PIZZA REVIEW: Emmett’s

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

When people ask me about the best pizza in New York, I always have to ask what style they want. Do they want a typical New York slice, wood-oven Neapolitan pies, thin grandma-style, Sicilian, Roman-style? We have all those styles in New York. But up until recently, I didn’t have a good answer as to where to get the best Chicago-style pizza in New York. Until now.

We’ve had Uno’s for years here, but Chicagoans will tell you that’s about as close to true Chicago pizza as Sbarro is to New York-style.

So along came the divey bar Emmett’s. The small restaurant and pub is created to feel like a dive bar, but its not as gritty as it wants to be. It’s in Soho, after all. Emmett’s specializes in quite a few iconic Chicago dishes: hot dogs, Italian beef, and two styles of the Windy City’s pizza.

I didn’t get to try the tavern style thin-crust Chicago pizza. I actually didn’t know there was such a thing, so I’ll have to come back to try that.

But I was here for the well-known deep dish which many consider more like a quiche or casserole. It’s rich, heavy, messy, and requires a knife and fork. Very different from what we call pizza in this city.

Here it takes 30 minutes for the pie to come to the table. That’s not unusual in Chicago, but is the wait worth it? The buttery crust is sweet and dry, more like a cornbread pie crust. There’s plenty of cheese below the well-seasoned tomato sauce. Together it tastes good, but it’s so heavy and tastes slightly processed. I couldn’t eat more than two slices before the food coma began.

So the question becomes, “why would you want Chicago pizza in New York?” Good question. It’s not something I tend to crave unless I’m in Chicago (and not even then sometimes). But one of the things I love about New York is you can get just about everything. And now thanks to Emmett’s, we can check one more dish off that list.

Is Emmett’s the best pizza in NY? If you want Chicago-style, it’s the best we have, but you’re better off going to Chicago. It gets a 7 out of 10.