Caruso’s Pizza

went in 2012 and ate there 3 times on our trip it was sooo damn good. Soooo sad it is burned down I frequently visit and wished carusos was still there.

They have both thin and thick crust. The pepperoni-​sausage was very good. Very large slices, with lots of cheese. Daughter had the thick crust cheese pizza-​liked it. They charge $ 1 for soda refills. They charge tax if you use cc, otherwise no tax. Didn’t have very good air conditioning, but they leave the door open. Very cheap seating, but sufficient for a quick bite on the run.

Really one of the best slice places in BoCoCa, you should forgive the expression.
Terrific sauce, they char the crust. Hard to beat in area without going to Lucali.

I am sooo sad that this place burned down. I’ve been working in the Fidi area for over 7 years and remember when this pizza place was on Broadway.
I have tried eating at other pizza joints before finding Caruso’s and i was so happy i did. The pizza is delicious and the pasta is filling.
Since it’s no longer on Fulton my pizza craving has been insane. Too bad no other place is hitting the spot like Caruso’s used to. I really hope they rebuild and reopen soon.

CLOSED Burned down today.

Kaput. The whole building burned down March 17, including Caruso’s, which is now a smoldering wreck. Considering how horrible the slices used to be, no great loss.
The fat lady sang.

¹²⁄₂₂ — Good for a quick bite but terrible for groups. Staff is rude, disrespectful and rush you down the line like you are a soldier picking up standard issue gear and have no choice in the matter.
Came here with co-​workers and the cashier lady talked to us like we were her children or some shit! Staff can’t remember orders at all and we had to repeat it like 4 times. All we got was Pizza and 4 were the same type so it couldn’t have been that complicated. I mean how many times can you say Pepperoni and have someone who works at a Pizza shop stare at you and act like he doesn’t know what that means!!!
If I wasn’t there with a group I would have just straight up left.
Pay separately if you come as a group because the lady can’t add if there’s more than one person involved she becomes confused.
Pizza was a decent size and amount but was not hot, was lukewarm. If I had breakfast that morning it might have gotten one star.
5÷30− Update: Apparently the place is nothing but smoldering ash now. That’s what you get when you treat paying customers like shit!

I REALLY like this place they are always making me feel i got my money’s worth. Buffalo chicken pizza, pepperoni and sausage, chicken and broccoli, mash potatoes and bacon… Plus I would order their baked ziti ** YUM!

Thick, gooey, quality slice. One of the few places where you can almost justify the $ 2.75 pizza slice standard that so many NYC pizzerias have embraced. Nice if you’re a tourist or work nearby in FiDi.

Ok, so these 4 stars might get criticism, and frankly I’m not very big on reviewing these ‘at every corner’ pizza joints. and I don’t! But after being through some pizza joints in the area near my office (and many remain to be discovered), I feel Caruso’s Pizza does a pretty good job.
Some people feel that its expensive. well, that’s the whole point people — they make better pizza pies. also, nobody can complain whatever they serve, has pretty big and/​or portion size… so its a bang for your buck (I plant o use this line more often in my future reviews. lol!)
I’d say — go for this one. its not your brick oven absolute flat bread gourmet pizzas. but they do their job pretty darn well!

Crust is a bit too doughy for me. Also a bit overpriced – $ 4.25 for a one-​topping slice? Try Rosella’s a few blocks away. You won’t be disappointed.

I’d heard a few guys at work mention Caruso’s so I figured I’d try it. My big mistake was going for pasta instead of pizza. I tried the Baked Ziti, and it was pretty bad. The sauce wasn’t very good and the cheese was almost powdery instead of being gooey. For about $ 8 with a small soda it was definitely a waste. Especially considering I had a little tummy ache afterwards.
I did decide to go back yesterday and give the pizza a try though. When I walked in and saw the Ziti slice I couldn’t resist. It was huge and delicious. I actually didn’t finish the entire slice. They redeemed themselves big time with that slice. I also had garlic knots which were pretty good, the sauce to dip them in wasn’t though. FYI the slice was $ 4.25 and garlic knots were 3 for $ 1.25

The amount of pepperoni they put on their pepperoni slices. Oh My…
If you were having a bad day, and you thought everybody was mad at you, after you order a pepperoni slice from Caruso’s you begin to change your mind.
THEY STACK YOUR PEPPERONI SLICE!!!
Not only that, Caruso’s also lets the customer put as much parmesan cheese as they want on their slice’s. Sure you have to pay 3.50 for pepperoni slice but you are NOT left disappointed.
The owners seems to know what people like from a pizzeria or when it comes to a slice at least.
I have never had the appetite for anything else from Caruso’s yet because I have been so satisfied with the pepperoni slice’s and ALSO because every time I ask for a sausage slice they don’t have any left… but one day. I will go without the pepperoni and explore the rest of what Caruso’s has to offer. Oh and their garlic knots are good!

This place is pretty awesome. I come here every friday and saturday for my lunch break. They have a nice variety of food besides pizza here. They have pastas and sandwiches apart from your average pizzeria this place is pretty amazing. The prices aren’t bad at all either.
If your definitely in the financial center in NYC come down to Caruso’s Pizza. They got just what you need!

Dear Pizza Man, your lie to my face was just that. A lie. Credit card companies do not, I repeat, do NOT charge a customer ««tax» if they decide to use their credit card at your establishment. Maybe you have a required minimum? That’s fine, but that is also against the disclosure you signed with credit card companies.
I was shocked by this and ALMOST wanted to walk out, but the pizza looked good, and I was hungry.
So, on to the pizza. I had a Hawaiian style pizza — which was loaded with toppings. Pineapple and canadian bacon galore, great flavor but, as was the problem with the all the slices we had, it was cold. Well, not COLD, but not heated up enough. On top of that, the pepperoni and mushroom pizza was undercooked, doughy and just completely underwhelming.
I know I am used to Chicago pizza, but still — you should be cooking the dough all the way through, and when you serve it to your patrons, heated it up more then 20 seconds in a microwave would do…
Honestly? If you are from out of town — find another place. I wish I did.

Caruso’s was another less than stellar Seamless Web dining option for us. Pizza seems straightforward enough, but I am always surprised by the lackluster variations that are out there.
This particular rendition arrived with our choice of toppings: green peppers, onions, sausage, and pepperoni. For some reason we additionally had plenty of fresh tomato dice scattered over the pizza which, frankly, is just terrible from the perspective of taste and texture. The onions were unusually large slivers of Vidalia that were too plentiful to be enjoyable. The overall flavor was just okay. The excessive amount of cheese though made the pizza heavy and clunky. The added heft had the pizza slices breaking apart and becoming a real mess. Reheating the pizza the next day, it just tasted worse and seemed messier. We ended up throwing out what was left. Pass.

Forget the sit down type restaurant with waiter service, Pizza at Caruso’s is ordered and served at the counter. Whether you choose to consume the pizza at the counter, on a table, or standing outside is entirely up to the your preferences. This is the standard FiDi Pizzeria where most of the food is grab-​n-​go.
I’ll forgo the usual comments on décor and ambiance. The pizzeria has simple formica tables, chairs from the early 1970’s, and an old school Coca Cola refrigerator. The establishment has six tables for parties of four and six tables for parties of 2. Each table is set up with a napkin holder, pepper, garlic powder, and red pepper flakes.
The Food…
Regular Slice: Expect zero decadency. The slice does exactly what it’s supposed to. Basic pizza dough crust is topped with a hearty tomato sauce and finished off with the usual processed mozzarella cheese. Consumers might find this slice to be rather chewy (in almost a rubbery texture). But the flavors of the tomato sauce help dull out the textural contrast generated from the cheese. As with processed cheese, expect a lot of saturated fat derived from the excess oil. Drain before consuming.
Linguine w/​Meatballs: Not the best you’ll get but it’s comparable for $ 7.50. A ½lb of Linguine is topped with a hearty service of thick tomato sauce and 3 sliced meatballs. The pasta is certainly nothing to write home about but it does hit the spot. The pasta is cooked slight over al dente. The sauce is someone pasty but had a good tart flavor, and meatballs were a bit dry and coarse, but certainly nothing edible. Ultimately, it’s a good pasta dish under time constraints. For $ 7.50, you’ll hear no complaints on my end.
One note on Caruso’s, their portions are generous! The cheese is hefty on their slices. The Linguine is filled to the top on their serving trays, and the chicken cutlets are stuffed within their sandwiches. This is one of the few restaurants in FiDi that’s truly a bang for the buck!

The first time I ever came here I was intrigued at the price to portion ratio of the hot meals and completely overindulged myself. I think the food is your standard typical Italian comfort food, but I simply can not attest to the quality of the pizza because I have never had it.
A couple of things:
(1) I’m not that crazy about eating Italian food outside of home cooked meals. HOWEVER, I keep on coming back to Caruso’s because of the variety of the menu. If I don’t want chicken parm over penne or baked ziti on Tuesday I can get the ravioli al forno instead. Or a wrap. I love their wraps. Huge portions at tiny prices.
(2) I think the service is great is great for a crowded lunch time pizza joint. The owner is always polite and never makes me wait at the counter for my meal — instead he has someone working there bring it to me when it’s ready.
Overall I give Caruso’s a solid 4 stars. It’s a great spot for a fast, filling, and wallet conscious lunch in the FiDi.

Hey Caruso’s:
On a snowy day, my office called your restaurant and ordered 12 or 13 pies. I realize that’s a lotta pizza, but we kept it simple — a few pepperonis, a few veggies and a few with just cheese. You said they’d be there in an hour. It was closer to two hours.
A week later, a friend and I went into your restaurant to get sodas and slices on our lunch break. More than four dollars for a slice? Maybe this is slowly becoming the norm, but the other pizza places I’ve been to in the FiDi have all had slices under the four-​dollar mark.
Also, making suggestive remarks to your female customers while they’re waiting for their pizza to heat up? Maybe try to curb that a little, hmm?
Howevs, your pizza is pretty fantastic. And that mashed potato slice with cheddar cheese and bacon? Heaven.
So yeah, Caruso’s, you’ve grudgingly won me over. Don’t let it go to your head.

I’ve been here a number of times, alone or with friends, and I’ve never been disappointed.
The slices are thin and wide, but what NY slice isn’t? I think the variety of pies is worth noting. I wish they had a schedule of when they decide to put out certain types, because sometimes you just want a slice with mashed potatoes, cheese, and bacon (yes I am serious).
I usually go during my lunch hour, so there is always a line, but I’m happy to say that the line always moves rather quickly, even for a pizza shop.
Since first coming here, I’ve had regular slices, specialty slices, a stuffed slice (which was way too much for me) and the chicken rolls, which are mostly sauceless, but come with their own dipping sauce on the side – I really like that.
Great food, decently priced, and speedy service.