Rizzo's Pizza
3013 Steinway St
Astoria, NY 11103 (718) 721-9862
- Nearest Transit:
30th Ave (N, W)
Steinway St (G, R, V)
- Price Range: $
- Accepts Credit Cards: No
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: No
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
22 Reviews for Rizzo's Pizza
Thanks Yelp.
This place was taaaaaasty.
I do not usually eat crust on pizza. I give it to Karen, she loves the stuff. This place though, the crust on the pizza is an amazing treat in and of itself. The crust tastes similar to a crackers that you would get out of a box (think wheatables, those type)
Try this place you wont regret it.
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Karen: Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned
Priest: Tell me, my child. What have you done?
Karen: I have used Thin Crust Pizza's name in vain for the past 25 years. I have coveted the thicker, crustier pizzas of my neighbors.
Priest: Oh my! That is quite a sin, my child. Why do you think we serve those thin crackers during communion-thin is IN! Go say 25 hail Rizzo's, you crazy Jewish Italian girl!
Today I found something innocent, pure, and amazing. I found Thin Crust Pizza.
*Angels Sing*
P.S.-the salads here are HUMONGOUS and cheap-$5 and they're big enough for 2 !
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First time at Rizzo's last night. BBQ chicken thin-crust was as thin as Nicole Ritchie's arms pre-preggers (okay, bad imagery there). You know you're dealing with artisans here when the raised edge of the crust adds a scoop-like quality to every bite, making the whole slice that much more tasty. I liken this to San Francisco Wharf clam chowder in a bread bowl.
The 16'' round was about $16 (20-inchers are $20). Square pies are the same price and have a more dense outer crust.
The friendly dude at the counter gave me a free Silican square because I was a newbie to the joint.
I looked around the place and it was smiles everywhere. You don't get that at a stinkin' chain like Uno's.
The speciality pies have all fancy Italiano-sounding names like Bandiera (spinach, garlic, ricotta) and Spagnola (pepperoni, green olive, red onion and pimento) but judging from the slices out for mix-n-match pleasure, they're just as well-constructed as my beloved BBQ chicken.
About the BBQ chicken -- no tomato sauce! Crazy you say? Do Escalades need 22's? Do tourists need sandals? Does pizza need sauce?
Nope. Just a pie with tender caresses from grilled chicken, onions, and BBQ sauce infused with something tangy.
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I would like to marry the square sicilian pizza here. Seriously. In sickness and health, till death do us part.
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I'm pretty impressed I hadn't written a review about Rizzo's yet. I've been here half a million times, enjoy it every time but I guess I never remembered to yelp it. They're the number 1 pizza institution on Steinway street.
For an area of town that is rather devoid of a lot of pizza places (the per capita basis for Washington Heights blows Astoria out of the water), Rizzo's is the primary pizza spot when you're walking around. It's not open very late (so no late night food) but they specialize in scilian style pizza and have one the best tasty pizza sauces I've had. They're primarily thin crust so if you're a crust eater like me, you're gonna want to check your dough at the door. Luckily the sauce, cheese and toppings make up for the lack of what I consider the best part of a pizza - the bread.
They're delievery isn't the best (they don't use enough delivery people) and their topping selection is small but if you're looking for a solid slice of thin crust pie, Rizzo's is the place to go.
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They are one of my faves for pizza. I think they put cheese in their tomato sauce. It's one of the tastiest pizzas around. Plus they have unusual crust. It's thin and smaller than regular pizza crust. The place is nothing to look at (which is why I didn't give it 5 stars) but the pizza is great.
After reading a number of glowing reviews on Yelp, the man and I felt compelled to try this local pizza joint. We dropped by on a Sunday evening, around 8:15, only to find that, alas, they were closing! We got the impression from the gentleman inside that they always closed at 8 PM and thus were unapproachable for us, since we keep later hours. The man did manage to drop in for a slice eventually and seconded the favorable reviews, but I was still left out in the cold.
Finally, our moment came! It was 7:00 on a Friday, we were home, and we were hungry! For pizza! Feverishly, we looked their number up and ordered. Turns out they're open until 10 normally, and only close at 8 on Sundays. Oops. The guy on the phone was very friendly and chatted my boyfriend up for quite a while, rhapsodizing about his place of employment and enticing my man with offers of free pizza and such. In the end we had ordered one large normal (ie not Sicilian) pizza with peppers, mushrooms, and pepperoni (I think) and some garlic knots. The phone man said he would throw in a couple of sample sicilian slices. Excited!
An hour later (they did warn us), our pizza arrived. Anxious to test the hype, I bit in. Pretty nice, I have to say. The sauce is definitely on the tangier side, which I like, and the toppings were well-distributed. The cheese was also at a good level. Best I've ever had? No, certainly not. Better by far than the other local pizza I've had? Yes, definitely. The garlic knots, alas, were less fabulous. I bit into one, expecting your standard butter-and-garlic coated dough only to find that it was instead coated in garlic salt! Weird. The first one still tasted good, albeit waaay too sweet, but each progressive one was less delicious. I ended up only eating two and a half, and I'm one of those people who can blow through an entire order of the usual kind.
The other con was that the guy forgot to include the sample slices, which was disappointing, as we really wanted to try the pizza that made them popular. Still, we didn't pay for it so no real loss.
So: Rizzo's is good for pizza, at a relatively early hour, especially if you walk to the store. It is not so good for fast delivery, garlic knots, or late nights.
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I walk past this place ALL the time and it always smells good.... Anyway, today I finally stopped in to try a slice after work and the people there were friendly, the pizza was yummy and I went on my way. I'd like to go back and try the well known Sicilian slice next time. Mi familia and I are big pizza lovers, so maybe next time they're around we'll call. In fact, I told the guys there, I had yet to find a pizza joint that was really top notch! This was the best in Astoria, for sure.
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What is there to say: the best pizza and the warmest, friendliest, most grateful service in Astoria - no, in all of Queens. Try 'em once and you'll be hooked - we were! They are genuinely happy to serve their customers - whether you're a first-timer (as we were around a year ago) or a frequent visitor, they act like they've been waiting all day just to wait on you and feed you like family. We've even ventured away from the basic cheese pie to the fancy-schmancy ones and they, too, ruled. (The BBQ chicken one in particular is delicious, and I was a true skeptic.) The extra time for deliveries is worth it. Order more garlic knots than you think you'll need. Trust me. If there is a God, she's makin' the knots at Rizzo's.
A treat. It's all in the tomato sauce----sweet and tangy at the same time...I think some parm cheese is mixed into it. Go square, about four of 'em if you're ready to dig in. No Coke. No Pepsi. It's RC at Rizzo's!!
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Rizzo's was the best sicilian slice I have ever had. I had never been to Astoria but was passing through and my cousin took me here and I was blown away. Very crunchy crust and a whole lot of tomato sauce.
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Food-Best Pizza I eve had
Price-Decent
Atmosphere-Old fashion pizza shop
Service-Good
Overall the pizza is amazing. The square sicilian is probaly one of the best pizzas I have ever had.
2008.03.15 Update: I lucked out this afternoon and got not one but two Sicilian slices each from a pie that had just come out of the oven. I think that really made the difference. Both slices were so delicious that I didn't stop eating despite the fact that each bite was burning the roof of my mouth. I was unwilling to endanger my pizza enjoyment with a regular slice so I didn't give that a second shot. Original review follows.
Eh, over-hyped if you ask me. I will say that the Sicilian slice is fairly enjoyable but I would definitely not jump to say that it's the best in whatever arbitrary area you want to use. The tangy sauce is interesting and the balance between cheese, sauce and crust is well struck.
Lacking the thicker crust of it's Sicilian counterpart, their plain slice is completely overpowered by the tangy sauce. Maybe I just don't like such tangy sauce but I thought their plain slice was borderline awful. And using the same crust recipe for their regular pies strikes me as lazy. Why make a thinner, less creative version of your better slice that turns out to be rubbish? The Sicilian slice is a much better balance of ingredients and fairly enjoyable but I wouldn't rave about it to anyone.
One of the reasons that the best pizza places are so well reviewed is because they use fresh, high-quality ingredients. I didn't taste anything like that at Rizzo's. They seem to use regular ole pizza cheese that you'd get at any other pizzeria.
The best pizza in Astoria. The thin crust Sicilian is so good- not too much cheese like most places in NY. Sometimes I wish I still lived down the block...
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Believe the hype - Rizzo's pizza is terrific and definitely the best in Astoria. The keys factors is a nice crunch in the light, tasty crust, and a delicious sweet/tangy tomato sauce.
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I'm feeling less and less like cooking in my air-conditioner-free, poor-cross-ventilation kitchen, so places where I can grab something quickly by my apartment are a-okay by me. After the raves for their sicilian pizza, I went to go try it out. I figured I had to be going with ridiculously high hopes, and had to be disappointed, but this was a delicious slice of pizza- every bit as fresh as everyone says. A definite find among the ever-present greasy pizza joints on every block. Rizzo's, you definitely have me until my kitchen cools down!
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This place has awesome pizza at $2/slice. Their sauce is tangy and the ingredients are so fresh. Loved the Margherita and their specialty - the rectangle-shaped Sicilian-style pizza. They sell by the slice and warm it in their oven to give the crust that special crispiness that helps hold everything together. I went to Grimaldi's and these guys are better. Not only is the pizza great, there's no wait, and all of their staff are so friendly and treat you like an old friend. One more thing, don't forget to get some garlic twists on the side.
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This place is all about the Sicilian pizza. Skip everything else, just get the Sicilian. Great crust, delicious sauce and fresh ingredients. And staff is always friendly. One of the best pizza places in New York...and lucky us, it's in Astoria!
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This is by far, my favorite pizza in NYC. If you enjoy thin-crust pizza, come to Rizzo's! This is true thin crust pizza with fresh ingredients. The pizza is not greasy and there is just a touch of olive oil in the crust that delights the tastebuds. You can tell the owners really care about the product, they always ask what you thought of the pizza and if it's your first time, free slice on the house! They specialize in the Sicilian slice. Looks like they also have a myspace profile: http://profile.myspace...
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Rizzo's serves up unbelievable New York-style pies. The thin-crust counterpart to Zachary's in terms of quality, the slices are positively dripping with sauce and robustly-flavored mozzarella. Upon the first bite, one can discern that the ingredients are fresh and that cooking method is light. I've only had the Margherita, but I'll give you a (Monopoly) money back guarantee that the other combos are equally delish.
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Their sicilian slices are comparable to Di Fara's, and you don't have to wait in a semi-ruly mob for an hour and a half and then leave hungry because Di Fara hasn't even made your pizza yet.
The plain (round) slices are pretty good, but they're somehow missing the point, which is the intensely tomatoey, parmesany sicilian slice. Two bucks is the price of entry to heaven.
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Very Good and incredibly unique crust on this sicilian slice. The sauce is delicious and extra cheesy. Very nice.
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