Sometimes, trying to schedule a dinner with four or more busy people can take forever. Last Friday, the schedule gods smiled and my darling besties and I had dinner and exchanged our holiday gifts. Better late than never, yes? We love going to Lombardi's for pizza that reminds us of Italy, so that's where we met.
Surprisingly, for a Friday night, they weren't very busy. But we'll take it! The host took us upstairs to a room we'd never seen before. Later, we decided that's where they take all the potentially-loud parties. :) There were only a few tables up here, but they all seated five or more people. It became a pretty funny contest to see which table could get the loudest. I think I can proudly say we won. It was a little chilly in there, though, so I'm not sure we'd request that area again. I believe we have now had terrifically fun pizza parties in each room at Lombardi's, though. Unless they do another renovation... ;)
Lombardi's opened in 1897 and takes claim as the oldest pizzeria in the US. It's in a great location, on the cusp of Little Italy and Chinatown. We especially like going there because they use a coal-oven, which reminds us of having the best pizza in the world when we were in Naples. Plus, the servers are all fun and it's a nice laid-back atmosphere. It always makes us laugh at the look on the servers' faces when we EACH order our own pizza. We tell them that's how it's done in Italy! They look at us like we're crazy, then go about their business. Our server last Friday, Louis, was no exception. :)
We mostly all get a margherita pie, but a couple people thought outside the box and got different toppings. Doesn't really matter what you get--it's ALL delicious! The crust is thin and crispy, yet very airy and doughy (which is a perfect combination, in my opinion); the sauce is just crushed tomatoes, and the fresh mozzarella sits beautifully on top. A kiss of basil completes the delicious taste sensation. Lombardi's also puts romano cheese on their margherita pies, but I always ask them to leave it off. I'm sure it adds some salty tastiness, but that's not the way they did it in Naples, so that's not the way I roll, either. I'm such a pizza snob. :)
Lombardi's also serves salads - they're pretty large, designed to serve three or four people. We actually got one house salad and one Caesar salad, which was just right for our group of five. The salads are very nice and fresh, with bold tastes in their dressings.
I also had a couple of glasses of the montepulciano, which were yum yummy, though they tasted better with the pizza than on their own. So I may not search out that brand for a sipping wine, but it's fine as a tasty pizza wine.
The small pizzas come with six slices, and we all did pretty well in finishing them. I left a piece, along with some crusts, but that's a good thing - leftovers for lunch! Never a bad thing in that.
We also had a grand time exchanging holiday gifts (and our server was very cute when we left, telling us "Merry Christmas" as we exited. He was a peach.). Thumbs WAY up on Lombardi's and I need to start making regular visits there. I loved it so much, I commemorated the pizza in a Hipstamatic shot. You know it's love when I pull out the Hipstamatic. 'Til next time... :)
No comments:
Post a Comment