ANTICO PIZZA NAPOLETANA

He says:
How does a city with such a terrible pizza scene end up with the best pizza parlor on the planet? Atlanta never ceases to amaze me.

After years of Johnny’s, Little 5 Points, and Cameli’s, I had all but given up on pizza in this city. Everywhere I went the slices were too cheesy or too saucy or too mealy. Topping overload was rampant. I’d given up -- better, I thought, to cure my pizza fix on my annual jaunts to New York City. But now Antico Pizza Napoletana has arrived in the grungy West Side like a thunderbolt, and pizza in Atlanta will never be the same again.

If this sounds like hyperbole, then you haven’t tried the pizza at Antico. It is revolutionary: worlds better than anything else I’ve tried in Atlanta – and NYC for that matter. For those who have never eaten a true Neapolitan pizza before, the crust is baked thin but remains softer and chewier than a standard New York pie. It’s blistered and puffy and sublime. The Margarita pizza (pictured above) comes with San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh basil, and buffalo mozzarella so silky and buttery it’s like tasting mozzarella again for the first time. Even better is the lasagna pizza, which comes adorned with gobs of creamy, homemade ricotta and meatball chunks. I don’t recommend the Pomodorini as highly because the extra cherry tomatoes bleed too much water into the crust. In general you have to eat Antico’s pizza very quickly, or else that wonderful crust will get soggy. But that’s a small price to pay for a slice of perfection.

She says:
Dishing out great pies is Antico’s singular focus. The place is like a well-oiled machine, with a battery of dark-haired men tossing dough into shape, applying toppings, and shoving the pizzas into wood fire ovens as opera music blasts through the kitchen. None of this is a mystery, since you can sit at a foldout table in the kitchen and watch them work. Your pizza is delivered by one of these men on a huge jellyroll pan, and then you eat. No plates, no forks, no knives, it’s just you and the pizza.

We say:
Pizza perfection.




Antico Pizza Napoletana
1093 Hemphill Ave NW Atlanta, GA 30318
www.anticopizza.it

LITTLE FIVE POINTS PIZZA

He says:
Little 5 Points Pizza at the corner of Euclid & Moreland serves a subpar New York slice that is too heavy on the cheese and oil. I normally wouldn’t write about such an unremarkable pizza, but my recent experience was so rotten that it warrants mention.

I stepped in on a lazy Saturday afternoon to pick up two cheese slices. I was told my order would be ready in a few minutes. Five minutes go by. Ten minutes go by. I asked the guy behind the counter if my food is ready, and he says, “Soon.” Twenty minutes go by. Thirty minutes go by. By this time I’ve read through an entire issue of Creative Loafing. A group of teenagers in the next booth have gotten their food, eaten it, refilled and drank their sodas, and left since I entered the store. I ask again if my food is ready. “Here it is,” the guy says, sliding it from the oven onto a paper plate. He explains they are very busy.

I’m sorry. This is a pizzeria. You only serve one thing – pizza. How difficult is it to heat up two slices? I don’t normally rate restaurants based on their service, but for Little Five Points Pizza, I shall make an exception.



Little Five Points Pizza
22 Seminole Ave NE, Atlanta, GA
(404) 525-2530

JOHNNY'S PIZZA

He says:
I noted in a previous review that Atlanta has notoriously poor pizza, and our recent experience at Johnny’s Pizza did little to change my mind. It’s too bad, because downtown Decatur would be the perfect place to have a small, neighborhood pizzeria serving New York style slices.

In terms of décor, Johnny’s gets everything right. From the dingy lighting to the red Formica booths and retro shoot ’em up arcade games (1943!), everything about Johnny’s channels the old-school pizzerias I frequented when I was growing up in Brooklyn. Those places had balding Italian men with tomato sauce and grease smeared across their white shirts, and the slices they served were thin, crisp, and piping hot. Johnny’s has a very similar vibe to those pizza parlors of yesteryear, but that’s where any similarity ends.

The plain pizza we ordered at Johnny’s came out smothered with goopy cheese, throwing off the balance required of a good slice. The crust was thin, but incredibly doughy and soft, making it nearly impossible to lift without the slice drooping all over itself. The sauce was run-of-the-mill, and too much dripped down onto the plate.

She says:
My impression… floppy, greasy, and far too cheesy. It’s not a surprise either, given that Johnny’s Pizza is a chain with 41 locations in Atlanta alone.

We say:
You call this New York pizza? Fugghedaboutit!



Johnny's Pizzeria
340 Church Street, Decatur, GA 30030
http://www.johnnyspizza.com/main.asp

CAMELI'S PIZZA

He says:
I was born and bred in New York City, so I can speak with some authority on pizza. And when it comes to pizza, some cities have it and some do not. Brooklyn has some of the best pizza in America. Manhattan has some of the worst. So does Boston. Chicago’s not bad if you dig thick crust.

Atlanta, I must say, is not a good pizza city. Between the soggy pies at Mellow Mushroom and the dreary offerings of Papa John’s, it’s hard to find a decent slice in this burg. That’s why I was excited to read several strong reviews on Cameli’s Gourmet Pizza, which some call the best pizzeria in Atlanta. When a fellow New Yorker said they served “a pizza-lover’s pizza,” I knew I had to check it out.

Cameli’s is located in that depressing Kroger complex on Ponce. The inside is standard pizzeria décor, with Formica tables and booths. For some reason there are windows hanging in front of the windows … don’t ask me why.

She says:
Downtown Boy and I, along with our two friends, ordered two specialty pizzas, the “Tranquilo” and the “Pax Americana.” Now I’m not from NYC, and I’m certainly no pizza connoisseur. I do, however, think that the “Tranquilo,” (with pesto, chicken, mushrooms and onions) was excellent. The subtle sweetness of the onions, paired with the zestiness of the pesto… blah blah blah… The pizza just tasted really good!

He says:
The Pax Americana (with sun dried tomato sauce, spinach, chicken, and feta) was alright, but definitely not up to par with the Tranquilo. The sun-dried tomato sauce was bland, and there wasn’t enough of it. This, combined with the over-baked crust, made for some seriously dry eating. I will give Cameli’s props for their attempt at thin-crust, which most pizzarias in Atlanta butcher.

I polished off the meal with “The Monster Slice,” which was the size of a kite. Seriously, it was the biggest slice of pizza I have ever seen. It was pretty good too, better than the Pax America, but once again the dry crust threw off the pizza’s otherwise fine balance of cheese and sauce.

We say:
Cameli’s is definitely better than any other pizza in Atlanta. But it doesn’t compare with Brooklyn’s best. And Cameli’s, if you’re listening, styrofoam cups are so out.



Cameli's Gourmet Pizza
699 Ponce De Leon Ave, Atlanta, GA 30308
http://www.camelispizza.com/