I now know how Inigo Montoya felt at the end of The Princess Bride. His life-long quest to find the six-fingered man and avenge his father's death had ended successfully, and suddenly he had nothing to look forward to every day to give his life purpose. I'm guessing that he may have felt that way for at least a few minutes, until that job offer to become the new Dread Pirate Roberts came through.
But for a moment there, he was lost.
I'm feeling that way tonight. My life-long quest for the Best Pizza In The World has come to an end. I know--it's a bold statement, but my friends, I have had the Best. The rest is all a distant second. My quest is over.
Lemme esplain. No, not enough time for that. Let me sum up.
You've all heard my heaping praise on New York Pizza & Pasta for the past year. It's damn good, and as far as I was concerned, the best in all of Vegas. And I've also railed on Metro Pizza for it's inconsistency. Yet it's the favorite of the masses, winning all kinds of 'Best of Vegas' awards. It's pretty good, just not all the time.
Well my friends, there is a place that blows them both away. The other day, I was driving down Eastern, heading for the 215, and noticed a new storefront on the left that said "Grimaldi's Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria". I thought to myself "Holy shiat! I wonder if that's the same famous Grimaldi's from under the Brooklyn Bridge back in New York..." So I filed it away in my mental 'to-do' list, vowing to come back and check it out on my day off.
Well, today was my day off, and when I got up in the morning to check my email, there was a message from Dave P (one of my favorite dining companions when he comes to town) with a link to the new Grimaldi's, asking if I'd heard of it. So I wrote him back telling him that not only had I heard of it, I was planning on having dinner there later in the evening.
So I spent my day off back at poker school, dealing and playing Omaha Hi-Low all day before heading back down to the South Side. When I got home, Falcon Rob was in his room "geeking out" on his computer (his words) and I asked him if he'd be up for trying out a new pizza place. His response was something along the lines of Hell yeah, I haven't eaten anything all day!
A few minutes later we were pulling into the parking lot, impressed with the look of the restaurant. It was an absolutely gorgeous night here in Vegas--nice and cool, clear, with just a slight hint of a breeze--And that's when I fell in love with the place. It had a nice covered patio for outdoor dining, and a half-and-half indoor/outdoor bar. And since it was so nice out, with the Indians/Red Sox game was on, we opted to sit at the outdoor portion of the bar and watch the game while we ate. Talk about a great setting--sitting outside at the bar and watching the game with a Samuel Adams Octoberfest draft was nice enough, but the best was yet to come.
Falcon Rob anticipating dinner while watching the game.
Normally, whenever we go to NY P&P, we always order two pizzas so that we can have leftovers to bring home. We had the same plan this evening, too. Grimaldi's has three sizes of pizzas -- Individual 9", Small 16", and Large 18". We marveled at the fact that a small was sixteen inches--the same size as everyone else's large--for a few minutes before finally deciding on our toppings and placing our order. Rob went with a mushroom pie, and I splurged and got pepperoni and mushroom.
During the commercial breaks in the game, we enjoyed the show from the display kitchen as the pizzaiolo worked the dough, spinning it and tossing it in the air. We didn't have to wait long for the pies to arrive, either. With the coal oven baking at 1200 degrees-plus, those thin crust pies only have to sit for a few minutes before coming out piping hot and perfectly cooked.
Mine actually arrived first, and after my first bite, I told Rob, in all seriousness, Oh my f*cking god, this is the best pizza I've ever had... It was absolutely fantastic. The crust had the perfect mix of crunchy and chewy, with a nice char, very little grease, and there was no 'tip sag' when folded in half. But the sauce--I could rave about it for days. And there was fresh basil sprinkled about on top too, which was a nice surprise. But the best was the homemade buffalo mozzarella they used. Not that shredded stuff from a food-service bag, this was the real thing. This stuff was made on-site and it was easily the best cheese I've ever tasted on a pizza--smooth, creamy, and ever-so-slightly smokey. No pizza I've ever tasted has had better cheese. It was almost a religious experience.
The Virgin Slice. Notice that they timed it perfectly and my pie had arrived by the time I finished my first beer. Not to worry, there was plenty more available at the tap.
The upskirt shot of a perfect pizza crust. Even the picture doesn't do it justice.
I snapped those pictures with my digital camera, having planned on posting a review. Apparently it 'freaked out' another guy at the bar who thought it was the strangest thing he'd ever seen, somebody photographing food. But we soon realized that he was one of those people you sometimes meet at a bar who can't sit there without talking to strangers. We chatted with him a bit and found out that he had driven up from Bullhead City, over a hundred miles away, to pick up a couple of pies to take home. I thought that spoke volumes about how good the place was. And they've only been open a month.
We noticed another group of guys across the bar from us committing a classic blunder. No, they didn't get involved in a land war in Asia, or go up against a Sicilian when death was on the line--they made the tragic mistake of ordering ONE pizza for three people. That pan was picked clean inside of five minutes, like a school of piranhas swarming a goat carcass. There was just nothing left. I'm fairly certain that the next time around, they'll order at least one more.
And as far as our individual 16" pizzas were concerned? There were NO leftovers. We both scarfed them up completely. Had there been a couple more slices, we would've eat them too. It was just that damn tasty. It didn't matter that we were full. We would've eaten every bit of whatever they put in front of us.
I think that once the word gets out on Grimaldi's, there will be a line every night to get a table. It's that good.
The particulars:
Location:
9595 S Eastern Ave Ste 100
Las Vegas, NV 89123
Now Open daily 4:30-midnight M-S and starting September 24th open for Lunch 11:00 am- Midnight M-S
702.657.9400
No Slices
No Wings
No Ranch Dressing at all (the only appetizers are salads, and they come with Italian-style vinaigrette only). And we realized almost immediately that we didn't *need* ranch dressing. The crust was good enough all by itself.
I don't know what Rob's tab came to, but my 16" two-topping pie, with nine bucks worth of beer, came to $29 and change. Yep, it's a bit pricier than NY P&P, but it's a much nicer place and it is oh so worth it!
So, for those of you that come to town and offer to take me to lunch--This is where we'll be going. Prepare yourselves.
Mikey
PS -- Clicky on the pics for full-sized goodness.
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