Streets of New York

I'm always excited to try new places, especially those close to home. Frank and I were headed elsewhere, but popped into Streets of New York (Ft Apache) when we noticed they were open. The space is nicely decorated, it offers a warm and welcoming atmosphere, with a large dining room and bar with a few taps. The sign suggested seating yourself so we grabbed a table in the center of the dining room.

We sat a little too long before someone came over. Our drink order was taken but we weren't certain what we wanted, a menu would be nice. He realized and brought two over. We had questions about slices that he couldn't answer. He walked off and I thought he was going to ask, but ended up on another task. Our waitress came over. Fortunately, she was able to help. Slices are pre-baked as cheese pizza and they add whatever toppings you like.

She further explained they've been open two weeks in this location and the original location is up north. We mentioned this was our first visit and we'd like to know what's best to order. She suggested the slices, chicken parm, eggplant rollatini and a couple subs. I went with two slices: sausage and pepperoni. Frank chose the eggplant with penne.

Breadsticks were brought over with marinara sauce. The sauce was more of a paste which I don't care for, but Frank didn't mind it. The breadsticks were ok. Rosati's does these too and theirs are warmer, crisper and more chewy. They were too similar not to compare them.

While we waited we noticed the restaurant had a lot of bodies, but few customers (us and another table) and waits were longer than expected. I've never seen so many people moving about but achieving very little. Our waitress and the other checked on us periodically so service wasn't bad it just was up to par.



Finally our food was served. The pizza didn't look particularly appetizing, but I dug in. The sausage was terrible. I took two bites to confirm. It tasted like frozen pizza. Frank wouldn't even eat it and he eats most everything. He thought it tasted like microwavable pizza. The pepperoni was a bit better when loaded with chili flake. It was cooked more evenly too.



The pasta and eggplant rollatini were a bit better, but the eggplant wasn't heated all the way through. It was still cold in the center. We waited way too long and paid too much for what seemed to be microwaved eats. The bill was $23, usually I'd consider that pretty affordable, but in this case? It was too much.

They have a lot of work to do. There are several solid pizza joints nearby, they will have to seriously step up their game to even begin to compete.