Due Amici

the white pizza is fantasmic…

CLOSED PERMANENTLY — they have been shut down at least 3 – 4 x and I live right above them. A new pizza place called Rocky’s Wood Pizza is going in.
Due Amici sucked anyway. People who worked there were dicks.

As anybody who knows me knows, I am not a fan of New York street pizza. It’s not that it’s bad but for all the praise it receives from NYer’s, you’d think that the thin, dry, mostly tasteless offerings served on every street corner were the beginning and end of talk about pizza.
But here comes Due Amici. It ain’t Lombardi’s, I’ll say, yet it has a little something that I can’t quite put my finger on. The sauce? Tangy. The cheesy? Zesty. The dough? Not too thin, but not too thick, either. How did they do it?
This non-​descript place (save for a killer mural on its south side) looks like any other street pizzeria: a few tables, a bar by the windows, and sullen customers scarfing down food before heading out into the cold. Behind the counter, though, something magical happens. I know not what it is, but for $ 4.50, I get two quality slices and a 16 oz. pop. If you’re eating any other pizza in the Union Square area except this or Amore’s (for sentimental, NYU reasons), then you’re nutso.
FOOD: Quality pizza. Some of the best New York street pizza out there, and that’s saying something coming from me.
SERVICE: They called me «chief». I like that.
This place gets hit hard between 12 – 1 and again, from 6 – 7. Avoid those times and you should be fine.

Dear Unilocal,
I am in pain. I have just been taken advantage of. I stroll into Du Amici around 1:30 am. An hour that mediocre pizza normally tastes of another world. I order a lice of Neapolitan only to find out in a few minutes that they want to charge me a whopping $ 3.75 for the tiny slice.
Even in my state the slice was too greasy, cheese was cold, and the slice was just over all a bust. I realize that after going to places like Una Pizza Neapolitan standards rise… but here I was clearly over charged for crap!!!

Inflated prices, shoddy service and average food.
Why?

I stopped into today to get out of the rain. After all my travels, I’m giving this place two ½ stars. I’ve had better so what’s the problem?
I had two slices today, Pesto and fresh Mozzarella. Was there even sauce on these slices? They had no taste, no flavor, no NY attitude saying «hey, I’m sauce! I’m loud and I’m proud»
Nada. So, two stars from the kid.
Buono Fortuna

Staff is warm & friendly. Pizzas are delicious. Salad ingredients are always fresh and crisp. Late at night when the Meatpacking revelers are crowded in there the staff never gets flustered that I’ve ever seen. Pleasant atmosphere to sit and eat. Pleasant décor.

i just started working in the cultural and epicureal vortex that is west 14^th street but due amici is one of the more enjoyable spots to go for lunch.
the food is reasonably priced and the ingredients are always fresh. the pizza’s do not resemble those nasty saucers of congealed cheese and crusty tomato sauce you see in other pizza joints. this place is all about the freshness.
very clean, a very friendly and smiley staff make due amici a good choice to eat anywhere in manhattan but even more better for west 14^th.
i usually just get a couple of plain slices, maybe splurge on a topping or two from time to time. the crust is wonderfully thin, flavorful and crunchy crisp. the other day i went nuts and tried their penne with marinara and meatballs. yup. still yummy and leftovers for the day after.
one thing, though. i am not a fan of garlic knots. i mean, those things are about as lame and contrived as donut holes. just give me a nice piece of bread.

I’ve been coming here for many years. This is a great little place with excellent pizza, pastas, and salads. The owners are a lovely Kosovar couple whose friendliness more than makes up for the slightly inflated prices. Try «Laura’s special pasta», made with spicy sauce, similiar to an arabiatta. Everything is always fresh, and the aromas coming out of the place betray a love for fresh basil and authentic Italian tomato sauce.
It is hard to find a pizza place in this town whose owners actually understand food. This is one of them.

Been coming here for years.
This is honestly the only time in my life that I can say «I like your crust» mr Amici’s

Came here after an interview at S’nice. I got a $ 3 slice of the ricotta cheese and pesto pizza. It was simply amazing. I was quite surprised in fact. It looked like it was going to be very crusty like all the Ray’s pizza is. But — in fact it was crispy on the outside — chewy on the inside. What all pizza claims and strives to be — but it rarely ever is, until now! This pizza was so flavorful — there were dallops of pesto on the pizza — but not a lot — just the perfect amount because you could taste it in every bite.
Let me sum it up for you: crispy, chewy, delicious, pesto, ricotta goodness.

I know ostensibly this is a Pizza place, but when I finally got tired of going to Hale & Hearty for my low-​calorie lunch, I picked up on Due Amici because of their salad counter.
It’s not a bad salad, having all the ingredients I’ve come to expect when getting a made-​for-​you salad in New York. The meats, corn, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, etc., are all there and they even have a few non-​standard things that make it good.
But for whatever reason, it’s super-​expensive (by my standards) to get a salad here. Over $ 9 for a small version of the salad I always get elsewhere for much less.
It’s good food, and it’s made well, it’s just excessively expensive for what it is.

i was really unimpressed
the cheese is fresh, which is nice
but if i pay $ 4 for a slice, i want a meal-​slice

Tasty, filling cheese pizza. Had the Hawaiian pizza, which was also very good… and I’m not a fan of pineapple on pizza. Also had their Jamaican beef patty, which reminded me of a Vietnamese snack that my parents love (pâté chaud).

I ordered Gnochi and pesto sauce. The gnochi was too grainy and the pesto sauce looked more like vodka sauce with unappetizing oily pesto clumps. It did not even taste like pesto. My friend’s eggplant Parmesan hero was delicious (we shared.) The waitress was also very nice and stamped a frequent customer card 10 times so I can get a free dish on my next visit. The seating was right by the door so it was a little drafty. But I will consider coming again so I can try the free dish. Next time i will order the hero.

all i know is that the tossed salads are huge, good, and filling! great selection of toppings, solid dressing selection — friendly service.
small place, so long lines can be annoying ;-)

I have one hard and fast meal-​time rule: I always pick the restaurant. No, that’s crazy. I’m lying, of course! Look: I just prefer to pick the restaurant, especially if I’m hanging out with a (gulp) vegetarian.
But last night, I conceded. As we walked down third ave, I saw a bunch of pizza places that I knew were great, and a handful of others I was wanting to try. Due Amici was not one of them.
The pizza was good. That’s it. Two stars. $ 2.25 is fairly steep for a slice on the smaller scale of the NYC generic slice spectrum. My friend’s sicillian slice looked a bit paltry, too. I rarely ever wipe my pizza… but I felt compelled. The grease was pooling in the center.
So why am I giving this place two stars? Like I said– a tasty, albeit greasy, slice. The counter guys were nice, and we chatted for practically an hour at one of the few tables which was uncharacteristically clean for a pizza place.
Due Amici, you’re treading on thin ice. But I won’t be back. Next time *I* pick the place.

Stopped here to pick up lunch with a couple co-​workers. They usually go with a salad, but I tried one of the panini’s. It could have been heated a little longer (it was on the cool side of warm) but it was still tasty, and less than $ 7. They also have a card you can get stamped, and after 9 salads/​sandwiches, your 10^th is free. I’ll be going back.

The pizza is great and the salads are pretty good too. I eat lunch here a couple of times a week and have never been disappointed by either. I would recommend avoiding the sandwiches and other random pasta dishes, as I have never had much luck with them. It is a little more expensive than the other pizza places on the block but it is definitely worth it.

I’ve held off on eating here since I started working in the neighborhood because we occasionally get free pizza at work, and now that I’ve grabbed a late lunch here, I don’t need to return.
$ 6 for two slices of pepperoni pizza. Even though they heated them up for me to eat in house, I wasn’t impressed. The crust i soverly doughy. The sauce largely flavorless. And the cheese oozing more grease than it ought to – and not seeming overly fresh.
If I eat here again, it’ll be because it’s so close to the office. Otherwise, there are better options in the immediate area. So walk a little farther.