PIZZA REVIEW: Table 87

My search for the best pizza in New York continues….

We have just about every style of pizza in New York, but the two that are most often associated with the city are coal oven and the cheap corner slice. When people want to try “New York pizza” they usually mean one of these styles.

But up until now, if you wanted to try coal oven pizza in New York, you had to order an entire pie at a sit down restaurant (John’s, Lombardi’s, Grimaldi’s) and if you wanted a slice, you usually had to suffer with a greasy processed-cheese caked specimen (with a number of exceptions, of course).

Finally there is a place you can get both a slice and a taste of coal oven cooked pizza. Table 87 looks like it’s been on Atlantic Avenue for decades, but they just opened last summer. In the back is a modern dining room perfect for family and friends. And up front is a llittle Italian market and counter serving coal oven pizza by the slice!!

The $4 slice is a bit more expensive than most slices in the city, but then again you’re paying for quality (and that coal oven). When I ordered mine, it took about three minutes before the pie was finished in the oven. I can’t imagine everybody is lucky enough to get a slice from a fresh pie, but hopefully this is pretty common.

It was a beautiful slice, loaded with bright fresh green basil. Most pizzerias skimp on the basil, but here that sweet herbacousness was just as potent as the acidic tomatoes and decadent cheese.

The girth of the slice was quite thin, but underneath it had that unmistakable char that only a coal oven can provide. It helped yield lots of flavor from this pizza, along with the slightly sweet dough. Overall, I thought it could have been a little crisper, but the soft and chewy dough was still quite pleasant.

No question this is a great slice. It might not be the best coal oven pizza in New York, but it’s certainly the best coal oven slice in this city. And a mighty tasty one at that!

Is Table 87 the best pizza in NY? Serving a coal oven slice is unique and thrilling and since it’s a flavorful one it gets an 8 out of 10, but if the dough were just a little crisper, it’d earn a higher score.