Where To Buy Grandma Pizza

KING UMBERTO'S | King Umberto's, a sprawling pizzeria restaurant right next to Belmont Racetrack, snakes through several dining rooms with names like Toscannini and Giannani, and just might be the best conventional gas-oven pizzeria on Long Island. Nicola Cesarano makes the mother of all grandma pizzas. It's a thin, light, crisp masterpiece, with a crust that's just oily enough. The grandma pie here is addictive. It lingers in your taste memory long after the last slice disappears. Cesarano makes the grandma pizza in a special Marsal & Son Oven, which burns 100°F hotter than regular gas pizza ovens. King Umberto's regular Neapolitan slice is first-rate, as is the Sicilian pizza here. The Sicilian pizza has a much thicker crust than the grandma pie, but it is still surprisingly light.

One other unique touch at King Umberto's: There are many red rugs throughout the restaurant with gray lettering that reads, "King Umberto's Real Italian... Real Good." In fact, given its proximity to Belmont, I would bet anyone even money that King Umberto's leads the nation in pizza rugs and grandma slices.

King Umberto's
1343 Hempstead Turnpike (at the corner of Meacham Avenue)
Elmont, NY 516-352-3232

RATING:

(Grandma pizza)

(Neapolitan pizza)

Copyright © 2005, Ed Levine