Restaurant: Roberta's

Roberta's
261 Moore St (between White St & Bogart St)
Bushwick, Brooklyn
Subway: L to Morgan Avenue
Mon-Fri 12 p.m. - 12 a.m.
Sat-Sun 11 a.m. - 12 a.m.


If you fancy a hipsterish, aggressively locavore, authentic New Brooklyn experience, I believe Roberta's - with its southern-accented Italian and pizzas - may be for you. It's off the beaten path, and you may have to wait in the back yard with a beer. But it's friendly and convivial and it's laid-back and even the weird pizzas are pretty excellent thanks to the terrific ingredients. A really fun place for a crowd, too - because it's loud and you'll sit at communal picnic tables.

Restaurant: Lucali

Lucali
575 Henry St. nr. First Pl.
Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
Hours: 6-11ish, closed Tues.
Subway: F, G to Carroll Street


Lucali is, hands-down, my favorite pizzeria in New York. The debates about pizza, as seen on Chowhound et al, are very tiresome indeed, and the one concensus is that Grimaldi's is a pale former shadow of itself and only sucker tourists wait in the endless line for it. While I abstain from these debates on grounds of having a life (sort of; I am making this) I will say that while you may have to wait for Lucali, too, I don't mind. I love the staff, I love the cozy, sepia-toned space, I love Mark, the owner, I love the BYOB policy, and of course I love the delicious pizza. I get it with just fresh basil, and maybe a calzone. We'll go together, actually.