park, and being a Johnny's customer for six years (baked ziti and eggplant!), I never felt like I needed to order from anywhere else.
However, a few weeks ago I ran into Kristie, a local mom and co-owner of Pizza by the Park, while at the baby swings. My chat with her kept the idea of Pizza by the Park in my head, and in my slightly ill and sleep-deprived state (Not that you need to be ill or sleep-deprived...) I browsed the menupages for them, then I dialed and ordered way too much - a medium cheese pizza, an order of cheesy sticks, a veggie calzone on (in?) whole wheat dough, and a Sprite. It came to $19.50.
It took a little while, in fact, my son and I stood by the window and chanted our "We want pizza" chant to stave off hunger. But once everything arrived it was well worth it. (Keep in mind that I am no food photographer.)
The cheesy sticks were perfect to give to the kid while the pizza cooled down. Even the baby had a nibble.
The pizza was solid, yummy, basic cheese pizza. A teenage girl might use a napkin to soak up some of the cheesy grease, but everyone else will enjoy the goodness.
The calzone (shared and eaten that evening with a side salad and soup) was amazing. Lots of veggies, the dough was tasty and heated up well in the oven, and there was a good amount of cheese without overpowering the veggies.
While I know I'll stick with Johnny's for my baked ziti needs, I'd definitely order the calzone again, and I've heard the subs are also excellent.
8 comments:
What kind of "healthy food" does Pizza By The Park serve?
They have grilled chicken wraps.
Anonymous #1: It's true that my pizza and cheesy stick order doesn't reflect overly healthy choices. However, check out their menu for wraps, grilled options, having the option to choose whole wheat crust, and asking for low-fat cheeses on your orders.
From what Kristie told me, they are focusing on offering more healthy options as time goes on.
I just had dinner and am hungry again seeing pictures of pizza. Thanks for the tip on the wifi connection. It's also great that they're by the park.
Cie.
Dis anyone catch the auction of 733 41 street today. Must have been a hundred people there. House went for $875K. Some were surprised.
TM: It's a four-family, so no big surprise on the price. However, there's also a SWO on it from a year ago. I guess it was less trouble to get rid of it.
I used to order prom Pizza By The Park. Every time I tried to order a sicilian pie, they told me they were out of the dough for a sicilian pie (at 2PM). I don't understand. How can you be a pizzaria, but be out of dough only for the sicilian? (regular pizza pie was available) To make things worse, they charged my credit card before they realized this. I was born and raised in Brooklyn and I have NEVER heard of such a thing. This happened on multiple occasions! I just took my business someplace else.
Getting charged for something you didn't end up getting stinks. I hope they either credited or gave you a free (Sicilian) pie the next time you ordered.
I know of a couple of places that do "run out" of certain items (the most famous being Totonno's) prior to normal closing hours. That doesn't bother me as much because I'd rather see more family run businesses over chains.
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