Several of these answers are no
Frequently asked questions
Everything people actually ask at the counter, gathered in one place and answered the way we would answer it there.
General
General
Are you a pizzeria or a pizzaria?
Both spellings get used in this neighbourhood and neither is wrong enough to argue about. “Pizzeria” is the Italian spelling and the one on our awning; “pizzaria” is how a great many people in Queens write it, including in the search bar, which is why it is also our web address. Same shop either way.
Can you make me a pizza that is safe for coeliac disease?
No. We open bags of wheat flour in this room all day and it is airborne and on every surface, including the oven floor our gluten-free bases are baked on. Our gluten-free crust is for people avoiding wheat by choice. If a reaction would send you to hospital, please do not order from us.
How long does a whole pie take?
Twelve to fifteen minutes for a New York or square pie once it goes in, plus whatever is ahead of it. On a Friday between six and eight that can reach forty-five minutes, and we will tell you that on the telephone rather than let you find out.
Do you guarantee a delivery time?
No, and we will not start. Every time we quote is an estimate. We would rather call you and say the kitchen is running twenty minutes long than promise thirty minutes and be wrong.
Is the slice on the rack fresh out of the oven?
No — a slice came out earlier and goes back in to reheat when you order it. That is what a slice counter is. Ask Danny how long a tray has been out and he will tell you; if you want a pie straight from the oven, order a whole one.
Are you halal or kosher?
Neither, and we hold no certification for either. We share benches, ovens and a cutting wheel between meat and everything else.
Do you take reservations?
Not for the dining room — twenty-eight seats, first come. Catering is booked, and the further ahead the better on a December Saturday.
Why is there no star rating on this website?
Because we cannot show you a rating you could trace back to a real diner, and a number nobody can check is decoration. Read the menu, look at the pictures, and come and try a slice for $3.75.
Do you deliver to my address?
We deliver across Woodside, Sunnyside and the near edges of Astoria, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Maspeth and Long Island City. Beyond that the pizza arrives worse than it left, so we would rather you collected it.
Can I watch the pizza being made?
Yes. The oven is open to the room and the two counter seats nearest it are the best seats in the shop, which is why they are the last to be taken and the first to be argued over.
Allergens and cross-contact
Allergens and cross-contact
Can I eat here if I have coeliac disease?
No, and we are sorry to be so blunt about it. We open sacks of wheat flour in this room from six in the morning; it goes airborne and settles on every surface, and our gluten-free base is baked on the same oven floor and cut with the same wheel as wheat pizza. There is no procedure we can follow in a single-room shop that makes that safe.
Then why do you sell a gluten-free crust at all?
Because a great many people avoid wheat by choice or manage a sensitivity where trace contact is not a problem, and for them it is a good pizza. That is the customer it is on the menu for, and we say so on its own page rather than leaving you to work it out.
What can you actually tell me about an allergen?
What we put on the pizza. We know every ingredient in every dish and we will go through it with you at the counter or on the telephone for as long as you need. What we cannot tell you is what has been in the air, on the bench or on the wheel.
Do you have a separate fryer, oven or preparation area?
No. One deck oven, one coal oven, one bench, one cutting wheel and one small pan for the rice balls and zeppole. A shop that does have separate equipment is a different proposition and you should prefer it if you need it.
Are there nuts in the kitchen?
Yes. Pistachio is in the cannoli filling and is handled on the same bench as everything else. Pine nuts come and go with the seasonal pizzas. Treat the whole kitchen as a kitchen that handles tree nuts.
What about fish?
Anchovy is a topping and is kept on the cold table with the other toppings. Anchovy is also in the chopped salad dressing on request only, and we will always tell you if it is in something.
Can I telephone ahead and have you prepare something carefully?
You can telephone ahead and we will take real care — a wiped board, fresh gloves, ingredients checked aloud. That reduces contact. It does not make the food free of an allergen and we are not going to describe it as though it does.
Vegetarian, vegan and dietary
Vegetarian, vegan and dietary
Is your food halal?
No. We hold no halal certification, we handle pork all day, and the same benches, ovens and cutting wheel are used for everything. Some individual dishes contain no pork; that is not the same thing as halal and we will not present it as though it were.
Is your food kosher?
No. We hold no kosher certification and there is no supervision of any kind here. We also serve meat and dairy together on the same pizza, which settles it.
Which pizzas are vegetarian?
As built: the cheese, Sicilian, grandma, upside-down, white, vodka, garden vegetable, margherita, marinara, Roman, gluten-free base, vegan, wholewheat, spinach roll, broccoli roll, garlic knots and the salads. Every one of them is opened on a bench that has had salami on it and cut with the wheel that cut the last pepperoni pie.
Is the hard grating cheese vegetarian?
No. The aged hard cheeses we use are made with animal rennet, which is true of most of them. Ask for it to be left off and we will — it goes on at the end, so this one is easy.
Is the dough vegan?
Yes. Flour, water, salt, yeast and olive oil, with no dairy, egg, honey or sugar. That is true of the New York, Sicilian, grandma, Roman and Neapolitan doughs. It is not true of the hero rolls or the zeppole, which are enriched, or of any roll with an egg wash on the crust.
Can you cook a vegan pizza separately?
We will use a clean board and fresh gloves. We cannot use a different oven, because there is not one, and the floor it bakes on has had cheese on it all day. If that rules us out for you, we understand.
Do you have anything for somebody avoiding dairy entirely?
The marinara is built to have no cheese rather than to be missing it, and it is genuinely good. The vegan pizza with plant-based cheese is the other option. Both are baked on the shared floor.
Ordering
Ordering
How long will my order take?
Twelve to fifteen minutes for a New York or square pie once it goes in, plus whatever is ahead of it. Ninety seconds for a Neapolitan, plus the queue. On a Friday between six and eight the real answer can be forty-five minutes, and we will tell you that when you telephone rather than let you discover it.
Can I order online?
Not from this website. We take orders on the telephone and at the counter, because a telephone lets us tell you the kitchen is running long, ask what you mean by well done, and warn you that the Neapolitan will not survive the journey. A web form cannot do any of that.
Do you take card?
Yes, and cash. There is no card minimum and no surcharge.
Can I pay when I collect?
Yes. We do not take payment in advance for a collection order.
How far ahead can I order?
Same day for anything off the menu. For catering trays, two days for ten trays or more, and further ahead in December, when Saturdays fill up weeks in advance.
What if my order is wrong?
Bring it back or telephone and we will remake it. We would rather remake a pizza than discuss whose fault it was, and that has been the rule since 1994.
Delivery
Delivery
Do you guarantee a delivery time?
No, and we will not start. Every time we quote is an estimate. A guarantee only means something if you are willing to break it, and the shops that offer one break it constantly.
What is the minimum order?
$20 before any delivery fee. Below that the economics do not work for a small shop and we would rather say so than add a surcharge that hides it.
Is there a delivery fee?
$3 within Woodside and Sunnyside, $5 to the further neighbourhoods. It goes to the rider.
Why will you not deliver a Neapolitan pizza happily?
Because it is genuinely much worse after twenty minutes in a bag. We will send one if you insist and we will tell you first. The New York and square pies travel far better and we would rather you enjoyed your dinner.
How far do you deliver?
Roughly a fifteen-minute ride. Woodside and Sunnyside are the core; Astoria, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Maspeth and Long Island City depend on where exactly and how busy we are. Ask and we will tell you honestly.
Do you use a delivery app?
No. Our riders are our own staff and they know the neighbourhood. It means a smaller area than an app would cover and a considerably better pizza at the door.
Catering
Catering
How much notice do you need?
Two days for ten trays or more, and a day for anything smaller. In December, book Saturdays weeks ahead — they genuinely fill up, and we will tell you a date is full rather than take it and struggle.
How many people does a tray feed?
A full tray of square pizza is 48 squares and feeds twelve to fifteen as a main course, or twenty-five as something alongside other food. A half tray is 24 squares.
Which tray survives sitting out?
The upside-down Sicilian, easily. The layer of tomato over the top stops the cheese drying, so it is still good an hour later. Roman al taglio is the second best.
Do you deliver catering orders?
Within the delivery area, yes, for $15 on any order of four trays or more. Beyond that we would ask you to collect — a car full of trays across Queens arrives worse than it left.
Can you do it hot for a specific time?
Yes, and this is the thing to be precise about when you book. Tell us the time people will actually eat, not the time you want to collect, and we will work backwards from it.
Do you provide plates, napkins and serving utensils?
Plates and napkins yes, at no charge. We do not have chafing dishes or hot boxes, and we will not pretend a cardboard tray keeps food hot for two hours.
A shared flour kitchen, and what that rules out. Our kitchen handles wheat flour in open air all day, along with milk, eggs, soy, tree nuts and fish. Flour becomes airborne every time a dough ball is opened, and it settles on every surface in the room, including the peels, the oven floor, the cutting board and the wheel. We can tell you what we put on a pizza, and we will tell you honestly. We cannot tell you that anything leaving this kitchen is free of an allergen, and we will not say it. If a reaction would send you to hospital, this is not a safe kitchen for you, and we would far rather say so than take the order.
Nobody has voted us anything. We hold no certification from any Neapolitan pizza association, we have won no award, we appear in no guide, and we have not been voted anything by anybody. There are no customer reviews or star ratings on this website, because a rating you cannot trace to a real diner is decoration. We name no supplier's brand either: we tell you what an ingredient is, not whose label is on the box.
If it is not here, ask
Telephone or write
Nobody here will guess at an answer, and if we do not know something we will say so. For anything about an allergen, please telephone rather than emailing — it is a conversation rather than an exchange.