Monday, October 21, 2013

Tiers of Pizza - Best Pizza South Florida

Leaning Tower of Pizza


October is national pizza month so now is the ideal time to update my Tiers of Pizza.

For my new readers out there, I love pizza. I grew up in New York and love NY style slices. I've put in a lot of time searching for great slices in South Florida over the years. Unfortunately, I have only located a handful worth recommending. However, I have found several excellent thin crusted pies coming out of the wood and coal fired ovens around South Florida.

Every place ranked is highly recommended by me. I've once again broken them down into tiers as an ideal form of ranking them.

TIER ONE


                                             
Pizzeria Oceano (Lantana) As I've previously advised, they've been serving the best pizza in South Florida and they'd easily hold their own against the best in the country.  Pictured above is their basic pizza which features housemade mozzarella, olive oil, pecorino romano, tomato sauce and basil. The sauce, cheese and dough are all fantastic and the ratio is perfect.  The crust has a nice char and tastes great. This is a perfect pizza and worth the drive from Miami for sure. Their non pizza offerings are excellent too.  This is a special place.

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Lucali (South Beach) If you have been reading my blog posts and/or following me on Twitter, you already know that I have a huge pizza crush on Lucali.  As someone who loves traditional NY style pizza as well as thin crusted wood oven pies, this is a knockout combination.  You can read my original Five Star review here.  In a nutshell, everything about  this pizza is perfect from the addictive sauce to the fresh cheese to the tasty and chewy dough.  Plus, the overall ratio is spot on.  Save some room for the "Costanza" Calzone as it may be the best I've had. And make sure you pair it with that super sauce.

                                                


I've been asked several times now which pizza was better Oceano or Lucali? Great question and one I really can't answer without doing a side by side or same day tasting.  That will go down one day.


TIER TWO


Scuola Vecchia Pizzeria (Delray Beach) The pizza chef trained at the critically acclaimed Keste Pizza e Vino on Bleeker Street in NYC. Pictured above is the classic Neapolitan pizza, the Regina Margherita.  It features imported bufala mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil and basil. This is great pizza and on the cusp of joining the big guns in Tier One. I need to go back for more.        



Mauro's (Downtown Hollywood)- Huge authentic NY style slices. Perfect dough, sauce and cheese ratio. Their sauce skews slightly on the sweet side. One of the best NY style slice in South Florida.


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Grandma Pie

                                      

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                                                               Old World Pie   
                                                                       
Kings County Pizza (Aventura) They are serving authentic NY style pies including stellar sicilian and grandma pies.Their baked ziti and chicken parm hero may be even better than the pizza.  

I recently tried their "Old World Pie" thin and crispy pie topped with fresh mozzarella, crushed tomato, basil and olive oil. So good.

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Spadini's Mizner Pizzeria (Boca Raton)

This is a new addition to the tiers. I paid a visit recently and was pleasantly surprised by their NY Style slice. The flavor of the cheese, sauce and dough was spot on and had great ratios of each.



Cafe La Buca (Pompano Beach)- NY style/thin crust hybrid. Fantastic tasting dough with a nice chew. The cheese and sauce is top notch and perfectly proportioned. Pizza is cooked in a wood-fired oven imported from their hometown of Naples, Italy.  Five tables, daily changing verbal menu.  Get a small pie so you can try one of their fresh housemade pastas. Hidden gem and a must visit.



                                                         White Clam Apizza pie.



Nick's Pizzeria & Bar (Boca Raton) Nick's debuted in the rankings last go round. They specializes in New Haven style "apizza". The classic apizza is the "white clam pie" which consists of littleneck clams, garlic, olive oil, oregano and grated cheese. I've opted for their white clam, garlic and bacon pizza which is an awesome combination and a great pie. Their crust is great and features a really nice char. Their regular pies are great too.

TIER THREE

Harry's new delivery guy...

Crispy lamb, heirloom tomatoes, eggplant, spicy sauce & herbs 
Harry's Pizzeria (Miami) The best thing about Harry's is that it continues to improve. Skip the margherita and opt for one of their creative pies featuring awesome topping combinations or their daily special.  You won't leave disappointed. Harry's serves unique style pies that are topping driven.  Don't go in expecting traditional style pizza. Go in expecting creative, fresh and tasty combinations.  And make sure you try their great and fairly new beer, Michael's Genuine Home Brew.

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Pucci's Pizza (Miami) was my go to spot for a great NY slice on South Beach during the mid to late 90's.  They closed for an extended period of time but reopened a couple of years ago in Miami across from the Triple A. Thus, a perfect spot to stop pre and post Heat games. I finally made it back in and their slice was just as good as I remembered.  

Macalusos Market (South Beach) - I'm a big fan of Macaluso's and was very happy when he opened the market next door. The Market features their legendary meatballs, heroes and pastas.  They also serve fantastic pizzas. Kill two birds with one stone and order the meatball pie.  

Steve's (North Miami)- This is a place I really want to love but always falls just short for me.  It's very good but the sauce is just too sweet for this to rank higher.

Spris(South Beach) An underrated spot over on Lincoln Road that features some interesting topping combinations. Always leave satisfied. 

Anthonys Coal Fired Pizza (Multiple Locations) They started the coal fired craze in South Florida and still excel at it. Their wings are the best in town so don't skip them.

RESTAURANT PIE TIER
  
Michaels Genuine (Design District) Love the breakfast pizza on the brunch menu.


MC Kitchen (Design District)  Try the broccoli raab and Italian sausage pizza on the lunch menu.


                                    
J & G Grill (Bal Harbour) Their black truffle pizza with fointina cheese is available on the brunch, lunch and dinner menu.

Timo (Sunny Isles) Try their wood fired Black and White featuring ricotta, mozzarella, provolone and shaved black truffles.


To Do List

Frankies (Boynton Beach)
Fresco Trattoria (South Beach) Milan import sounds promising.
Kitchenetta (Ft. Lauderdale)
Gran Forno Pronto (Ft. Lauderdale)
Stanzione 87 (Miami)
Macchialina (South Beach)  I love almost everything here so I bet the pizza is great too.
Boxpark (Miami)

4 comments:

Rick said...

I'm hearing things about Osteria Acqua & Farina on South Federal in Lauderdale....

The Chowfather said...

That's the spot Valentino's opened after they moved. I completely forgot about them. I will get in there for sure. Thanks

VirtualMadman said...

How can you not even mention Andiamos? Best pizza in Miami hands down.

The Chowfather said...

@Virtual,

Andiamo's has a real love hate following. I have never been and need to check it out so I can render my own opinion on this one.