I first discovered &Pizza in 2019, when we visited their Wall Street location. I remember the bright yellow interior like walking into a ray of sunshine. This time, we visited their Astor location. This location was much, much larger than their Wall Street location, with a nice mount of seating.
It looked really modern with monochromatic interior, exposed ductwork, and the industrial-looking light fixtures. They didn’t have many chairs, I assume for a crowd control reasons during the pandemic. But, if you can’t find a chair, you can still use the counter and eat your pizza standing up as well. I liked how open and airy this place was, and how we didn’t need to walk around people and tables, trying to find a nice spot to eat.
The ordering counter is in the back, and the ordering process is the same as at the Wall Street location. You go all the way to the back where they have the canned drinks, and start from there.
You can start by ordering from their menu, as is, or add some customization to it. Or, you can customize from the beginning to the end. When we walked up to the beginning of ordering counter, the staff started assembling the pizza right away. I ordered Buffalo 66 since I like a little heat. My hubby went with Maverick, as he is a meat lover.
They make their own dough, with flour, yeast, water, sugar, salt, and oil. Nice and fresh, and nothing we don’t need/want is in the dough. Oh yeah! They also have gluten free version for additional $3.25. Their sauce is made with tomatoes grown in Northern California, plucked when they are ripe and gorgeous. They go from vine to the can in under six hours, which keeps them nice and fresh. And the cheese comes from Wisconsin, you know that means they are decadent and delicious. The olive oil they use comes from Greece, and from what I hear, they work directly with a woman and minority-run company. How awesome!
Now back to our pizza. As one of the staff was putting some pepperoni on my pizza, Buffalo 66, I asked him to add some fresh basil. I didn’t realize that once they touch the meat, they have to change the gloves to grab any non-meat items… Sorry! But he didn’t give me any kind of attitude, he changed his gloves quickly, added some fresh basil, and then gave me loads of pepperoni. Thank you!!!
Once they went through the oven, it came out beautifully, just looking at me with those delicious pizza faces, begging me to take them into my hands and mouth… Too much? Hey, have you seen their freshly baked pizza??? The staff cut them up before adding the finishes touches.
After another staff put all the finishing touches, I asked for basil pesto to be put on top. My hubby thought that sounded great, so he asked for the drizzle of basil pesto as well. The thing is, Maverick already come with basil pesto, so he was going to get it anyways. LOL. You can also ask any of the toppings to be omitted or swapped during the pizza making process.
And here is my beautiful creation. Buffalo 66 ($11.49) is made with spicy tomato, fresh mozzarella, special T sauce, pepperoni, pickled fresh chilis, and red pepper flakes. I added fresh basil and basil pesto onto my pizza, with no additional cost. It was not too spicy, but had a nice kick to it. When you get the red pepper flakes, you certainly feel more heat. And the basil additions were great, loved the added flavor. The dough was crispy and fluffy, and doughy in the perfect way. Again, thank you &Pizza staff for the loads of pepperoni… They do shrink a bit when they go through the pizza oven, so it was great. Loved it!
Maverick ($11.49) is made with classic tomato, fresh mozzarella, salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage, basil pesto, and parmesan-romano. It sure is a great pizza for meat lover. It had a nice amount of fresh meat, high quality you can taste. My hubby enjoyed this pizza a lot, and yes, he thought the basil pesto was awesome.
We loved our pizza creations, they were delightful from the first bite to the last. The staffs were polite and efficient, it didn’t take much time to get our pizza from the beginning of the order to getting our pizza. Definitely going back again for more pizza in the future!
&Pizza @ Astor – 740 Broadway, New York, NY 10003