“I’m from New York. There’s no good pizza here!”
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve read this online I could split time between Orlando and my renovated two-bedroom in Cobble Hill within walking distance of Lucali — and all the great, basic neighborhood pizza joints in between that Beyonce and Jay Z never visit.
I’m from New York, too. So I feel entirely qualified to call B.S. on that.
There is solidly done pizza, N.Y.-style and otherwise, all over the country, and possibly more in Florida than anywhere else, as it has a preponderance of small, independent pizzerias. I found one on my first try after moving to Miami and it was five minutes from a Carvel.
I played the lottery that day, too, just in case.
Brazilian pizza — an Italian classic that’s dressed for Carnaval
Fact is, you can find good pizza from Memphis to Salt Lake City. But you have to look a lot harder than you do in Orlando. So, stop with this nonsense already.
Similarly, let’s abandon the absolutes. This place is THE BEST. That place is THE WORST. These things are entirely subjective and ranted about on the internet by a small but exhaustingly vocal contingent of zealots, many of whom I suspect enjoy pontificating far more than they enjoy pizza. They are the exception, not the rule.
Most of the world just wants a reasonably and reliably good pizza option that’s close to home. Something that can be delivered with ease or picked up within a 10-15 minute drive. Something they can grab on a night when they realize they don’t actually want to go to happy hour or take the family out or cook.
They want something in their neighborhood. And like in the song from “Sesame Street,” the pizzaiolo is the person I’m always hoping to meet each day.
Nice people send me their local pizzeria recommendations all the time. Little strip mall joints that most people haven’t heard of. They aren’t bandied about by influencers, or posting videos to TikTok. They don’t have cool murals for the ‘gram. They probably haven’t even been redecorated since 1996, but these places are their go-tos for pool parties and poker nights, for when the power goes out, for when they do the Netflix and chill thing.
I hit a few and found several that were worthy of that humble honor of not necessarily being THE CITY’S BEST, but the top choice of any number of families when the “what are we having tonight?” moment comes.
And so periodically, as I work my way through the list, I’m going to share them with you with a few notes and highlights, in case you’re looking for a place that back in the day might have been on your wall phone’s speed dial.
Try ‘em. See if you like ‘em. Just don’t write telling me they weren’t worth the 45-minute drive. Because that means you didn’t understand the assignment.
Lil’ Vinny’s Pizza & Pasta
My first time here was a random pop-in about a year ago when I ordered and waited for a basic pie and a few other things after an event at Oviedo’s Center Lake Park. They were still pretty new but had already been flagged by a reader. I had a bud from Long Island with me, and the man at the counter made us want to like the place. He was a Queens guy, I think. Chatty and friendly. He may have been the owner’s dad, helping out on a busy afternoon.
I also wanted to like it for the alla vodka pie, which reminded me of one of my favorite-ever pizzerias, Pomodoro on the corner of Spring and Mulberry streets, where I was a regular from the ’90’s on and through every visit home since I left until it sadly closed a few years ago.
I dug Lil’ Vinny’s mustachioed-baby logo, too, if you must know.
Maybe I ended up liking the pizza a little more than I might have for all these reasons, but that’s okay. It’s a nice place. I haven’t seen it as busy in-house since that first visit, but their to-go stack is always impressively high. Clearly, people like it. They do a nice job on the seafood, here too (mussels with white wine, lemon and butter; zuppa di pesce).
More info: 2200 Winter Springs Blvd. in Oviedo, 407-904-7590;.lilvinnyspizzapasta.com
Pisa Pizza
I wrote this place up a while back, but it bears repeating because it fits this particular category so well and has what’s probably my favorite generic New York slice in town to date. Something about the ratio of crispy to floppy. About the size. About the way that orange grease runs like I’m eating it while standing out in the street. Also enjoyed the eggplant parm and the meatballs. Portions were massive.
More info: 7058 W. Colonial Drive in Orlando,407-578-2759; flpisapizza.com
Giovanni’s Oviedo
For basic New York-style, this place is solid. They know that meatball topping should come in even, round slices and that peppers and mushrooms should be cooked before the pie goes in the oven.
(Nothing will take a pizza rating down faster than a glut of dry, desiccated, raw mushrooms mercilessly incinerated atop an otherwise fine pie. It’s just sad. Don’t do it, people.)
It’s a cute place for dine-in, too, and I rather like their house salad dressing, which they sell in bottles. Haven’t explored much outside the above, but a meatball/onion slice reheated in the oven will hit.
More info: 4250 Alafaya Trail in Oviedo, 407-359-5900; giovannisrestaurant.com
Anthony’s Pizza
Oh, you locals over in Casselberry are lucky. This one is a gem.
I could exist regularly on a takeout order featuring their soups (Italian wedding? Pasta fagiole? Throw a dart.) and their Grandma pie, which thus far is the closest I’ve found to the one we make at home. It’s got a nice, oily crust that stains the box dark. It’s got a cheese blend with some bite in it. It’s got juicy tomato chunks. It’s got fresh garlic.
In fact, we debated over Anthony’s version versus that of our beloved Antonella’s. Well, I did. In the end, I think Antonella’s Grandma won the day precisely because it is less like ours (after all, we can make ours whenever we want), but it was a tougher thought process for me.
This, by the way, is the beauty of any “Grandma” labeled food. Your grandma and mine aren’t going to make it the same way. That’s the whole point. One of them, anyway.
The other is that if I lived closer to Anthony’s, their cheap, giveaway magnet would be in the corner of my fridge and they’d know me by name on sight. If you live nearby and haven’t tried them, go.
Lastly, don’t worry if none of the above works for you. Just stay tuned. I’ve got a big list to tackle — recommendations straight from the readers — so I’ll be scrutinizing sauce and considering crust from one end of the metro to the other (and maxing out my treadmill time in between). Eventually, I’ll make it to your neck of the woods.
More info: 3385 S. U.S. Highway 17/92 in Casselberry, 407-767-5220; papaanthonyspizza.com
Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
