Maffei Pizza

Closed!

Say it aint so… walked by and the joint was closed… or is it under renovation? Please let me know since it would be a huge loss if it is indeed closed for good.

This place has an exceptional Grandma Slice… everything else is pretty typical as far as «pizza» goes.
When Nic and the family were still working the kitchen (as close as 4−5yrs ago) the food and other slices were top notch.
I came in recently and was disappointed — Nana slice was good but everything else looked old and i would not give it a try.
If you are in the area and are dying for a slice, eat that. Otherwise, go a different direction and check out other types of food or another pizza spot.

Talk about mediocre in a major way. I’ve found myself at Maffei on more than one occasion and it’s always in desperation.
Tonight I needed a quick bite, it’s half a block away. The available pizzas looked PATHETIC. I needed to eat quickly so I picked the most non-​gross looking pizza, broccoli and tomato. The less toppings on the pizzas, the nastier it looked, which is why I went for a slice that was completely overloaded with veggies.
It was fine, it was filling. I also picked up some garlic knots that were kinda hard. I really need to find a better desperation place because Maffei is meeehhh central.

An embarrassment to New York pizza.
— If you’re walking to this place right now, stop, walk to the nearest 7 – 11 and buy a Tombstone.
— If you’re calling to order delivery, hang up and call Pizza Hut.
In either case, you’ll wind up with a better pie than one from Maffei, which is not saying much. Instead of being thin, light and chewy, their crust was hard, stale and wayyyy to thick for New York style. So so stiff and flavorless, you’d think you were gnawing on the cardboard delivery box it came in. No joke.
I love New York style pizza, and every time I visit Manhattan I look forward to it. This place had 4 stars on Unilocal,so I thought it’d be a safe bet. Instead, I got the worst pizza I’ve ever had in NYC. Want a better slice? Go to the food court of any mall, anywhere in America.
(I know people who work in restaurants work hard and try to do a good job. Don’t mean to be mean, but I was really, really disappointed. For their sake, I hope it was just an off night.)

A good place to stop in for a breakfast sandwich; I have been by many times. Fast and cheap. Friendly counter service. decent coffee. Never tried their pizza.

Maffei is what most Manhattan slice joints try to be. It’s traditional as hell, and that’s what keeps lines out the door at lunchtime. Don’t expect much to look at, but you actually can expect surprisingly friendly service. Italian owned and operated since it was opened sometime in the 1970’s, you also don’t have to look far for them either; there’s a good chance at peaks times that you’ll deal with the guy that runs the place. I don’t go for this reason alone, but one thing that keeps me coming back is their lunch deal: $ 5 for 2 slices and a drink, and $ 6 for 2 specialty slices and a drink. While that doesn’t beat crappy dollar slice places on price, for 2 high quality slices of pizza that isn’t bad at all.
The slices here are all around good. Their sauce is acidic and a little sweet with good flavor, the cheese they use is fresh, and their crusts are light and airy – especially when fresh. Not a ton of well-​fermented, bready flavor mind you, but they’re especially good when they’re extra crisp. My main gripe is that they load up on the toppings a bit much sometimes, causing tip sag after the slice has sat for a few minutes; this is a common problem though, so I digress. You can’t go wrong with a regulat slice, but I highly recommend the mushroom slices, vodka slices, and especially the grandma slices as well. The dough is a little brittle on the latter, but the tomato sauce they use is very rich. Given Maffei’s location and their efficiency – especially during lunch – there is no reason not to get from here if you live or work nearby.

Sure tasted alright when I bit into the combination pizza slice. Few hours later, not so much.
Not knocking them entirely since I should have been a little smarter (keep note of the length of time someone ‘reheats’ your pizza in an oven; ten seconds is not enough). Just for the record, stay away from the pizzas that have been sitting out for awhile. I was sick for a day an half. I’d go for the pepperoni or cheese, since those are made fresh constantly.
The slices themselves are average size, with an OK crust, thin and sauced enough (but could always use more). Average overall.

Good special that runs all day — $ 5 for two HUGE slices of plain pizza and a drink. Great if you need food quick and on the go, but don’t expect it to be the best pizza you’ve had in NYC.

Their pizza was average. Nothing worth 4 stars or more.

Like many of my trips to New York, the February 2012 visit was centered around art, hockey, friends, and food — the later two taking center stage this time around (but obviously not precluding a day in the Chelsea Galleries and my first visit to Newark’s Prudential Center) and like my previous visit kicking off with a pizza crawl — this time in Manhattan and with a group nearly twice the size of the Brooklyn crawl one year prior. With faces and friends both new and old a map of six spots was charted to sample pizzas equally diverse as the crowd doing the sampling and with an early flight I even managed breakfast before meeting up with the crew at our first destination, a slice shop called Maffei on 6^th Avenue, at 11:00am.
With the group beginning small and growing in size as we progressed only four of us were present on arrival to Maffei — perhaps a good thing as our eventual party of 8 would have had difficulty fitting in the small confines — and with at least 6 men working the counter we were greeted pleasantly but also with a focus on expediting the order and after weighing our options for a moment 4 slices were decided upon — two Margherita slices, one Margherita with Sausage, and a «Grandma» slice — all of which were pre-​prepared and ready to be popped into the large oven for finishing as we paid the tab and waited at the small countertop only to see Shock-​Jock Howard Stern walk in, collect a large bag, exchange some pleasantries with the staff, and exit after settling the tab.
Waiting for a mere 5 minutes before a burly fellow behind the counter called out our orders I have to admit I was already skeptical seeing the pies sitting out and although now hot with melted cheese after a trip to the oven I can’t say the finished product was much more inspiring on visual inspection — a bit more tan, I guess — and taking a bite I think the look on my friend’s face told the same story as my tastebuds… boring. Beginning first with the crust — dull, white, slightly pliable yet doughy — and then moving to the toppings including bland tomatoes but surprisingly fresh basil and decent-​if-​not-​inspiring mozzarella there was certainly enough here to justify the $ 2 price but not enough flavor to encourage me to finish it. Faring better, the two bites I had of the Grandma slice proved to have a nice dough to sauce ratio with plenty of tomato flavor but just a bit too much sugar — certainly not DiFara good, but then again not L&B bad either. An important stop on the tour if only to experience a «traditional New York slice» all I can really say is that this simply isn’t my style of pie, I don’t get why the Serious Eats Pizza Blog raves it, and if Mr. Stern would like to pay me I’m pretty sure I can bake him a better pizza in any home oven with better ingredients at less cost.

My first grandma slice — life altering.
I tried the fancier slices too — but the cheese and the grandma slices are still the best.

The food here is pretty much par for the course for a New York pizzeria. Basing on food alone, I’d probably give 3 stars. They lost 1 extra star however for the poor service.
During a lunchtime rush, the place can get pretty packed and it becomes something of a free-​for-​all when ordering. What makes this worse is that they will give precedence to their buddies who have just walked in the door over somebody who has been waiting quite awhile to make their order. That’s just not good business, especially when there are so many other pizzerias around with food that is just as good if not better.

Not the best lookin’ place, but I got a free cheese grandma square and it was quite tasty with a lil’ crunch to it.
There’s some barstools and cameras, though what can a customer really steal from this place? I guess it’s for the workers, which can be harsh…

Great pizza. I came here courtesy of the free pizza from Tenka:
I never would have set foot in this place just because it looks like every other joint around. It was a pleasant surprise. I had the grandma slice, and it was pretty good. Not the best (I think Bleecker St Pizza has them beat).
I’m also surprised to see that they serve other dishes other than pizza like Hero Parmigiana sandwiches, and they’re not that expensive either! I’ll have to come back to try those!

I saw the sign enforcing a $ 10 minimum for card purchases and had little reason to hope, since I only had two dollar bills and a quarter stuck in my billfold.
Still, the fragrance of this place at 10 a.m. compelled me to walk right in and ask how much their plain slice costs. $ 2.50, the man informed me. Thinking aloud, I mumbled, «Man, if only I had one more quarter. I totally did, but I left it at home!»
Without letting a beat go by, he interjected,
«Aw, if it’s a quarter, I can live with that. That’s good enough.»
Hesitating at this completely unexpected gesture of largess, I started stammering that I would come back and bring that extra quarter someday. «Nah,» he said, dismissing the whole idea with a casual but not flippant wave of the hand. Merrily, he went along, heating my slice, throwing new orders into the oven, turning over plump calzones, and shoveling out garlicky broccoli and other sides for the meandering morning customers.
Feeling like a newsie who was having his day, I looked up with moist eyes at a giant board overhead that housed paper money from all over the world, printed with immortalized ink portraits of iconic leaders of the past and present.
By the way, the cheese and chili flake shakers were the first free-​flowing shakers I have found, well, anywhere. Ever. The slice was delectable in its own right, but further enhanced by the intangible sauce of positivity dealt from a hand of kindness and contentment rather than impatience and avarice.
This is the Midtown, old-​school New York that I used to idealize — where you can get a homegrown slice on an electrified avenue and where a surviver will give you a break on a coin.
I’ll definitely be back with that quarter and more business.

Not the best NYC slice I’ve eaten. Too heavy on the cheese and no char on the bottom of the pizza either. Service was quite slow for a pizzeria like this too.
$ 5 for 2 slices and a small drink (fountain or can)
About 10 bar seats against windows.

My review is solely on their Margarita slice and their eggplant ziti.
The Sicilian Margarita was very very good! hot and flavorful, cheesy and greasy good!
The baked eggplant ziti was very cheesy with lots and lots of eggplant inside.
would definitely go back again

Recently started working in the area and looked on Unilocal for a good pizza lunch place. You guys didn’t lead me astray with the high ratings for Maffei’s. While it’s not the absolute best pizza in the city, it’s really good for a slice shop. But for me, the best part of Maffei’s is the service and the characters you see — it’s a real New Yawk local place, ya know what I mean? Am looking forward to trying more of the menu (already had the 2 slices & soda for $ 5 as well as whole pies for the office), especially the pasta & hot dishes.

Seriously awesome pizza!
Talk about getting creative, today Maffei served up a cheeseburger slice and a lasagna slice, and combined I must have consumed more meat than any other dish could deliver. The experience was fantastic.
In addition to the pizza, I was very impressed with the cold and hot dishes on display. There was an uncommon array of seafood dishes and rich looking dishes that will warrant another trip back very soon to investigate.
If you’re in the neighborhood and need to get a slice, this is the place to go.