Have to go to NYC to get the kind of pizza I love! (Austin: homes, buy)

[Don in Austin]

Pizza Garden at the "Y" closed and they could make it. Years ago a place called Spaghetti Western on South First could make it. I recently visited NYC and Google quickly found Spunto's in the village that seemed to have a true thin-crust margherita pizza like I LOVE. I called and a told a nice young lady I was looking for a margherita pizza light on the cheese, heavy on tomato, heavy on fresh basil, super thin crisp crust. She said "Sure, no problem. We can do that!" Went there and they nailed it. Crust was crisp throughout, about 2-3 mm thick. You could hold a slice by one corner and it did not droop. Perfect balance of the few flavors. Unfortunately they said they experimented with shipping pizzas frozen and were not happy with the results.



I have looked at and tried too many places to count in Austin. I have been asking and the results are pathetic such as "Via 313 has good pizza." Maybe so if that is what you like, but "Thin crust?" Get real! To each their own, but I tried their pizza once and it had so heavy a crust, was so heavy with cheese and had so much oil on top that it grossed me out. Then there is Yaghi's "New York" pizza. Their margherita has a few cherry tomatoes and no tomato sauce and the rest is cheese. Full robust concentrated tomato flavor does NOT come from fresh tomatoes, it is brought out by cooking so you need tomato paste or sauce. I went to a Greek place and got no basil on the pizza, asked for some and got a thimbleful of dried basil--really! By now I have looked at probably a few hundred pictures of Austin pizza on the internet and it is very easy to tell they are not truly thin crust and they tend to be mostly cheese.


I am so desperate I am about ready to attempt to make my own despite I don't think making a top-notch pizza is a skill you can pick up overnight.


But if anybody understands what I am look for and has a suggestion I will surely take it under advisement!

[CarnivalGal]

I'm a Philly transplant, so I feel your pain. If you're looking for a thin crust margherita pizza, Tony C's is pretty good.

For a decent, everyday pie, Saccone's works.

I don't think either are as good as or the same as what you can get in NY, but they'll do until your next trip north.

Now if we could only get a real deli and an Italian bakery.

[mascoma]

I am not from anyplace near Texas but I feel your pain. My favorite pizza is from a joint in Montreal and for 2 years I couldn't get there because of covid!

[Don in Austin]

I looked at some pictures posted by Tony C's. I saw a margherita pizza, I guess it was, with no tomato sauce and slices of fresh tomato. Not that much basil but I could just bring my own because my wife grows basil where we can't give it all away. I didn't see tomato sauce in their list of ingredients. I will call them and see what they can do.



It is frustrating because I didn't spend five minutes Googling at random in NYC and it was like "Of course, no problem!" when I called. Went to the restaurant and, indeed, no problem.

[Need4Camaro]

I haven't ever tried this place but you may want to give this a try if you haven't already:

https://lavoltapizza.com/
900 W 10th St, Austin, TX 78703

Not sure how it stacks up however.. ..I have picked up from there many times though and it was on my 'to try' radar. I don't know if you'll find anything that will truly match iconic NY or Chicago style pizza though. Austin is better at street taco's IMHO.

[Don in Austin]

Originally Posted by Need4Camaro

I haven't ever tried this place but you may want to give this a try if you haven't already:

https://lavoltapizza.com/
900 W 10th St, Austin, TX 78703

Not sure how it stacks up however.. ..I have picked up from there many times though and it was on my 'to try' radar. I don't know if you'll find anything that will truly match iconic NY or Chicago style pizza though. Austin is better at street taco's IMHO.

I am looking for thin crust. Also it seems extraordinarily expensive. Might be OK but not if it isn't really what I am looking for.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

I don't like a doughy pizza. The extra dough gives me severe heartburn. I'm sure it's from the Crisco/lard they put in the flour to make the dough. High fat food tears my stomach up. I generally like a medium crust pizza that has some crunch to it. The original crust at Gatti's is perfect thickness of crust for me. In my opinion, Gatti's or Mr Gatti's, has always been among the best pizza in Austin for 40 years or more.. I like to get Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, jalapeños. Haven't found a pizza I like any better. Consistently good. For years, Austin Pizza Garden and Mr Gatti's my go-to places for pizza in Austin. I hated to see APG go. It's the only place I ever knew of that chorizo is a topping choice.. I remember a pizza place back in the 80's and 90's on East 6th Street about 2 or 3 blocks west of Red River (Neches, Nueces San Jacinto?) they had the best pizza. I don't remember the name but I liked it better than Mr Gattis. They had a great big old fashion wood fire oven, they cooked the pizza in, like you might find in Italy. They didn't have a place to sit down. You had stand up to eat it. Sometimes I'd get a whole large pizza to take home. It might still be there.

[KathrynAragon]

Wow, y'all are really into some pizza.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

Wow, y'all are really into some pizza.

We all love to eat down here in Austin.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by Don in Austin

Pizza Garden at the "Y" closed and they could make it. Years ago a place called Spaghetti Western on South First could make it. I recently visited NYC and Google quickly found Spunto's in the village that seemed to have a true thin-crust margherita pizza like I LOVE. I called and a told a nice young lady I was looking for a margherita pizza light on the cheese, heavy on tomato, heavy on fresh basil, super thin crisp crust. She said "Sure, no problem. We can do that!" Went there and they nailed it. Crust was crisp throughout, about 2-3 mm thick. You could hold a slice by one corner and it did not droop. Perfect balance of the few flavors. Unfortunately they said they experimented with shipping pizzas frozen and were not happy with the results.



I have looked at and tried too many places to count in Austin. I have been asking and the results are pathetic such as "Via 313 has good pizza." Maybe so if that is what you like, but "Thin crust?" Get real! To each their own, but I tried their pizza once and it had so heavy a crust, was so heavy with cheese and had so much oil on top that it grossed me out. Then there is Yaghi's "New York" pizza. Their margherita has a few cherry tomatoes and no tomato sauce and the rest is cheese. Full robust concentrated tomato flavor does NOT come from fresh tomatoes, it is brought out by cooking so you need tomato paste or sauce. I went to a Greek place and got no basil on the pizza, asked for some and got a thimbleful of dried basil--really! By now I have looked at probably a few hundred pictures of Austin pizza on the internet and it is very easy to tell they are not truly thin crust and they tend to be mostly cheese.


I am so desperate I am about ready to attempt to make my own despite I don't think making a top-notch pizza is a skill you can pick up overnight.


But if anybody understands what I am look for and has a suggestion I will surely take it under advisement!

papa johns thin crust extra crispy. I personally get it square cut (st louis style).

I didnt think new york pizza was crispy so it didnt droop. New york pizza is crispy, but chewy, like homeslice.

You can also buy homeslice pizza and heat it in a pan on the stove until the crust is crispy.