DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (billyboy)

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:41:00 GMT

BT, my friends took me to Sripraphai a couple of years ago for my birthday and I still talk about it. Amazing! And we finished off with ice cream sundaes from Eddie's Sweet Shop in Forest Hills.

Unfortunately, the MTA did away with the 1-Day Unlimited Fun Pass as of 12/30/10. Boo! You can still buy a declining balance card but the Fun Pass was usually cheaper if you were making a lot of stops.

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (BT)

Thu, 06 Jan 2011 00:25:24 GMT

In the 2010 Zagat New York dining guide, Le Bernardin and Jean Georges get 28 out of a possible 30 points for food. Di Fara gets 27. So perhaps the rather high tabs here are not so bad, relatively speaking. I personally consider my $20 (3 slices of anchovy/garlic and a diet soda) money well spent.

If you care, Di Fara's got 4 points for decor. It is probably the diviest pizza joint I've ever been in and I've been in some dives. But, again, I'm not really complaining about that (except maybe they could splurge on a few more second hand chairs from Craig's List). It also gets 8 points for service, but I found the 3 or 4 employees and Mr. Di Fara himself quite pleasant if busier than bees in a hive.

The pizza is sublimely unusual (or unusually sublime). As everybody has said, the ingredients appeared to be the best obtainable. The mushrooms begin as fresh mushrooms. The garlic on my slices obviously did not come out of a jar but were sliced from whole fresh garlic cloves. The cheese was buffala.

But what was most unusual was the way the toppings, including the tomato sauce (delicious by the way), seemed cooked just to the point of melted perfection--not at all burned or dried out--but the crust had that black-blistered New York coal oven look (from what appeared to be the same kind of electric oven your corner pizza joint probably uses, no less).

Somewhere above somebody complained about the subway ride. Again, I will demur. I admit I enjoy riding the subway. First thing I do when I hit NYC is buy an unlimited ride MetroCard. Getting to Di Fara took me about 30 minutes on the B-train, one easy transfer, from Chelsea. For those staying near Times Square, the Q also works and I took it back to see a movie on 42nd St. For me, this jaunt was no problem at all--it's about the same as the ride to Queens for New York's best Thai food at Sripraphai which I've done a number of times.

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (Twinwillow)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 19:18:51 GMT

Grimaldi's has two locations in Dallas. One in Dallas' "trendy" Uptown area and one in Allen which is a Dallas suburb about 30 miles north of downtown Dallas.
This ex New Yorker is ashamed to admit, I live only one mile from the Uptown location and, I haven't been there yet!

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (seafarer john)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:18:13 GMT

Thanks for the reminder - it was the River Cafe. We wandered in there after spending a day touring the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and driving toward the East River to get a late afternoon view of downtown Manhattan - still have no idea what we ate, but my Scottish blood reminds me that it was pretty expensive.

BT: It's a long story, but the space Grimaldi's rents here in New Paltz is pretty fancy - beautiful inlaid woodwork and such. A local neer-do-well used up his inheritance redecorating his parents utilitarian and excellent Italian Deli and turning it into a piano bar. New Paltz is not a piano bar kind of village, and anyway, he took several years to get a liquor license, and when he did the place was sporadically open and sparsely patronized. First thing we knew it was a Grimaldi's - a great improvement on our short Main street.

Cheers, John

Cheers, John

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (wanderingjew)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:46:32 GMT

Oh Seafaring one...
I've never been to any of Grimaldi's outposts, but I sure enjoyed the original Grimaldi's in Brooklyn when I visited during our Brooklyn Pizza tour in 2007. In fact out of the 6 or so pizza joints we visited, Grimaldi's was my favorite.

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (The Travelin Man)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 16:09:43 GMT

John, I believe the place to which you refer is The River Cafe. It is quite nice, often featured in movie scenes and such. The original Grimaldi's location is just up the block a touch and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory is next door.

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (seafarer john)

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:45:12 GMT

Thanks, didn't know they were part of a chain - still damn good thin crust pizza!

Next time I'm in that joint I'll get a little nosey and ask about the Brooklyn connection. The only restaurant I was ever in under the Brooklyn bridge was on a barge - cant remember the name but it was upscale and very nice - I especially remember the martinis while watching the sun set behind the downtown Manhattan skyline.

Cheers, John

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (David_NYC)

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 19:36:27 GMT

John, Grimaldi's is now a chain and the brand is trademarked. Their NY Metro Area branches that I know about are in Brooklyn, Garden City, Douglaston (Queens), and Hoboken, NJ.

The story around town you mentioned doesn't specify the address of the building where they lost their lease. Perhaps they ran another pizza restaurant in Brooklyn under another name?

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (i95)

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 17:01:16 GMT

I believe that Grimaldi's under the famed Brooklyn Bridge received a recent reprieve in the form of a (one year?) extension to their current lease, John.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (seafarer john)

Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:49:13 GMT

Last August a Grimaldi's opened here in New Paltz - it took me until last week to get to try it - as part of my 83rd birthday celebration. It is absolutely the best thin crust pizza I've ever had.
The owners are said to be members of the Grimaldi family; I've never met them, so I don't know. There's a story around town that they are here because they lost their lease in Brooklyn. Does anyone know anything about that? The pizza is baked in a huge brick oven fired with wood or coal - they claim it is up 900 degrees - I know it is very hot- just walking by the oven you feel a blast of heat.

Cheers, John

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (Bossa Nova)

Mon, 31 May 2010 17:21:08 GMT

Difara's will be closed until at least June 9. Dom is having minor health issues which need to be addressed so they are taking a little break.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (David_NYC)

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 22:44:26 GMT

A Mr. Ian Jensen posted a charming video shot inside DiFara's on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/8022558

The man in the blue shirt is, of course, Dom DeMarco. Its a busy video; I had to watch it three times to catch all the nuances. But, it does accurately portray the experience.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (John Fox)

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 05:09:52 GMT

Thanks for your response. I have heard that the wait is pretty long at Sally's (though not as long as DiFara's) and the service isn't all that great, but I'd love to go and try their pizza some day.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (FrankBooth)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 22:02:53 GMT

John Fox

I've never been to Difara's or New Haven for that matter. Those who have been to both, which pizza do you prefer or think is better, DiFara's or New Haven pizzerias like Pepe's or Sally's?

having grown up eating regularly at Sally's and Pepe's in CT and after that having spent 15+ years in Brooklyn eating at Difara (i knew Dom and Maggie long before he became a rock star and had pictures with "Meathead" Rob Riener on the wall), i can say that IMHO Sally's (and Pepe's) both destroy Difara. Dom has a beautiful thing going with his 4 or 5 different kinds of cheeses, the fresh basil, nice olive oil, etc. but Sally's crust absolutely creams Difara (whose crust goes from too thick to too burnt), and the overall vibe of sally's and pepe's is just far superior. Difara is filthy, a huge hassle, and generally not worth the wait. there are countless other great pies in NYC that will satisfy without all this hassle (Keste, Motorino, Patsy's UES, Totonnos Coney Island, Lucali, even L&B spumoni gardens for squares). but Dom is still the elder statesman of pizziolas and he puts out a fine fine pie, just not sure it is worth the hassle. Sally's, with its epic line also, is MUCH more with the hassle. YMMV...

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (NYPIzzaNut)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:42:42 GMT

This is pretty sacred food for my money.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (NYPIzzaNut)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:41:59 GMT

Let us try to be serious about what great pizza is all about:

http://www.varasanos.com/PizzaRecipe.htm

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (badbyron722)

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:33:55 GMT

hotdogger

Sounds yummy but artichoke? That sounds almost as bad as pineapple!

Hey I love pineapple pizza.

Re:Local TV Video of DiFara Pizza (sk bob)

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:27:17 GMT

that slice looks great but for $5?
I'd better see God or at least Michael Hoffman.

Local TV Video of DiFara Pizza (David_NYC)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:06:35 GMT

Local TV station WCBS-TV ran a story on the price increase at DiFara on the evening news tonight. They included video of Dom making pizza:
http://wcbstv.com/food/five.dollar.slices.2.1110065.html

The people at DiFara have figured out that anytime they get mentioned in the local media, there is a huge increase in business. This probably accounts for the increase in sales after local media reported the price increase to $5.00. Who knows. Maybe they read the stories on this forum about the $1000 pizza and $185 hamburger in Manhattan, and decided to do a copycat publicity effort. But with the average slice of pedestrian-grade pizza here now equal to the subway fare, $2.25, it still is not even too much of a ripoff. There are all sorts of hype joints now selling a personal pizza for $9.00 no where near as good as Dom's.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (John Fox)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:29:25 GMT

I've never been to Difara's or New Haven for that matter. Those who have been to both, which pizza do you prefer or think is better, DiFara's or New Haven pizzerias like Pepe's or Sally's?

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (Buddy Dek)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 20:02:37 GMT

Looks like all Difara's loyal customers will still enjoy this pizza, no matter what ,even at $5 a slice and 5 days a week. For a hard pizza crust it does look good and besides the price I can see by the ingredients what the fuss is about.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (NYPIzzaNut)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:28:41 GMT

Soccer862923

Bossa Nova

Di Fara is raising their price to $5 a slice. Whole pies are going up too. They will also now be closed Tuesdays in addition to Mondays.

Yeah I saw that on Slice as well. Kind of sad but I guess it is a product of the ages. I have heard so much about this fabled pizza that it makes me crave it nearly anytime I think about pizza. I am planning a trip up to NY this November/December so I think this will be a must stop.

Please share everything about the experience with us all!!

Vai lì molto affamati e godere di ogni istante di questa esperienza.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (NYPIzzaNut)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:21:26 GMT

peppertree

Just returned from Brooklyn. I made two trips to DiFara's. Lines were shorter, now that the price is higher. Second time I shared the experience with two others from out of town. Both times I brought a Dr. Brown's Cream Soda to drink with the pizza.

If I could take one food with me to Heaven it would be a DiFara's Pizza. That says it all. It is perfect through and through every time. No pizza in the world is like Dominic's at DiFara's.

You sound like someone who might enjoy this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O1CZrQwNZI
Pizza Pie
Great Uptempo Doowop from 1958

Re:DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (Joisey)

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:09:23 GMT

Apparently they raised prices ---$5.00 a slice and $25.00 a pie. it was on the 1010wins website this am.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (The Travelin Man)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 09:22:10 GMT

The slices were $3 back in the spring of 2007. I was unimpressed then - and that is a heck of a lot of inflation in an otherwise down economy.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (wanderingjew)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:33:38 GMT

Di Fara's was my local pizza joint, when I lived on East 10th street near Avenue J from 1988-1990. There were no lines back then. I can't remember the prices, but I believe the regular slices were probably a buck fifty and the sicillian slices were $2- they may have been even less, I don't remember. When I moved back to Long Island I would still visit on occasion through 1992 when I left NY altogether. I returned when I happenned to be visiting the area back in 1997, still no lines and still as good as ever. Since then I've been back twice , in 2005 and 2007, lines and all, but the pizza was simply not as good as I remembered those two times. Yes, it was good, but was missing something- well it was missing alot, I'm just not sure exactly what. So, I guess, its just not worth it.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (tiki)

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:55:41 GMT

Food_Fan

I thought that these pictures might be interesting.

What do you think of these pies?

Bella!!!Bella!!!---thanks for the memories!

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (Tony Bad)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:58:21 GMT

If I am in the area I will wait and I will pay. I have done it before and I'll do it again, for the food and the experience.

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (Food_Fan)

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:11:03 GMT

I thought that these pictures might be interesting.

What do you think of these pies?

RE: DIFARA'S PIZZA BROOKLYN NY (FrankBooth)

Tue, 07 Jul 2009 08:02:02 GMT

Pigiron

In my opinion, DiFara's is over. The food is still great, but it's absolutely not worth the ridiculous lines, the slow service, the insane subway ride out there, the dirty floors, and now the sky-high prices.

Agreed- no pie is worth this hassle, even from a quiet master like Dom...