Totonno's

On Friday, as part of a long-delayed trip to Coney Island, I ate at Totonno's, a classic New York pizzeria with a long history--the original founder once worked at Lombardi's, acknowledged as the first pizza joint in American history. Totonno's is on Neptune Avenue, a few blocks away from Astroland and the rest of the Coney Island boardwalk hullaballo. And, like much of the area, Neptune Avenue is fairly dilapidated, with Totonno's surrounded by auto parts shops, check cashing places and the like. (Ok, maybe not the check cashing places, but I needed another cliched sign of a low-rent area to fill in the blanks.) One wonders what Neptune Ave. looked like when Totonno's opened, and how depressing it must have been to watch the transformation of the neighborhood.

The decor in the restaurant is quite spare, with a few tables and the main attraction, the pizza oven, at the end of the room. An extremely loud employee of the restaurant was jammering on her cell phone during much of our stay. Classic New York pictures and restaurant reviews dot the walls, with a disconcerting picture of both Bushes (Presidents 41 and 43) perched above our table.

I'm not as good at describing victuals as Catherine, so I'll just say that the ultra thin-crust pizza (with mushrooms) was excellent but not quite transcendent. The ingredients tasted fresh, and the place prides itself on using only bread baked that day. I ate five slices, so it obviously did satisfy the hunger beast inside me. Also, they serve you soda in dixie cups. Charming! Though not so charming when you finish the soda in 15 seconds and have to ask for a refill.

I find that a lot of the "best" NYC pizza tastes quite similar--Totonno's reminded me of Grimaldi's, Lucali (the upstart place on Henry St. in Carroll Gardens that you must try if you're a self-respecting pizza eater), and of course, Lombardi's (which is very hit or miss). After eating some deep dish pizza in Chicago a couple of weeks ago, it's striking to see just how thin New Yorkers like their pizza. I fall squarely in the thin crust camp myself, though variety is the spice of life and I wouldn't mind one viable deep dish option in the area.

Where: 1524 Neptune Avenue, Brooklyn, New York (718) 372-8606