31 Days of Pizza: Day 5, 2021: John's Pizzeria (Midtown, NYC)

DAY 5: OCTOBER 5th, 2021

LOCATION: John's Pizzeria- Midtown (260 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036)

GUEST(S): Robin Rothman, Patrick Hogan

ORDER: 2 slices of hot sopressata, 1 slice of sausage pizza

REVIEW:

The coal before the show. Located smack-dab in the middle of Manhattan's theatre district, John's Pizzeria is the perfect spot to get your coal-fired pre-show pizza. With a humongous dining area that extends from the street to what once was the bema of this former cathedral, John's Pizzeria can really pack 'em in, feed 'em, and get 'em out before curtain. When running on all cylinders, four coal-burning ovens on two floors are churning out high quality New York style pies for hundreds of satisfied patrons. A separate kitchen is responsible for the non-pizza items on the menu. Having been to John's many times over the years, I know exactly what I like and that is the large sausage pizza with extra sauce. I find the exquisitely sourced salty-sweet Italian sausage to be the perfect complement to the melted low moisture mozzarella and tangy tomato sauce. Whatever you get, expect perfectly thin, crisp coal oven-kissed crust to be holding it up. Once you got to John's Pizzeria, you too will demand an encore.

PHOTOS:

interior

Hot Sopressata pie

Sausage

slice of Hot Sopressata

MISCELLANEOUS:

Robin, Patrick, Sean

1. Patrick Hogan, Robin Rothman and I all met at the Magnet Theater. Patrick even wore his Magnet Theater mask.

2. Patrick Hogan works the graveyard shift.

3. Patrick had two extra tickets to Hadestown and was kind enough to let us use them. John's Pizzeria, a pre-theatre go-to was the perfect way to kick off the night. That said, John's was closed for a large portion of the lockdown and only has recently reopened since Broadway has. So, with limited seating capacity and staff, it took awhile for us to be seated and served. So much time that we were hard pressed to get our pizza and get out of there to make it to the theatre by curtain. Robin finished her slice on the brisk walk up to 48th street and I got the rest boxed up. The theatre was kind enough to let us check it in at the box office where it waited until the show was over.