• Pizzeria Del Corso, Papa Leone… What About Delmar?


    by on May 12th, 2010

    Margherita slice at Del Corso, courtesy of Jeffrey Tastes

    We Brooklynites, we know how to gush about our local pizza places. We have our favorites, and the rest are “just pizza.” For chrissakes, we build entire childhood memories around those special pies that daddy took us to eat. Forget the Thanksgiving Turkey – the pizza pie is the most highly-esteemed family meal on Brooklyn’s table.

    That’s why, if you’re a pizza blogger, and you bounce around to foreign neighborhoods – visiting some pizzerias and not others, and declaring some better than others – you’re gonna upset some locals.

    Take Jeffrey Tastes, a blogger who’s touring Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island and Manhattan, nibbling bites of well-known local establishments. Jeffrey came down to Sheepshead Bay and visited just two pizzerias, kicking off the knee-jerk reaction of, “‘Ey, yo, what the eff?!”

    Granted, the two he picked are great local pizzerias.

    He visited Manhattan Beach’s Papa Leone’s (103 Oriental Boulevard), where he admired the crust – “Staring that orange-stained coastline down … The thin crust proves itself unique and a deserving member of the Brooklyn pizza family.”

    After that, he made his way over to Pizzeria Del Corso (3003 Avenue U) – a newer contender for neighborhood King Slice. About this place, Jeffrey couldn’t contain his admiration:

    This is slice to study. It’s got a corn flour dusted, unique tasting, flavorful crust. Along the bottom edge of the pie, the crunch of the crust is a little thicker and more substantial than I am used to. It’s probably consistently about 3mm high. This isn’t something that usually stands out in a pie, but it does here. It captures the aroma of the oven and strong-arms the crust aroma inside of itself. It’s still thin though, nearly cracker like. But again, what does it for me is their outstanding sauce, which is among the top-tier of the city.

    And yet, he left out some key information that makes Pizzeria Del Corso particularly interesting: owner Nino Coniglio is a star member of the U.S. Pizza Team, he’s trained in pie-making by DiFara’s Dom DeMarco, and he uses some pretty unique ingredients to the area (including house-made fresh mozzarella).

    So yeah, they were great choices. But I live here. And I live closer to Delmar Pizzeria, which is the pizzeria my memories are based around. Then there are some other local greats like Knapp Pizza or V & S Pizza, or longtime neighbors like Trios. Oh, and what about…

    You know, that’s the difficulty. When you know a neighborhood, you know its pizza. And the idea that a tour can only include two places would make most of our heads explode when deciding which two will make the cut.

    So let’s get rid of the two-place limit and come up with a real Tour d’Pizza a la Sheepshead Bay. What places are on your list?

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    • Ddouglas4

      Great post, Ned =) I'm in total agreement: Delmar is fantastic, so is Del Corso. But I have two to add to the list – Victoria Pizzeria in Gerritsen Beach has one of the best square slices in the borough (even when counting L & B in Bensonhurst), and Knapp St Pizza has a great round slice, not to mention great food in general.

      • Backagain

        i like Victoria in Gerritsen too. What happened to it, it was closed in early January.

        • Anonymous

          Victoria’s has a tendency to close for vacation once each year for a few weeks, though those vacations are not always predictable.

    • Sheila Kaminsky

      I absolutely love the eggplant pizza at Original Pizza IV (2911 Avenue U)!

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=504932239 Joseph Zygnerski

      I love Del Corso for their specialty pizzas. Nino really knows how to take gourmet ingredient (like speck, which I had to look up when I first saw it on the menu) and make a killer pizza.

      Their restaurant is also spectacular, with amazingly unique specials.

    • http://www.facebook.com/SpewHole Zak Kleipe

      Di Fari's on Avenue J!

      • Backagain

        Di Faris on Avenue J = Most over-rated pizza joint in the history of the known universe.

    • gene

      V&S on emmons ave,… love the grandma pies!

    • bbbb

      delmar is the best one that delivers to sheepshead bay – difara's best otherwise. Vodka pizza from delmar's to die for

    • http://iwantmorefood.com Jeff

      Great post! And I'm in total agreement with Delmar – That's why I put in on the first tour last year! http://iwantmorefood.com/2009/08/12/brooklyn-to…
      The only other pizza that I've had that straight up competes with it is Margarita in Jamaica. Thanks for the other great suggestions

    • Matt

      Del Corso is horrible. They don't care about you as a customer. I called in to pick up a pie and they never made it when I showed up. After I said I was there to pick up the pie, they did not even start making until 10 minutes later. Never go back there. Hope they get closed down.

    • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=713547221 Jake Vindman

      totonno's delmar's should be among the one's you guy's mentioned both awesome pizzeria's and i gotta tell you as far as im concerned DiFara's is a place i recently visited and was not too impressed at all it's crust is too dense and slices too small and salty and way way way way too overpriced just my 2 cents about the topic

    • Ex Del Corso Customer

      I agree with Matt… Del Corso is horrible. They started off great, but then Nino got lazy and stopped actually making the pies. Oh, and the he stopped opening on Mondays. Oh yeah, and then he got shut down by the health department. (Just peek in the window on a Monday when they're closed, you'll see plenty of pies sitting out).

      There are two kinds of pizzerias in Brooklyn, in my experience: the kind where 20 high school kids hang out behind the counter, and the kind that doesn't allow such unprofessionalism. Sadly, Del Corso has turned into the former.

    • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

      That's Midwood, not Sheepshead. Though we have covered DiFara's news on occasion.

    • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

      As with DiFara's Totonno's is not in Sheepshead Bay, but in Coney Island (with DiFara's in Midwood, respectively). It may be awesome, but we're only talking about Sheepshead.

    • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

      Haven't you been reading our website? We recently covered the news of Del Corso's closure by the Health Department (http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2010/04/pizzeria…) and the closure was complete bullshit. I drove by this Monday (in fact I drive by almost every day) and Del Corso was wide open for business just fine.

      For the record, I'm pretty sure intentionally filing false reports with 311 is illegal. Food for thought…..

    • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

      Jeff, the next time you do a Pizza Tour in Sheepshead Bay let us know! We can spread the word and some locals can come join you.

      Since I've got your attention, have you checked out New Park pizza in Queens right off Cross Bay Blvd?

    • http://iwantmorefood.com Jeff

      Keep these recommendations coming!

      You guys live in an amazing community. I would love to spend 4 months there, investigating all the interesting eats around. I am developing a theory about water lines and it's correlation to great pizza. But would that discredit the pizza makers?

      New Park is one of my most satisfying slices. It was on the Queens tour last year.

      That's really interesting about the DOH. over and over this happens. how are we gonna stop this BS?

    • SBAYSHARK

      Maybe you guys have only been eating Delmar's pizza for a year or two. It's not as good as it used to be. When the ownership changed hands a few years ago, it went downhill. It's still not bad pizza, but it used to be better.

    • http://www.nedberke.com Ned Berke

      Just so the lazy bums who won't visit Jeff's page can see it, I'm posting Jeff's impression of Delmar's right here. I still say go check out Jeff's site. He's got quite the collection….

      “Delmar is a traditional NY pizza amplified. The neighborhood is Brooklyn but weirder. The pies are saltier, sweeter, crisper and more satisfying than nearly every other pie on earth. We took over 4 booths with the orange curved seats and had a fun time with our childhoods.”

    • Da truff

      I don't know how well you know Nino but, I happen to know that he is involved in a heated custody battle for his son…The only reason he is closed on Monday is so he can whole-heartedly spend time with his son

    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

      Delmar's used to be excellent. Pizza that is hard to live up to unless you know how its done. It is just not the same pizza recipe now.

    • http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisanne001 Lisanne!

      That's the basics of Delmar's pizza. But they did do it even better a few years ago. It's not quite as moist as it used to be. Not that it is totally dry though.

    • Ex Del Corso Customer

      The only time I dial 311 is to find out if alternate sides is in effect, so I don't know what you're implying.

      As for Mondays, you might want to try driving by again. They are closed every monday.

    • Ex Del Corso Customer

      I don't know Nino that well, I'm better friends with Holly. There are 2 sides to every story. I'm not saying that because girls are supposed to stick together, I'm saying that because it's the truth.

    • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

      If I am mistaken and they are closed Mondays then so what? DiFara is
      closed Mondays and Tuesdays. There is no law that requires a buisness
      be open 7 days a week. If the owner of a buisness, be it Del Corso,
      DiFara or any other place for that matter, wants to take Monday off
      and close their buisness who are we to judge? They are entitled to run
      their buisness how they see fit.

    • Ex Del Corso Customer

      no need to get your panties in a bunch. I would just like it if they didn't leave pies out for everyone to see on the days they're closed. When you see that one day, and a DOH sticker on the door the next, it just doesn't look good.

    • Ex Del Corso Customer

      The only time I dial 311 is to find out if alternate sides is in effect, so I don't know what you're implying.

      As for Mondays, you might want to try driving by again. They are closed every monday.

    • Ex Del Corso Customer

      I don't know Nino that well, I'm better friends with Holly. There are 2 sides to every story. I'm not saying that because girls are supposed to stick together, I'm saying that because it's the truth.

    • http://www.njluxurymotors.com Arthur Borko

      If I am mistaken and they are closed Mondays then so what? DiFara is
      closed Mondays and Tuesdays. There is no law that requires a buisness
      be open 7 days a week. If the owner of a buisness, be it Del Corso,
      DiFara or any other place for that matter, wants to take Monday off
      and close their buisness who are we to judge? They are entitled to run
      their buisness how they see fit.

    • Ex Del Corso Customer

      no need to get your panties in a bunch. I would just like it if they didn't leave pies out for everyone to see on the days they're closed. When you see that one day, and a DOH sticker on the door the next, it just doesn't look good.

    • http://www.facebook.com/SpewHole Zak Kleipe

      Close enough. I live in Midwood, but I go to Sheepshead for everything. Anything from Kensington down is fine with me.

    • Imasg38

      HANDS DOWN!!!!!!! Everyone needs to try Bay Pizzeria,1420 SheepsHead Bay Rd & East 15 st….

    • GS

      Sad bc they had such awesome pizza but the owner definitely had some personal problems. I saw some pretty obvious shady things happening right in front of me one night before they closed up so it’s not surprising it caught up with him – he had great food, just wish he got his act together.

    • Backagain

      DelMar is now my favorite pizza in the whole wide world.