Pepe's P & P (Park Slope's Best Pizza...Shhhh...)
Discovery being in the eye of the discoverer, I can’t lay claim to finding the best new slice/pie/calzone/hero shop in Brooklyn (south park slope no less) - It’s just new to me and after several visits over the past month, I’m convinced this place makes one of the best slices I’ve ever had.
From it’s tiny storefront, Pepe’s Pizza and Panini on 4th Avenue – steps from the Prospect Ave. train station between Prospect and 18th Street will soon be over run, with a long wait and accolades from far and wide lining the walls. Until then, get your pizza on hassle free, time though is running out. Given the quantity to quality ratio in the area for pizza – Pepe’s P & P does its part to even out the statistics.
The owner and cook are both masterful in their execution and warmth. The crust is unreal in its tastiness and tomatoes are flown in from Naples. The owner is a Napoli native and it comes through in the freshness and quality of the food. When was the last time you walked into a pizza shop and everyone in there was from Italy hunched over a streaming video of Italian league futbol. The WiFi is extended to any patron who wishes to use it which is a nice touch.
I was with my son a few weeks back on one of the first cold days of the season. Once we ordered, the cook brought us both soup, chicken with escarole, it was delicious. The slices I’ve enjoyed most are the house slice, arugala and prosciutto, and the broccoli rabe and sausage one. For $5 you can get a calzone as big as your head with ricotta, ham, tomatoes and onion.
I remain impressed and wish them all the success in the world – they’re doing it properly and you can taste the love.
bklyn_j
Nov 20, 2007 02:02PM
Thanks bklyn J! How do you think it compares with DiFara's?
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It's impossible to hold a candle to Dom and Pepe's P&P is still wet behind the ears to certain extent. That being said, try for yourself - the margin of exception to the rest of the PS slice shops is pretty vast. Maybe in 50 years those dudes will have the same well deserved rep as DiFara.
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I just noticed this place on my frequent runs to the Home Depot and after your post gave it a try yesterday. What a great place with excellent pizza. Great ingredients and a really friendly vibe. Usually I just go straight cheese as my barometer, but when I walked in, I was offered slices of several specialty pies. I ended getting a slice of everything he had available (I didn't see any plain cheese slices), one stuffed slice with ham, pepperoni and cherry tomatoes (nice touch), one slice of a thin crust w/ prosciutto and, I think, arugala, and another stuffed slice that had marinara and a sprinkling of parmesan on top and spinach and ricotta in the middle. The last slice being a very hefty and filling slice. They were all delicious and the thin crust on the prosciutto slice indicates they must make a mean cheese slice as well. Calzones looked great. Can't wait to go back to this gem.
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Dropped into Peppe's the other day after reading the initial post and I have to agree that it's deifinitely the best I've had in the Park Slope area--Nice guys, too.
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Just stopped in tonight. I was amazed - having this place open next to me is like winning the lottery without buying a ticket. The crust on the house slice is crispy but not cracker-crumbly, and the sauce tastes as fresh as you can imagine - plus not too salty (the only salt in the pizza comes from the cheese), meaning that I'd taken down a whole slice before I even reached for my coke. They're really friendly, too, justly proud of what they've come up with. Get in now before the line stretches from here to Franny's.
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Like the other posters I've passed Pepe's everyday but never went in, until reading this post. I'm glad I did, this place rocks. We tried three types of slices and took more home. All were great. They use really fresh ingredients, high quality tomatoes
and fresh meats. I'm usually not a fan of stuffed slices but here they are fantastic. Not heavy or greasy, and the crust is just right. The spinach and fresh ricotta slice was unbelievable, probably the best I've ever eaten. We also had a chicken cacciatore stuffed slice, $4, also really fresh (organic chicken), and not heavy. The square slices are also fantastic. I can't wait to go back and try the egg parm. and other dishes. The owner and chef are both super friendly and obviously care about the food they prepare.
Hands down it's the best quality pizza in Park Slope, and dare I say further. It's small inside, just a few counters with stools, so it's probably mostly for takeout or delivery.
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I stopped by here last Thursday after reading this post and had a grandma slice...great crust, fresh tasty cheese and a "good" sauce (it tasted a little tomato paste like for me). That being said I was really impressed with the places vibe...the owner/chef gave me a sample of pasta fagiole soup which was really good and he seemed very friendly. The little kitchen, the steel oven, everything was perfect.
I can't wait to go back and try the regular slice. In fact, since I went on Thursday I've been thinking about nothing else but going back. I feel like this place has real potential. The only thing I would do is throw some fresh basil on those slices and you're stepping closer to Dom's. It sounds crazy anything could be as could as DiFara's but this guy is on his way. He's obviously someone who cares about his food. Try it.
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Another trip to Pepe's. The regular slice is a perfect example of a New York slice. Nice paper thin, crispy crust, fresh tasting sauce and quality cheese which cuts back on the grease and salt factor. My habit is to get some of the stuffed slices to go and heat them in the toaster oven at home and it's remarkable how well it works. I had a stuffed chicken parm slice that was divine. Chicken, mushrooms, tomato sauce, cheese and nice hunks of garlic in the middle, a sprinkling of basil (or maybe oregano) and parmesan on top with a wonderful crust. Even after it sat refrigerated for a day and was reheated, the crust didn't lose all it's mositure and retained a nice chewy texture in the middle. And the best part is the service, which is so welcoming and such a relief.
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Does anyone have a phone number for this place? Couldn't find it online. Thanks.
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718 788 7333
597A, 4th Ave
open 11a-11p, everyday
Their takeout menu says you can mix and match ingredients to create your own salad, panini or pizza.
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Hmm, I went by last Monday and they were closed. I called and the new hours are 11a-10p Tues.-Sat, and noon to 9p on Sun.
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Went to Pepe's saturday afternoon and was very impressed. Had a slice of square "grandma" and a slice of "Pepe's". The Pepe's was round with various meats (prosciutto, I think pepperoni) and baby aruguala. Both slices absolutely delicious. The round was reminiscent of DiFara's -- although not quite that level. But really just a step below. Delicious crust, not soggy. Simply a wonderful piece of pizza.
And the service was very friendly.
My only complaint was it was very small, and with 4 other people there, there was nowhere to sit, so I basically had to eat my slices outside in the cold.
Either way, its definitely worth the trip from the north slope, and, dare I say at the risk of exposing this find, from further afar than that.
Fantastic call Bklyn_j!
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hummmm, sundays are usually our pizza (delivery) night, reserved mainly for anthony's. i think this sunday will call for a change. thanks for the heads up!
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So they do deliver? Anyone know how far?
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delivery is on it's way to 12th, i know that much!
:-)
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well, we weren't overwhelmed by this one. :-(
we ordered a small sausage/red pepper with extra garlic. they were very nice and timely, but the pie ended up quite greasy and soggy. i can't believe it was the pepper or garlic, and can barely blame the sausage. the tomato sauce had a very sweet element to it that was good. it also seemed to be lightly covered with goat cheese?
ps - we definately aren't giving up based on our one experience.
but i would like to do a side by side comparison with lennys, which i think is in the same ballpark. i don't think it'll stand up to anthonys or frannies.
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"but i would like to do a side by side comparison with lennys, which i think is in the same ballpark."
mission accomplished! sort of...
i grabbed a slice from peppe's, lenny's and joe's, for comparison sake. brought all 3 home and ate them in the order that they were ordered so they all had an equal comparison of freshness.
peppe's clearly won that round, but it was flawed. i ordered a slice of plain cheese from both lenny's and joe's, but at pepe's i ordered a slice with prosciutto/arugula/parmigiano.
what was i thinking?
to be honest, peppe's didn't have any plain cheese slices in sight and i guess i caved in. my bad.
guess i'll have to do it all over again?LOL
twist my arm...
;-)
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When I went, I didn't think there were any plain cheese in sight either, so I ordered that same "Pepe's" slice (which was great). Only after I ordered did I see the plain pie hiding behind the counter!
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"well, we weren't overwhelmed by this one. :-("
Neither was I. The regular slice was below average; mediocre sauce. A bland, boring slice. The toppings on some of the other slices appear to be good quality ingredients but for me, there was a synergy that was lacking between crust, sauce and other ingredients. This place doesn't hold a candle to any of the great NY pizzerias and is not worth the trip. I don't understand the fuss, or this 60+post thread. Maybe it's a decent alternative if you're already in that neighborhood.
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I always go with Anthony's for a great pie in the Slope...let me know how you think Peppe's compares.
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Place link:
597 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215, USA
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I went back the other day for a regular cheese slice and wasn't that impressed. Their menu says they use only fresh ingredients and cheese but the sauce wasn't that spectacular and the cheese looked liked the same grated stuff that every corner pizza place uses. I guess, since I had never had the regular slice, I thought it would have fresh mozarella, a tangy sauce, and I nice charred crust (I've been spoiled by Dom but who hasn't?) The slice I had was fine- not bad, not great...just OK and like anywhere else in the Slope or the city.
That being said I did enjoy the grandma slice I had weeks ago and their special slices like the spinach and eggplant look quite delicious. I'm sure I'll be back and I can tell they mean business when it comes to their pies. My only advice would be use fresh mozarella, char that crust some more and work on the sauce a bit...I know these ingredients will raise the price but I'd easily pay a dollar more for a Dom quality slice closer to home that I don't have to wait an hour to get.
Has anyone had their calzones yet? How do they compare to Lucalis?
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I had their slice as well. Not bad. Not DiFara good but certainly not bad. Their grandma slices are indeed very, very good. The pizza maker uses a totally different sauce. I also had their meatball hero. If they decide to cut down on the breadcrumbs they would have a hit.
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went the other day for lunch. we tried a calzone, reg slice and grandma slice. service was fantastic. they are great guys and deserve to do well. being in their place is a nice treat. they are friendly and generous and patient and warm. the food was great for a slice place, maybe the best slice place i've been to yet, other than difaras. i kind of prefer baked calzones to fried ones, and eventhough they fry theirs, i thought it was good- maybe just a bit too bready. the slices were really good, too, although i wished they used a slightly higher quality mozarella. i agree with the above poster that the moz tastes like most other slice places. maybe it's a notch better. but since their sauce and crust were so good, i wished that they'd have a slightly better tasting cheese.
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I'm glad you mentioned the fried calzone...guess I won't be trying that. I'm going to Lucali's tonight for a nice charred calzone.
Peppe's is young and I think it will only get better. They are a nice bunch of people that work there.
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I'm going to step out on a limb here and predict that Pepe's will become one of the city's most beloved pizza shops. The elements are all there: fresh ingredients, inspired preparation and owners who are warm and cordial.
A quick stop today: a grandma's slice was extraordinary. The sauce is the thing here: San Marzano-based, garlicky and smooth. The taste lingers on the tongue for nearly a minute after each bite. Go now. Enjoy.
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Yes. I went today and I concur, to a degree. It is miles above even good neighborhood joints, but it is no DiFara's (what else is?).
I highly recommend the grandma. It is a very good take on the standard formula, no surprises other than fresh above-average quality ingedients, care, and good technique. I liked the eggplant and ricotta slice, but less so. However I could sense that the intention and care will pay off. I agree that they need to refine it a bit and it can be a GREAT pizza shop.
Here is my suggestion: work on the sauce. I would like to see a spicy, thick, pungent saucxe with lots of herbs and garlic on the sicilian. The sauce now is good, because of the good tomatos and olive oil, but I would like to see more of a punch in there. Maybe a little pork in the sauce for taste.
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I respectfully disagree: I thing they've got the sauce down fine. The garlic is the distinctive feature about the sauce and it lingers long after the bite goes down. As for pork, I'd prefer to keep it meat-free (and not go in the treyf direction, NYJewboy. Oy, where did I go wrong with you?)
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the sauce was the redeeming factor in it for us.
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Yes, just from the smell it is clear that they use fresh garlic. However (in the slices I had) I just wished that the sauce was more 'up front'. Maybe spicier, maybe more of it, I don't know. But I thought it could be refined a bit and taken further. It was still very good, but could be great. My point of comparison is (of course, as if you couldn't see this coming) Dom's sauce at DiFara's. Zesty without being topheavy with any ingredient, fresh garlic not withstanding. Like a Bach cantata in your mouth. Perfectly harmonized in an array that would only yield diminishment if any element were to venture beyond its part in the grand drama.
As for my halachic status...oh well! I'd complain, but who'd listen? (certainly not my goyisha wife). I'll keep the pork and leave the schmaltz. Just don't tell my grandmother.
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Had a chance to stop in this past Saturday. He had three of four selections at the time, one being a great looking stuffed pizza. I opted for the Grandma slice - among the best I've had hands down. When I got there a Chowhound was taking a picture of the place. Was that you?
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I hate to rain on the parade, but the pizza here is nothing special, at least the plain slice. The best I can say about it is that it's inoffensive, comprised of nearly tasteless sauce and gluey, characterless cheese on a decent crust. There's hardly any good pizza in Park Slope, so to say it's the best isn't saying much, but I don't even think it's the best.
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Chef's off on Monday - it's true.
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"There's hardly any good pizza in Park Slope, so to say it's the best isn't saying much, but I don't even think it's the best."
please supply the names of the best. as you can see, i'll gladly go out and do the taste test.
:-)
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Oy, I know. I went today (monday) and the description above is accurate. The grandma slices were like any decent corner NY pizza joint, maybe a bit better. The promise of glory and splendor has vanished, leaving only the faint trace of tomato stains on the astral.
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"There's hardly any good pizza in Park Slope, so to say it's the best isn't saying much"
Sort of like calling Moe the "smart" Stooge?
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Don't start on the Three Stooges! Them's fighting words. To quote Peter Tork, "It's okay, Mickey. I'm the dummy."
All this about this pizza joint really sounds like wishful thinking.
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This happened a couple of years ago with a place on 5th Ave. (near 3rd St.?) People went on and on about the grandma slice. Best thing in the world. Fabulous.
So I tried it. It was pretty good, a cut above the average neighborhood slice, but no revelation. Shortly thereafter the number of rapturous posts began to decline and people started rated it properly. I think of that as The Pizza Arc.
I was hoping that Pepe's was the real thing but based on recent posts I'm thinking that it's another victim of the Arc.
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Yeah, after the multiple rave reviews of Pepe's, I was wondering when the inevitable chowhound "it's-not-all-that" backlash would start! (Verdict: Peter Cuce, three weeks from the original post.) But I have found Peter C's reviews to be a bit harsh in the past, so I'm still curious to try Pepe's when I get a chance.... To each his own, I guess.
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By all means try Pepe's. It would be nice to have another data point.
I dug around and found the name of the place that was wildly praised for about 15 minutes - Pizza by the Park. Here's a thread which covers the Pizza Arc.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/245764
After a few weeks of getting ecstatic reviews the middling reviews started to come in. It never gets mentioned any more.
Same for Tomato and Basil on Union and 4th Ave. Wildly praised, then nothing. Based on comments on the board I checked them out. They are very nice people but the pizza is standard NY street slice fare. Too bad.
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Peppe's (with two p's, btw) is immensely better than Pizza by the Park. I haven't had tried the plain slice that seems to have turned a few posters off, but the Peppe and Grandma slices have been delicious, as was a creamy ham calzone. Peppe's ingredients seem fresher and more authentically Italian than most other places. I'd rate it slightly below Lucali's and slightly above Anthony's, with the added bonus of being able to buy a variety of fresh slices, especially at lunchtime.
Oh, and in addition to their mediocre pies, Pizza by the Park lost my biz the day I heard the counterman hectoring his employees about hoping George Bush gets re-elected, "because the other guy wants to send you back to Mexico."
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Y'know, Chowhounds are usually the first people to give a restaurant a chance to iron out the kinks before passing judgment. Peppe's has only been open two months. On the plus side, there are two owners immensely involved in the day-to-day operation of the joint, preparation of food and customer relations. Ingredients are fresh. Preparation is done in full view of customers. I'm not a meat eater, so I can't comment on the Peppe's pie, but the grandma's pie was delicious. As I said in my original review, the sauce is the thing.
On the day I had my grandma's slice, the sauce was replete with the taste of garlic. I liked that. The crust was crispy with slight char.
The cheese was fresh and sparingly sprinkled atop my slice, allowing the sauce to stand out (I keep thinking about the fine 'tomato pies' I've had in the Chambersburg neighborhood in Trenton).
Let's not invoke any kind of 'pizza arc.' It's just premature.
Like Pulpio, I'd place Peppe's above Anthony's (whose pie is just okay lately) and below Lucali's. To make any comparison to Dom's is just sacrilege at this time.
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You know famdoc, I spoke with mike (I hope that is his name correctly) who is the chef and pizza maker over the weekend. He understood a lot about making pizza and cooking in general. He always understood that it takes a while to set up right and keep it going. However, monday he was not there and the pizza was not so good. Our beloved grandma slices were a bit doughy and drab, and the sauce was almost right out of the can (no fresh garlic). My complaint was that I wished the sauce was more up front. This was way less. I hope Mike teaches his understudies better.
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are you thinking they use a completely different sauce simply because it is the main "chef"'s night off. or that they simply did not use garlic that night?
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I don't know. But it wasn't any good. No garlic, no outstanding elements of any kind, just very ordinary. My conjecture was that maybe it was a chef issue. If not, then they just are a regular corner slice shop, which is what most of these posts are saying.
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"If not, then they just are a regular corner slice shop."
i think this is where my deductions are headed as well.
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I ordered a whole grandma pie for delivery...grated some fresh parm on top of it and added fresh basil and enjoyed it immensely. It was even better the next day.
It's no DiFara's or Lucali's but it's the best corner pizza place in the Slope. Just stay away from the plain slice...pretty boring.
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Yes pastoralia, the grandma slace CAN be quite good. I think that they ARE just an ordinary cornder slice shop WITH great potential.
I think we should give them encouragement and buisness and tell them what we like. When I spoke with the chef he said he was very open to that, wanted to give people what they wanted, to try to be a cut above. I think we should be critical, but help them evolve. That grandma slice could be a bi-weekly event for me!
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NYJB - you've seemed to bought into the pizza curve (Out of disagreement with Peppe's being included in this category, my protest is to dispel the term "arc" and replace it with "curve" - it's a subversive thing) myth (also I knew you meant "corner" but I just got a thought about a corn meal crusted or corn topped pizza when I read "cornder" and thought yum!).
Bob M. you're one of my most favorite CHers ever (not that I know you personally or nothing). Your pizza (arc) *curve* theory has merit - I don't think it applies here. Again, avoid Mondays but Pep(p)e's is no flash in the pan.
All my previous posts about pizza have been forlorn and tales that have disappointed my heart. Please don't take my joy, Peppe's has been so good to me during such a personally important time in my life - I've been taking (and making - on a whole other thread) stock (in my life and beef respectively) in things. In fact quite karmaticly - I moved to Ditmas Park from 18th Street just last week...No wait for slices from Dom the last two wednesdays at about 6:30 pm has been my salvation. I'll eat a peppe's slice sometime this weekend though and am a better person for it.
If only Dicken's were still alive and yet to write the end of a Christmas Carol - this version would take place in a tiny pizza shop on 4th Avenue near Prospect Ave. - Tiny Tim chomping on a grandma slice in one hand and Peppe's house slice in the other, scrouge picking up the tab, Italian league futbol on the tube.
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bklyn j you seem to have grasped the essential aspect of the situation that everyone else has missed: absurdity. We all get waaaay too serious about pizza (pizza, for god's sake!)
I am glad you see yourself in relation to a Dickensian image of a down trodden pizza urchin, happy with his grandma slice, and able to bear the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Bless you. Every one.
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Bklyn J, thanks for the kind words. To be sure I don't know whether Peppe's will take a ride on the Pizza Arc. First, I haven't tried the pizza yet and second, I *want* it to be good. The pizza in the Slope is mediocre at best.
Having hung around on this site since 1999 I've seen a few things. One thing is that new pizza places open, get highly praised for a few weeks, and then the reviews start coming back to earth. I don't think the pizza itself changes, just the perception. People *want* to believe that a great new place has opened up and it colors their original posts.
After you've seen this 4 or 5 times when it comes around you say to yourself "uh oh, here we go again." (I already cited 2 previous examples and another one comes to mind, a place on the corner of Carroll St. and 3rd Ave.)
There are exceptions to the Pizza Arc like Anthony's where the reviews remain mostly positive. I hope Peppe's will fall into that camp. I'm going to try a grandma slice this weekend and will report back.
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We ordered from Pe