Hot pizza: 5 new restaurants to try for slice of New York, Chicago, New Haven, Palm Beach
It’s a good time to be an adventurous pizza lover in Palm Beach County, where one can get a taste of New York, Chicago, Detroit, New Haven, southern Italy and even Havana, slice by slice.
Here is a batch of new (and new-ish) pizza shops and restaurants to explore.
Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana
Fans of New Haven-style pizza welcomed the iconic, 98-year-old brand commonly known as “Pepe’s Pizza” to Delray Beach on June 5. It’s late founder Frank Pepe, an Italian immigrant from the Amalfi Coast, is recognized widely for popularizing New Haven-style pizza, a flavorful, thin-crust, oblong pie that uses cheese — grated pecorino Romano — as a condiment instead of a layer to be melted.
Menu highlights: The Original Tomato Pie is topped simply with crushed Italian tomatoes, grated pecorino and olive oil. Pepe’s famous white clam pie is topped with fresh clams, garlic, oregano, grated pecorino and olive oil.
Frank Pepe Pizzeria: 1701 S. Federal Hwy (in the Harbor Plaza at Linton Boulevard), Delray Beach, 561-431-5601, PepesPizzeria.com.
Also new: BBQ restaurant by acclaimed chef opens in downtown West Palm Beach
Adrienne’s Pizzabar
You can forget your thick-crust Sicilian pizza preconceptions once you step into Adrienne’s, a months-old pizzeria with roots in New York’s Financial District. The crust on Adrienne’s Original Sicilian is thin, airy and crisp. The square pie is cut into manageable slices, perfect for sharing and pairing with one of Adrienne’s fresh salads and a batch of craveable arancini (crispy rice orbs that are crispy outside, fontina-rich inside).
Adrienne’s, which opened April 24 at The Square in downtown West Palm Beach, is the sister of the swankier Harry’s Bar and Restaurant, which sits just steps away.
Other menu highlights: Adrienne’s classic, 16-inch New York-style pizza is topped like a Margherita pie with tomato sauce, sliced mozzarella and basil.
Adrienne’s Pizzabar: 378 S. Rosemary Ave., West Palm Beach, 561-834-0300, AdriennesPizzabar.com
Pizzaioli
If you enjoy chef Michael Hackman’s sourdough bread and other confections at Aioli bakery in West Palm Beach, check out the pizzeria he opened on March 31 in the same plaza. Hackman lavishes the 14-inch, sourdough-crust pies with cheffy touches.
Menu highlights: The Mushroom Thyme pizza is topped with wine-roasted mushrooms, melted leeks, duxelle cream and fontina and sprinkled with flaky salt. The Sausage and Onion Not Your Grandma’s Pie is pan-baked, sesame-lined and topped with crushed tomatoes, crumbled sausage, onions and mozzarella.
Pizzaioli: 7402 S. Dixie Hwy., West Palm Beach, 561-508-6958, PizzaioliWPB.com
Bread by Johnny Pizza
Speaking of sourdough-crust pizza, Jupiter’s favorite sourdough bread-maker Johnny VanCora now offers Monday night pizza at his Bread by Johnny bakery.
The 27-year-old VanCora regards his pizza dough as a canvas to reflect the area he loves. The toppings on his 16-inch pies pay homage to the community of local growers and vendors he’s discovered on the greenmarket circuit.
Menu highlights: The core pie on VanCora’s Monday pizza nights is a Margherita that he tops with locally made Mozzarita mozzarella, Lake Worth-grown African blue basil and imported tomatoes from one of the vendors he met at a local greenmarket.
Pizza nights are Mondays from 5 to 9 p.m. Pre-orders accepted until pizza slots sell out. (No walk-ins for now.) To order, click on the “Pizza Night” tab at BreadByJohnny.com.
Bread by Johnny: 1695 W. Indiantown Rd., Suite 6, Jupiter (561-768-9423)
Related: Jupiter's favorite sourdough baker launches new Pizza Nights
Uno Pizzeria
Remember Uno Pizzeria, the brand that introduced many of us non-Chicagoans to the decadence of deep-dish pizza? It’s now available at the Hilton Palm Beach Airport.
There’s no onsite restaurant, but pizza fans can order for takeout or delivery from the brand’s website, Uber Eats or DoorDash.
A large variety of customizable deep-dish and thin-crust pizzas are on the menu as well as wings, cheese breads, salads and dessert.
Uno West Palm Beach: at 150 Australian Ave., 561-472-9333, Unos.com.
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One pizzeria closes, another opens
The sad news for those who appreciate Chicago thin-crust pizza: Jupiter’s Tavern Pi restaurant permanently closed Aug. 19 after nearly two years in Abacoa.
But there’s good news for fans of another recently closed pizzeria. The Tavern Pi space is now home to Gardens Pizza and Pasta. On July 3, that go-to, neighborhood pizzeria announced it had left Palm Beach Gardens’ Promenade Plaza due to the expansion of its next-door neighbor, Publix.
Tavern Pi owner/chef David Schroeder said he was sad to close his pizzeria. He had owned Tavern Pi’s predecessor, Costello’s pizza, years ago and tried to make a more chef-driven concept work in the space.
“We really loved what we were doing there and we loved the concept,” he said. “We wanted to elevate the neighborhood pizzeria, but people didn’t quite get the Chicago thin-crust concept.”
Gardens Pizza and Pasta: 1209 Main St. in Abacoa, Jupiter, 561-335-3058, OrderGardensPizzaPasta.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Pizza near me: New Italian restaurants in West Palm Beach, Jupiter
