L'Industrie Pizzeria, NYC

Update Review, October 2026

When another group at the office has a pizza party, and pulls off bringing in L'industrie, of course I went running for their leftovers!  I'm glad they seriously over-ordered, as they had full untouched pies of several kinds still left.  

I was able to try two new-to-me options.  The crust and the sauce were the highlights on both, just as I remembered from my previous slices.  Perfectly crispy crust, great depth of flavor to it, nice back crust with a bit of char, and slices were evenly coated in vibrant slightly sweet sauce.  These elements are what really put L'industrie on top, at least for me.

New Yorker. $38/whole.

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, spicy sausage, ricotta cheese."

My first pick was easily the New Yorker, as I love pepperoni and sausage (although I'm less a fan of ricotta on pizza).  The sausage was my favorite part, slightly spicy, nice rustic style hunks, although there wasn't all that much of it.  I would gladly have more.  The pepperoni I thought was only average (fancy pizza shop average that is).  It was good, but it made me really just want Grandma's One pepperoni.  It was rather haphazardly applied.  The ricotta was the only topping that seemed applied with any precision.  It was fine, but again, not really a ricotta on pizza person as I feel it makes it eat a bit dry.

So overall, this wasn't perfectly made pizza (e.g. topping distribution), the toppings weren't amazing, but the crust/sauce/cheese is just so good that it was still an excellent pizza.  Low 4/5.

Spicy Salami. $38/whole.

"Spicy Italian Sopressata."

I moved on to the spicy salami.  I could tell immediately that this one wasn't perfectly executed given the burnt crust.  I'm actually a little surprised they didn't re-fire it.  Besides that very charred back crust though, it was actually good.  Again, great crust/sauce/cheese, and again, kinda haphazardly applied topping, salami in this case.  The salami was fine, fairly flavorful, albeit fairly greasy too.  

Another 4/5, because dammit, their crust and sauce are just so good, but I do wish for a bit more precision.

Original Review, September 2025

When you tell someone you'll be spending time in New York, the inevitably start telling you all the places you *have* to go.  The best bagels/pizza/burger/pastrami/drinks/etc of their lives, yadda yadda.  Even locals get quite passionate about some of these categories, and pizza of course is a common one to debate.  Once you get past the variations like square pizza (generally frowned upon), places only by the slice or only by the pie, etc, you are still met with intense debate.  But there are a handful of places that nearly everyone has heard of, and at least agree are in the top.

L'Industrie is one of these places.  It is also one of those places where people line up and wait for quite a while for their slices.  Those who want a whole pie can at least order those in advance for pickup (but, no delivery, and they have 6 pie order maximums).  But most people seem to line up and wait, as part of the overall experience.  They do not take reservations.

L'Industrie has two locations, the original is in Williamsburg, opened in 2017.  They followed their success by opening a second location in Manhattan in late 2023.  Both locations are open daily, 12pm-10pm.  Both are equally busy, all the time.  

"From the City of Pistoia and the streets of NYC. We’ve come together to bring you L'industrie Pizzeria. With the artful techniques and passions of Italy blended with the flavors and characteristics of a classic New York slice. We work daily to bridge the gap between these worlds, while putting quality and passion above all."

They serve classic NY slices, but, more upscale versions of them.  The menu has 12 different curated pies on it.  No gluten-free options.  They also have a daily sandwich, soft serve gelato, and some Italian desserts (tiramisu, pistachio tres leches, cookies, olive oil cake, bombolone, etc).  No salads, no appetizers.  Just pizza and great desserts.  I like their style.

OMG, pizza.

I was thrilled, overjoyed really, when I arrived at an event to see the L'industrie boxes.  OMG.  Our hosts really brought it, with plenty to go around, a lineup of 6 different varieties (so half the menu), all of which they had to go fetch and transport to the venue, as they do not do delivery.  Dedication to serving us the some of the best pies in NY!  I was a bit sad they didn't get the fig jam and bacon one, but otherwise, happy to see the host's selections.

I tried to have restraint, and tried only 3 of the 6 kinds we had.  I'm glad I got to try 3, but my experience of each slice was fairly different.  One was ... exceptional, life-changing nearly, the others, forgettable.  That said, the great one was so great, I'll go back in a heartbeat.

L'Industrie Pie. $47.

"Prosciutto di parma and burrata."

I nearly started with their namesake pie, topped with burrata and prosciutto because, well, you kinda have to right?  And clearly many other people were going for it as their first slice.  But the prosciutto just wasn't calling out to me.  

Note that this pizza, when you get it fresh, it topped with the burrata and prosciutto after it is cooked, so those are cold toppings on the pizza.  You can see the burrata had partially melted here from being boxed up with the hot pizza, when first served, they are fresh gooey gobs.

Spicy Salami Pie. $37.

"Spicy Italian Sopressata."

I briefly considered the spicy salami too, but quickly moved on, as there were other meat toppings I was more drawn to.

Margherita Pie. $31.

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano, basil."

The basic margherita was easy for me to look past, although I did hesitate for just a second thinking it might be good to try just a simple classic one as a good base point.

Burrata Pie. $37.
(Signature).

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, burrata."

I moved on because I saw the burrata pie, and that was clearly the answer for me, for my first slice.  A notch above the margherita, and in the direction of their namesake pie, just, sans the pork product.  And *this* is the one that turns out to be their signature pie.  I immediately understood why.  My goodness, this was an exceptional pizza.

It came with the expected big gobs of burrata well distributed on top, along with some less well distributed basil.  Again, when you get it in person, the burrata is applied after cooking, so not as melted in as it was here, the heat from the pizza had melted it a bit (which was fine with me!).

Burrata Pie (slice).

I selected a slice, and dug in.

My goodness.  I was blown away on all levels, even with extremely high expectations.  It lived up, surpassed even.

The crust was perfectly crisped, dusted with a tiny bit of flour, lightly chewy.  It was the right thickness to hold its shape well but not overwhelm, the back crust was puffy and had a slight char. Very good crust.  I'm not a crust person usually, but I wanted this crust.

The sauce is what blew me away, just the right level of tang and sweetness, and applied in the proper amount so that I tasted it in every bite, but it too did not overwhelm. And then of course the cheese and burrata on top, perfectly melted, and just dreamy.  The ratios here were right too.

Every element about this was done well, just really exceptional all together. I don't think I've had a better pizza of this style before.  5/5.  Nothing I'd change.

Pesto Hello Pie. $38.

"Crumbled Spicy Pork Sausage, Nut Free Pesto."

Next, I went for the Pesto Hello, an odd choice for me as I'm not a huge fan of pesto, but the spicy crumbled pork sausage really did call out to me.  It also had (not on the menu description) gobs of ricotta dotted on top.  This one was ... fine.

It actually had no sauce (I was expecting pesto spread under the cheese), but instead was a white pie with the pesto zig-zagged on top only.  The pesto was fairly standard, classic pesto taste, but there wasn't a lot of it.  

The sausage was as excellent as I hoped it would be, super flavorful.  I wanted even more hunks of it, or bigger hunks, as I loved it so much, and it was fairly minimal.  4/5 sausage though.

The ricotta was standard, slightly herby.  Same great crust.  But I found the slice a bit boring, besides the sausage.  Kinda dry.  It was excellent sausage but the rest of the slice wasn't compelling enough for me. 3.5/5 overall, although the sausage really was a 4/5 itself.  I wouldn't get this again, but I could imagine getting the sausage on another pie (they do allow customizations).

Tartufo Pie. $37.

"Mozzarella, braised cremini mushrooms, ricotta and truffle oil."

And for my final slice, I went for the tartufo, sorta because I had been really loving mushrooms on that trip. It too was one of their white pies, no red sauce, and it came with the same dots of ricotta on top.  The truffle (oil) aroma was strong as I picked it up.

It let me down.  The truffle oil is definitely the first thing I tasted with this one.  It was fine, but definitely dominant, so, be prepared for that.  But that is really all I tasted, no other flavors really came through.  It was fairly oily from both the truffle oil and the cheese.  It did have a good distribution of mushrooms on top as well, but I found myself really wishing it had some kind of sauce, and that the truffle oil was tamped down.  It did still have their great crust though.  The ricotta again made it eat a bit dry (besides all the oil).

But really all I tasted was truffle oil. 3/5, my least favorite.  I wouldn't get this one again.

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Don Ceviche

Don Ceviche is a Peruvian restaurant with locations in the East Village and Essex Market.  They do, of course, serve ceviche, and are known for their rotisserie chicken. 

I didn't visit either location however, as they came to do a popup catering event at my office, with a limited menu of 3 main dishes, including the signature chicken (with rice & beans).  They also had beef stew and a veggie option, both of which were served with rice, and an additional side dish of yuca.  As I don't like chicken, rice, or beans, and wasn't really into beef stew, I went vegetarian and only got the one side dish.  The staff were very confused that I didn't at least want the rice and beans!

Saltado De Champiñones / Yuca.

Saltado De Champiñones:

"A savory vegetarian delight featuring a stir-fry of assorted mushrooms, crisp vegetables and Peruvian spices."

The vegetarian offering, particularly without rice, was more of a side dish really.  It was definitely a bit boring, just mushrooms and TONS of onions and a few tomatoes, but the sauce was flavorful.  The ratios seemed all out of whack though, as in my portion I had 1-2 tomatoes, 5-6 mushrooms, and the rest was just onions.  I liked the onions, they were quite flavorful and soaked up so much of the sauce, but, definitely felt a bit off.  3/5.

Yuca

The menu said yuca frita, but this really did just seem steamed.  I liked it though, not too soft, not too hard, nice starchy flavor.  3.5/5.

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Chip City, NYC

Update Review, October 2026

Well, Chip City is no more, but since I had already written this up from cookies consumed this summer, I wanted to post in Chip City's honor one last time.

Catering 25 Classic Variety Bundle x2.
$124.75 x2.

"Includes 5 chocolate chip cookies, 5 triple chocolate cookies, 5 oatmeal apple pie cookies, 5 cookies 'n cream, and 5 confetti cookies."

This is the basic catering lineup from Chip City.  5 flavors, 5 each for 25 cookies, or, as we had, 10 each for 50 total.  The classic variety bundle is only kinda boring, basic flavors, not the ones I head to Chip City for, but I was still eager to have them all (ok, ok, I had some restraint, I only had 3 of the 5!).

Oatmeal Apple Pie.

"Honey oatmeal cookies stuffed with apple pie filling."

"Spiced honey oatmeal cookie filled with cooked apples."

I started with the one that didn't look like basics I'd had before, e.g. not the chocolate chip nor triple chocolate chip, not the confetti or cookies & cream.  I grabbed it thinking it was a peanut butter cookie, given the textured bits on top, as I didn't know the actual flavors in our box.

Consider my surprise when I broke off a piece and popped it in my mouth, and didn't taste peanut butter at all (which, makes more sense, including a peanut option in a default catering lineup probably isn't a great move with allergies, and also, they don't make a regular peanut one, only a vegan peanut one, and it also wouldn't make sense to have vegan ones mixed in ....).

The bits that I thought were peanut turned out to be ... oats!  It was a very hearty cookie, loaded with oats, in a way that tasted almost health-adjacent, although it was clearly a sweet cookie, and clearly a high butter content cookie, so I couldn't quite talk myself into thinking "oh, this is a cookie I could totally have for breakfast!"

It was a very pleasant oatmeal cookie base though, not cloying sweet but sweet, a touch of honey for sophisticated sweetness, and lovely warm spices like cinnamon (but no nutmeg or cloves, phew!).  I genuinely enjoyed it, it reminded me a lot of fruit crisp or crumble topping, just in cookie form.  4/5 base cookie.

Oatmeal Apple Pie: Inside.

But this wasn't just a pleasant oatmeal cookie.  It was actually an apple pie inspired cookie, with an apple filling!  

The filling was small bits of apple, minimal goo, and again, just simple pleasant spicing, cinnamon and sugar, not much else.  It went very well with the base cookie, given my description of it being like a fruit crisp or crumble topping, this really completed the deal.

This was a cookie that was nearly healthy tasty and fine at room temp, but turned into a wonderful dessert when warmed up and topped with ice cream.  Apple crisp/crumble, in cookie form.  I'm here for it.  And I thank them for not using aggressive spices.  I'd get this again, if in the mood for a winter-adjacent cookie.  4/5.

Confetti.

"Vanilla Sugar cookie mixed with rainbow sprinkles."

I've had the confetti cookie before, but I know I like it, so I grabbed one when there were still plenty of cookies left over.

 [ No Photo ]

Milk Chocolate Chip.

"Brown sugar cookie mixed with milk chocolate chips."

Well, huh.  I never had this before because chocolate chip seems so basic and boring compared to other Chip City options, but there were a bunch of pieces of these left after an event once, so I tried one finally.

And ... this is a very good chocolate chip cookie!  Loaded with creamy milk chocolate chips, rich and sweet brown sugar cookie base, perfectly soft.  It isn't particularly innovative, but, a good cookie nonetheless.  Low 4/5.

Update Review, October 2025

After discovering Chip City last summer when staying in NY for a month, I was eager to return this year.  I was not let down.

Display.

I always like the cookie display at Chip City, as the cookies are shown cooling on their baking trays, with spatulas to serve (although they usually pluck you a hot fresh one / top your cold one to order anyway).  Somehow this feels very fresh and homemade, compared to say Crumbl where they have a single premade cookie of each kind in a display case.

On this visit, I had done my research and knew what the weekly flavors were, but I was thrown for a loop when this location was also featuring one from two weeks ago (weekend special that I had missed out on), the raspberry cheesecake.  I know many people who say the blueberry cheesecake is hands down the best at Chip City, and I was super curious if the raspberry cheesecake would be equally awesome (but, it had only been on the menu that once, weekend only, so reviews are sparse).  I momentarily hesitated, almost deviating from my plan to get the current weekend special, but stayed the course.

Mixed Berry Tart. $7.
(Weekend Special).

"Sugar cookie topped with bavarian creme, blackberries, raspberries, and blueberries, and dusted with powdered sugar."

I instead went for the weekend special, a brand new one to the menu, dubbed the Mixed Berry Tart.  Mine was created to order, with the bavarian cream topping, fresh berries, and sprinkle of powdered sugar added after I ordered.  It looked as pretty as their stock photos, with the berries deliberately placed in an attractive pattern.

I tried the bavarian cream first.  It was fairly average, smooth, creamy, but not particularly flavorful.  I would have loved for a stronger vanilla or something flavor.  Basically reminded me of donut shop bavarian cream filling, which is fine, but particularly when it's the topping and so dominant, I wanted more from it (I also realized that I really associate bavarian cream with chocolate, and missed that here).  The berries were fresh, ripe, good enough.  So, fine topping, but not particularly special. 3/5. 

The cookie though is where this redeemed itself.  Basically just a thick, soft, fairly perfect sugar cookie.  High sweetness level, but a good sweet, pure sugar sweet, with lots of buttery notes.  It was as good as a sugar cookie really can get.  I loved how soft and nearly underbaked it was in the center. 4.5/5 cookie.

So as a composed creation, I wasn't really bought into the sugar cookie + cream and minimal fruit concept.  It was sorta like a mixed berry tart, the namesake inspiration, but not really.  But I loved that sugar cookie base.  3.5/5 overall, but that cookie, swoon.

This is actually a premium cookie, $7 like the crookies, instead of the regular $5.50.

Cookie Carnage!

I stumbled upon this box in my office micro kitchen one afternoon.  I got to try the remnants of 3 cookies: 2 classic, 1 seasonal.

Cookies & Cream

"Sugar cookie mixed with chocolate sandwich cookies and white chocolate chips."

Cookies & cream is never my flavor of choice, as I dislike Oreos, but there was a small hunk left, and of course I wanted to try it.  

It was good - the base cookie was very sweet, very sugary, very buttery, very rich, and super thick like all their cookies.  I loved the white chocolate, even though that made it even sweeter.  The chocolate sandwich cookie bits were fine, I didn't actually get as much cookies & cream from this as I did just pleasant sugar cookie with cream / white chocolate, but perhaps that was just my small hunk.  If you are curious, they go with Hydrox.

I wouldn't get this flavor again as there are too many others I like more, but I did enjoyed it.  Low 4/5.

Confetti

"Vanilla Sugar cookie mixed with rainbow sprinkles."

Pretty classic.  Soft cookie, sweet and buttery.  Exactly what you'd expect from a good, large size, thick, soft, confetti cookie.  Nothing I'd change about it, but not really the most exciting flavor.  I wonder if they ever do a version with buttercream filling or topping?  Now THAT would be exciting ... Another low 4/5.

Lemon Berry

"Lemon shortbread cookie filled with red berry jam and topped with powdered sugar."

Last up, lemon berry, a seasonal special.  Again not one I'd necessarily choose, as I tend to not be as into lemon desserts, but hey, I'm always happy to try things, particularly when they are conveniently already broken into hunks!  The base cookie was definitely lemon flavored, and indeed, more of a shortbread than any of the other cookies I've had from Chip City, as those have all been sugar cookie bases.  But not a traditional shortbread, or at least, not what I think of, as it was still soft and thick.  I actually did like it, and the lemon notes just accented the flavor in a nice way.  (Are lemon desserts growing on me?!).

The red berry jam, the best I can tell, is raspberry and strawberry.  It was sweet and fruity, and there was plenty of it.  It oozed everywhere.  Fairly standard jam but it went nicely with the base cookie.  I think of this sorta like an elevated thumbprint cookie, just with the jam as filling.

Another 4/5 despite me not caring for this type of item in general, because it really was still quite good.  My favorite of the ones I tried.

Original Review, October 2024

Cookies.  Not an item I ever really seek out.  I'm a dessert girl to the core, but to me, cookies aren't what I consider a "real" dessert.  Sometimes I'll enjoy a warm gooey cookie a la mode with a drizzle of a syrup and fresh fruit perhaps, but just a cookie?  Meh.  Not a real dessert (there are of course exceptions, like the Salted Caramel Manifesto cookie from Sweet Street, that is basically my favorite cookie on the planet, but even that I like to at least dip in whipped cream).  But cookies are definitely having their trendy spotlight (I'm looking at you Crumbl, which certainly takes the definition of "cookie" a bit liberally).  

Which brings me to Chip City, a New York City based franchise akin to Crumbl (they have expanded to a few other cities in other states as well now).  Cookies are the focus.  

The flavors change weekly, on Fridays.  The lineup always includes 5 from their classic cookie lineup, plus two more from the seasonals, along with one vegan offering, with special holiday ones making an appearance from time to time.  On top of that, sometimes one that is offered for just one day, replacing one of the classics.  You can always find the week's choices on their Instagram page.

The classics include your basic expected flavors, but also tempting options like cookie butter with Biscoff, Nutella sea salt, Peanut Butter & Jelly, Rev Velvet Cookies N' Cream, Blueberry Cheesecake, and more.  Seasonally, you get caramel corn, caramel apple cider doughnut, pecan pie, sweet potato s'mores, red velvet hot chocolate, peppermint crinkle, white chocolate gingerbread, and of course pumpkin spice latte (along with others) in the fall and winter.  Spring and summer bring banana nut oat, cannoli (what's spring/summer about that?), lemon berry, key lime pie, hot honey cornbread, peach cobbler, and more.  Oooh, and fluffernutter hits in the winter too.  Many are stuffed/filled, and some are topped, the fluffernutter for example has marshmallow filling, the cannoli has cannoli cream and mini chips on top.  Then there are the "Chip City Holiday" cookies, ones that come out for very exclusive appearnances.  Here you'll find crazy things like a baklava cookie (filled with spiced honey walnuts and wrapped in crispy phyllo dough!) and a blueberry Eggo waffle cookie (topped with a maple icing and Eggo® Graham Crackers).  These are all big, thick, gooey cookies.  Considered 4 servings each.  

In addition to the standard large cookies, they also offer thins (much crispier, single serving size), and, at some locations, the ever trendy crookies and, again, some locations only, ice cream.

The week I visited (in August), the lineup was:

• Chocolate Chip
• S’mores
• Confetti
• Cookies N Cream
• Triple Chocolate
• Banana Cream Pie
• Lemon Berry
• Dairy-Free Cookie Butter
• One day only: Choco Coco Caramel - 8/30 (replaces Confetti) and Peach Cobbler - 8/31 (replaces Confetti)

The first 5 are the classics, the next two were the summer seasonal picks of the week.  I recommend signing up for their rewards program, as you get a free one on your birthday, among other rewards.

Storefront.

The stores are mostly just cookie counters, with no / minimal seating.  They are no frills, except for the aroma of freshly baked cookies.  The aroma pouring out the door is a bit irresistible, even for someone who isn't as in to cookies normally.  

Fresh Baked.

The smell comes of course from the fresh baked cookies.  Cookies are baked in small batches at a time at each shop (literally just a tray of 6), so they are fresh as can be.

Enticing Cookies.

Chip City highlights the fresh baked nature by not even putting them into display cases, but rather, just displaying the cookie trays.

More Cookies.

 They are served using standard cookie spatula.  They look they just came out of the oven, because, well, they did.

Branded Box.

Once you order, cookies are not handed over in a generic cookie/pastry sleeve.  They always come in branded boxes.  This one was for a half dozen, but even a single cookie comes in a mini cookie box.

Cookie Carnage.

My first encounter with Chip City is when I stumbled upon this box of carnage in the office.  I tried a few nibbles, and quickly went back for more.

Chocolate Chip (Classic)

"Brown sugar cookie mixed with dark chocolate chips."

I started with the most basic.  Chocolate chip. This was very good.  The brown sugar made for more complex base than a standard chocolate chip cookie.   Plenty of high quality dark chocolate throughout.  Buttery, decadent, and sweet.  One of the better choc chip cookies I've ever had.  ****.

Orange N' Cream Cookie (Weekly Special).

"Orange cream sugar cookie stuffed with an orange cream cheese filling and drizzled with an orange cream flavored glaze."

Not a cookie I would have ever ordered given my dislike of citrus desserts, but, this turned out to be very good.  A thick sugar cookie base, which was kinda a first for me - I'm used to sugar cookies being thinner.  This was the form of thick, rich, gooey cookie, but, all the flavor of a sugar cookie.  So buttery and sweet and decadent.  And then, the hints of citrus and cream.  I'm glad I got to try this (and actually had taken a hunk not pictured here to start before I knew what it was, so I had a bigger hunk that it appears).  ****.

Dairy-Free Trail Mix (Discontinued).

"Oatmeal cookie made with roasted peanuts, raisins, and mini chocolate chips."

I lost my notes on this one, but I remember loving all the textures and components, particularly the peanuts.

Banana Cream Pie (Summer Special).

"Banana Cream Pie Cookie Sugar cookie with fresh banana and vanilla wafers, filled with banana pudding."

My next encounter was when I visited for my birthday in August.

I almost made the trip just for the one day only peach cobbler special, but decided that the banana cream pie was really calling my name.  I had been craving more banana cream pudding since having it at Magnolia the week before (everything else, cupcakes included, is not worth the hype at Magnolia, but that banana pudding ... swoon!).  The cookie was topped with a spray of whipped cream to order.

The cookie base was good - a very sweet cookie, lofty, quite soft, almost cake-like.  It had some complexity to it, which I guess was the vanilla wafer and banana bits, although I didn't really distinctly taste either.  But sweet and soft, and decent enough, it was.  ***+ base.

The whipped cream on top was interesting - it tasted far more like frosting/icing than whipped cream.  Definitely very sweetened.  Good, but it made me think of a cupcake more than a banana cream pie.  ***+.

Banana Cream Pie: Inside.

And then of course, perhaps the part I was most intrigued by, the banana pudding filling.  Given that the cookie was fresh and warm, and I think of banana pudding as a chilled item, I wasn't sure how this would work.  

The amount of filling was reasonable as it was a cookie after all, but there really wasn't that much.  I don't really think a pudding stuffed cookie makes all that much sense.  At least for me, I want more quantity when I have pudding, so stuffing donuts, croissants, bigger items works much better.  Cookie butter, chocolate, icing, etc stuffings work well in cookie, but pudding?  It was too easily lost.  It was fine, kinda basic banana pudding, but, really hard to really taste.  ***.

I did enjoy this cookie.  It was well baked, and flavorful, it just didn't really remind me of banana cream pie.  ***+.

One of their lightest offerings, 150 calories per serving, which of course is an amusing 1/4 of the cookie.

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SMASHED NYC

Smash burgers aren't exactly a new thing, but I didn't encounter many prior to this summer when I moved to New York (granted, I hadn't really sought out any kind of burgers in many years, not singling out smash burgers).  Somehow though, along with pizza and bagels, I found myself consuming far more burgers since I moved, and smash burgers in particular.  I blame 7th Street Burger for giving out so many free burgers during the playoffs, and I got in on that freebie action.  After that crazy few weeks, I found myself actually craving burgers for the first time in decades (yes, my blog has a label just for burgers, because many, many years ago, as in, 20 years ago, I regularly lead a group of friends to get burgers every Tuesday night, and when I started blogging I still had some residual burgers adventures).

My burger quest lead me to SMASHED NYC, a small (4 restaurant) chain of fast casual burger restaurants in NY.  As you can guess, their main attraction is the smash burgers.  It was started during the pandemic, after the chef-owner closed his fine dining bistro.

Sides

SMASHED NYC has a decent number of sides, including of course the mandatory burger place staple of fries (to which you can add several seasonings, or get as chili cheese fries), smashed potatoes (sorta a signature thing, these also can turn into chili cheese smashed potatoes), sweet potato fries, onion rings, and mac and cheese.  I tried the smashed potatoes because I wanted to try their unique thing, and onion rings, as I adore those.

Smashed Potatoes. $9.

To go with your smashburger, of course you want your potatoes smashed too right?  I'll admit I was expecting something a bit more interesting, as these were just whole skin on fingerlings, cooked in some unclear way, and then lightly smashed and seasoned.  I'm not really one for potatoes like this (or baked potatoes, or roast potatoes), and I don't really like fingerlings, so ... these weren't ever going to be something I loved.

That said, they were very well seasoned, herbs and spice too, and they were smashed and had assorted textures and crispy bits.  So, fine if you want potatoes ... which I didn't.  2/5 for me but I suspect would be 3 or higher for people who like these sorts of things.

Not pictured is the garlic aioli I had to dunk them in, and that was crazy good.  So much garlic.  4.5/5.

Onion Rings. $5.

The onion rings were very standard, but good.  Assorted thick sizes, well battered, the batter didn't fall off too easily.  Not particularly interesting batter, but fine.  For $5 this felt like a very reasonable portion.

I doubt they make these in-house, likely just a Sysco or whatever product, but they were good.  High 3.5/5.

Burgers / Sandwiches

Smashburgers are definitely their main thing, but they do also have a few options for fried chicken sandwiches and hot dogs.  Vegans are in luck too, as they have Impossible Burger option.  Those who don't want the regular potato bun can opt for a lettuce wrap or gluten-free bun.

For regular burgers, there are 10 different curated burgers to choose from, most of which can be a single, double (+$3), or triple (+$6).  These all have different cheeses/aiolis/toppings.  Interestingly, none of there are a basic cheeseless burger, the "classic smashed" still has cheese (American, along with both griddled and raw onions, pickles, and their house sauce), but they do allow modifications. The most decadent is the truffle burger, with truffle cheese, truffle butter, onion jam, black truffle sauce, and comes on a brioche bun, for a whopping $28 (which is a normal price for a restaurant burger, but not a fast casual smashburger).

Classic Smashed (Double). $12.

"Beef Patty, American Cheese, Griddled Onions, Raw Onions, Pickles, SMASHED Sauce on a Martin's Roll."

I went for the classic, to really evaluate the burger in its purest form, not totally loaded down with toppings and fancier sauces.  I opted for a double since I knew the patties would be thin.

There were some things I loved about this burger.  I loved that they used both onions griddled with the patty and raw onions, and they were generous with it.  They were generous with the pickles too.  Their SMASHED sauce was good, the cheese was well melted, Martin's roll was as expected, soft, slightly sweet, great match for the burger.  The patties themselves were good, nicely griddled and crispy edges, but the beef didn't have that much flavor to it.  Overall, I think a low 4/5 maybe 3.5/5 as I really did wish the beef was more flavorful.

I feel I must compare this to 7th Street Burger, the other NYC smashburgers I've had a lot recently.  Flavor of the beef-wise, 7th Street definitely wins.  They are equals on cheese and bun.  Smashed though definitely wins on the other toppings, and they contribute so much flavor to the overall eating experience, I think it gets a slight leg up, although it is also pricier, so that could give another point towards 7th Street, making it a draw.  

The $9 price (for a single, this was double, so $12) was reasonable compared to fast food chains, but still a lot more than 7th Street Burger, which I enjoyed even more.

Vegan Classic Smashed (Double). $13.

"Impossible Patty, Vegan Cheese, Griddled Onions, Raw Onions, Pickles, SMASHED Sauce on an Arnold's Potato Roll."

I also got a vegan burger to take home for later, as I was really strangely craving one, after having a really great vegetarian burger at PLNT a few weeks ago.  I've been craving one every since.  I again just got the classic, double.

It was basically exactly the same, but with Impossible meat, which clearly doesn't smash in quite the same way.  The texture inside was pretty mushy, even though it looked seriously identical on the outside.  I grew sick of the taste of the Impossible meat pretty quickly, and the mushy quality was off putting.  PLNT wins by a landslide on the vegan burger contest.  Oh, this also had vegan cheese, which was fine, it melted nicely and didn't have too much funk to it.

The vegan burgers cost $1 more than their regular counterparts.

The toppings and bun were solid 3.5/5 but the patties ... eh.  This falls to a 2.5/5 overall and is definitely not something I'd get again.

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Wafels & Dinges

I was this many years old when I learned what dinges were, when researching a small chain of waffle shops in New York, Wafles & Dinges. If you, like me, did not know the Belgian word, it simply means ... thingamajig.  You know, a whatchamacallit. A word for generic stuff. In this case, they use it to refer to assorted toppings you can put on waffles.

"You can feel sweet buttery goodness radiating from the Wafles & Dinges truck when it pulls up to the curb. Over ten years ago, Belgian-born Thomas DeGeest set out to bring authentic Belgian waffles to the US, creating Wafels & Dinges. Spelled the Flemish way, Wafel & Dinges (pronounced ding-us, and slang for “stuff”) has taken the New York street food scene by storm. From their Liège Wafels in Chocolate Fudge or Spekuloos to the Throwdown Wafel (named after the time DeGeest beat Bobby Flay on season seven of Throwdown), these waffels do not disappoint."

Wafles & Dinges has actually been around in New York since 2008, first started as a food truck,got more famous after beating Bobby Flay in 2010, expanded to a kiosk in 2013, now with several brick and mortar locations.  They also ship nationwide via Gold Belly.

The main attraction is the liège waffles.  They do not offer American style waffles, nor the other kind of Belgian waffles.  Just liège.  The menu has some curated waffles with toppings, but you can also build your own with a selection of toppings including sauces, fresh fruit, uh, candied bacon, and whipped cream or ice cream.  I found it interesting that chocolate chips or anything like it were not an option, yet mini marshmallows were?  During the fall, they also offer a pumpkin spice base waffle.

Besides the waffles, they have ice cream, croissants, crofels (croissants, waffled), and drinks.

Extravaganza Box. $90.

"Comes with: 8 Liège wafels (large), 8 Wafelinis and 3 topping jars (spekuloos cookie spread, dulce de leche & real Belgian chocolate fudge)."

We ordered for a group, so the "Extravaganza" box seemed appropriate.  It came with the regular size waffles (on the right) plus the smaller ones dubbed "Wafelinis" for those who wanted a smaller snack. We also got the included 3 spreads, one other kind of chocolate sauce, and whipped cream.

Additional jars of spreads are $8.95, and cans of whipped cream are $12.

Wafelini w/ 4 dinges.

I started with a wafelini, and a tasting of all 4 spreads.

The spreads were fairly standard, not very memorable.  The Spekuloos was my favorite, but not on the waffle as it is pretty thick and rich, but I really enjoyed the leftovers later (on bananas, on plantain chips, on baby carrots, by the spoonful ...).  With the waffle, I probably liked the dulce de leche the most, or really, just the whipped cream (which was a large foodservice generic can, not a store brand, nor their own thing).  

The wafelini was fine. Slightly crispy and caramelized on the outside as it should be, pretty standard liège style, soft and fluffy inside.  I also had the full size wafel, and I found that preferred the smaller ones as they seemed a bit doughier and the pockets a bit more caramelized.

Overall this was all fine.  No complaints.  But not very memorable nor unique, assuming you've had liège waffles before.  I think I was spoiled by b. Street Waffles as a regular part of my life in San Francisco for years, and they just do not compare.

3.5/5, maybe, generously, as again, they were fine, but, I see no reason to seek them out again.

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Power Crunch

Power Crunch is a brand that primarily makes protein wafer bars, but they experimented with a protein chip product line too.  As an avid snacker, but also someone who is conscious of protein intake, of course I wanted to try these out.

Protein CRISPS

"PERFECT POTATO CHIP ALTERNATIVE: The Power Crunch Protein Crisps provide all the crunch and satisfying taste of a regular chip but packed with protein. With 12 grams of protein per serving (2 servings per can), you can feel good about eating Power Crunch CRISPs."

While they primarily have pea protein (yay!) I later realized they have whey protein isolate, which my body really, really does not like.  If you can tolerate these things though, 12 grams of protein seems great.  They come in small cans a la Pringles. The shape of the chips is exactly like Pringles too, saddle shaped.  Each small can is listed as 2 servings, which ... is ambitious.  I think most people would finish one.

"The Power Crunch high Protein CRISPS are seasoned to perfection while also providing a light, airy chip-like crunch that’s impossible to resist."

I found it interesting that they call the chips "light" and "airy" as they were thicker and heartier than most chips.  They also broke ridiculously easy, despite being thicker, as they were just really quite brittle.  I tried 3 flavors of these (all but their 4th flavor, salt & vinegar), and found myself wanting to like them more than I ever did.  I wouldn't get again.

Barbecue.

I'm a barbecue chip girl to the core, always what I'll pick in a standard American chip flavors lineup, so of course I started with those.  

The chips were considerably more orange than I was expecting, making my brain think they were sweet potato chips, but of course they were not. They were crispy, and broke easily (hence the need for the can I guess?).  They certainly didn't taste like any normal chips, nor much like potato at all.  They didn't taste bad, just, different, and not familiar really.  Sorta healthy.

They were well seasoned with assorted savory spices, and did taste fairly barbecue.  They did have MSG if this matters to you.  I liked the seasoning. 

It took me a long time to figure out how I felt about these.  Well seasoned, good form factor, and great to get so much protein in a snack, but they weren't actually that tasty.  Inoffensive, and again, good for protein, but they won't replace the desire for a yummy snack. 3/5.

Cheddar.

I was going through a particularly cheesy phase of life, and the cheese flavor called out next to me.

They were much the same as the bbq: they broke easily, they tasted a bit odd and healthy, and they did have a reasonable cheesy flavor.  They were almost good, but the aftertaste and overall oddness just never made me really crave more.  Low 3/5.

Hot & Spicy.

The hot & spicy had some promise, but they looked the least visually appealing.  Again same overly breakable form factor, that was almost ok, same base flavor that was kinda off but almost ok, and another MSG laden seasoning mix that was almost compelling ... but under it all was just a taste I didn't care for.  Another very low 3/5.

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Bluestreet Dessert Cafe

Dessert.  If you read my blog, you know I'm a dessert girl through and through (I eat dessert after every lunch and dinner, without fail, my blog has a label just for desserts and I review exclusively bakeries and ice cream shops on Thursday, etc).  So of course when a new dessert cafe opened in New York this May, I was going to pay attention.

"Coffee • Crepes • Waffles • Desserts. Your day-to-midnight cafe in NYC."

Note though that Bluestreet is a dessert cafe, not a bakery, a point I didn't quite realize until I visited.  The main attraction is their crepes, which they do make there and smother in Instagram worthy sauces, but most of the other desserts from the extensive lineup seem purchased from elsewhere.  Still a cute place, but not where to go if you want homemade desserts (other than the crepes and waffles).

Exterior.

The exterior was quite eye catching, with bright blue color (for "Bluestreet"?) and clear "COFFEE" and "DESSERT" signs.  In the summer, the whole front opens up, making it really quite inviting.

Inside.

Inside has table and long display cases, and an open prep area where you could watch them assemble items like crepes.

Nice Decor.

The place is really pleasantly decorated, is well kept, and clean.  I used the bathroom when I was there, and it too was aesthetically pleasing and clean.

Baked Goods / Chocolate.

The pastries looked decent, relatively glossy and flaky looking croissants, muffins with a homemade look, soft looking cookies.

They also sell several styles of $$ Dubai chocolate bars.

Cakes / Cookies.

On the bottom two rows of this case were cakes that didn't really look housemade.  I can't imagine a bakery making them in house putting in the little paper separators like that.  I suspect these are frozen and thawed, from a wholesale distributor. It was also notable that only one item in this entire case, on the middle row, said homemade (the carrot cake). The top layers were cookies and more cakes.

Mousses / Baklava. 

The most attractive looking items were here, as they carry a bunch of those fruit mousses that are shaped and colored to look like real fruits, and come wiht names like "Strawberry Bliss" (for the strawberry shaped one), "Blueberry Dream" (for the blueberry), etc.  This section also had tons of styles of baklava, and some other cookies and bars.

Dubai Chocolate Cake. $8.90.

"Rich chocolate cake layered with pistachio cream and crispy kadayif, finished with a glossy chocolate coating."

I ordered online in advance, so I didn't realize that the time I was picking something that didn't look homemade.  Yep, I went for the Dubai chocolate trendy cake.  I know, I know, but I really like crispy kadayif, and was in the mood for chocolate, so this sounded promising.

The cake was ok, but not really anything special. The chocolate cake bottom layer was a bit dry, not necessarily the freshest.  But the pistachio cream was sweet and creamy, I loved the texture from the crispy kadaif, and the fudge was fine.  This cake was definitely carried by the toppings, not the cake itself.

I did finish this (part I had with ice cream to balance the rich fudge) and liked it well enough, but I wouldn't get it again, and I doubt they make it in-house.  3/5, higher end.

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