Yes, Josh and I are STILL on our quest to find our go-to pizza place. The latest delivery on our quest came from Francesco Pizzeria in the West 60s. I placed our standard test order through seamlessweb and the pizza came in a decently short amount of time.
Extra large cheese pizza
At first glance, the pizza looked pretty good. It wasn’t disheveled, and the crust wasn’t too thick or too thin. There was a nice amount of cheese that was nicely browned on top, and there didn’t seem to be too much sauce.
Good cheese to sauce ratio
So how did it taste? Bland, unfortunately. The crust basically had no flavor and was actually weirdly plastic-like in texture. It was browned evenly all the way around, top and bottom, which I had never seen before and I’m actually kind of curious as to how it was cooked. There were no dark spots or blisters of any kind.
Underside shot
We also got an order of garlic knots, which were the largest ones that I’ve seen. They were big and puffy and unfortunately also very bland. There was hardly any garlic sprinkled on top, and the only saving grace was the tomato sauce that came on the side. They were also more airy on the inside than I prefer, and didn’t have the chewiness that I was looking for.
Huge and puffy but bland garlic knots
Lastly we got a chicken parm hero, which came with a side of fries. The hero and fries were served in a round metal takeout container, which I thought was a bit odd, especially since they had to cut the hero in non-equal pieces to fit it inside the container. Nonetheless, it was quite a large sandwich and chock full of pretty tasty chicken, sauce, and cheese. The bread was nicely toasted and didn’t get too soggy in the container. The fries, however, were another story. They were thick cut steak fries and looked to be made from real potatoes, but they were really soggy and greasy, like they had been fried in oil that was too low in temperature. I would say to just get the hero without fries, but that’s not an option, and the fries are definitely built into the price.
Decent chicken parm hero but terrible soggy and greasy fries
Overall I wasn’t a fan of the pizza from Francesco Pizzeria, and it was slightly pricey compared to all the other pizza delivery joints nearby. The red sauce was pretty good, not too sweet and had a nice tanginess, but I had major issues with the blandness of the crust and the weird texture. The garlic knots and fries were also pretty awful, though the chicken parm hero was good. I’m sad to say, however, that the quest continues.
Francesco Pizzeria (multiple locations)
186 Columbus Ave. between 68th and 69th St.
New York, NY
Tags: Delivery, Pizza, Upper West Side