Day 30, 2012: Sbarro (Midtown, NYC)

DAY 30, OCTOBER 30th, 2012

LOCATION: Sbarro (159 W. 33rd St, NYC)

ORDER: 1 slice of Meat Delight

GUEST:  Michael McLarnon, Robin Rothman

REVIEW:

Mall pizza.  Outside of New York City, Sbarro may be the closest thing to a NY slice around.  Although the fifth largest pizza chain in the country began in New York City,  I fear the size has come at the expense of the product.  This branch sits strategically between Madison Square Garden and the Empire State Building and likely relies on name recognition from the heavy foot trafficked Penn Station to stay in business in a city of better, less expensive pizzerias.  I opted to sit in the spacious downstairs dining area next to the subway platform and ordered a Meat Delight which consisted of several types of pork toppings including juicy chunks of ham, bacon bits and sweet sausage.  According to the menu on the corporate website, the slice should have included "zesty pepperoni" as well.  These toppings combined with the creamy low moisture mozzarella cheese and flavorful tomato sauce made for a decent slice.  The outer edge and underside seemed a bit underdone and over-bubbled.  I do appreciate that Sbarro was open considering the MTA shutdown in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy but considering the steep price tag per slice, this is far from a charitable endeavor.  I can't promise I won't go back to a Sbarro in a Mall or airport but I doubt I will return to this branch without a coupon.

RATING:

 2.78 out of 5

• VALUE:
   1.5/5


• AMBIENCE:
   3/3


• TASTE:
   5.5/10


• SERVICE:
  NA

10/18 = .556 x 5 = 2.78

MISCELLANEOUS:

1. Michael McLarnon spent the storm finishing CHEERS.  Yes, he's seen all 275 episodes of Cheers.  Apparently they're all available on Netflix.

2. Michael McLarnon rode his bike to the pizzeria since the MTA is shutdown.  

3. Michael McLarnon has his phone set on military time.

3. Robin does spot on impression of Natalie Merchant's voice.

4. Before we settled on Sbarro, Robin and I walked around West Manhattan assessing the damage we could see.  In addition to the power being out from about 25th Street southward, we came upon the apartment building with the missing facade on 14th St. and 8th Ave.

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