Joe's Pizza, NYC

Joe's Pizza is a known place in NYC.  If you've spent time there, you've likely walked by one of their locations, and seen a few folks on the sidewalk with relatively attractive looking slices in their hands, devouring on the spot.  The location near Times Square has ridiculous lines, and hoards of people, but the others don't tend to.  My impression is that locals don't hate it, but they don't consider it destination worthy.

Joe's started in Greenwich village in 1975, and now has a handful of locations in Manhattan and surrounding areas, including Boston, but also randomly Miami and Ann Arbor.  It is a very classic NY pizza joint.

Joe's has a no frills, basic menu.  This is not a place to get fancy toppings like burrata, prosciutto, or hot honey on your pizza, not a place to even get pineapple and/or ham if those are your thing.  Nope, this is a place to get the simple toppings: pepperoni, sausage, or meatballs for meat, peppers, onions, olives, mushrooms, spinach, and, perhaps the most wild one, artichokes, for veggies.  And that is it.  Pizzas come with red sauce the majority of the time, although they have a white sauce option.  And that is it, no bbq sauce, no buffalo drizzle, etc.  You can upgrade to fresh mozzarella.  No vegan cheese.  Whole pizzas come in one size, cut into 8 large slices.  Round is the majority of their product, although they do a Sicilian style square as well.  Regular crust only, no gluten-free.

And that is the menu.  There is a house salad with all the pizza veggie toppings, and that is it for appetizers/sides.  Not even garlic knots.  No desserts.  No interesting drinks, just soda or Snapple.  Don't expect anything else.  And really, you don't need anything else.

Joe's Curb Appeal.

At the shop, slices are a main attraction, served on paper plates, eaten on the street out front where there are a few tables. I've still yet to have that experience, but instead had whole pies, delivered.

I was very pleased with my experience, and I understand the staying power.

Pepperoni. $32.

Here you have it.  Iconic NY Slice.  For good reason.  This isn't a fancy slice, but it is a good one for this style.

Right level of char.  Crust is chewy in a good way, holds up well to being held/folded.  Sauce is well distributed, not too thick, not too sweet, not overwhelming in any way.  Generic cheese that is not in excess, but not skimpy.  Each element plays a supporting, but necessary, role.  Generic pepperoni, not cupping style, just basic. Slightly haphazardly applied.

Like any 1-topping pizza, this is priced at $32 ($4 more than plain cheese).

I liked this about the same as my previous favorite basic NY slice, NY Pizza Suprema, 4/5.

Veggie Pie.  $35.

I also got to try the "veggie pie", even though the menu gives no description of what veggies it will be. The answer seems to be mushrooms, onion, peppers, black olive, broccoli.  Basically everything but the spinach and artichoke.  This is one of the three predefined options (along with supreme or meat lovers), no other curated selections are offered.

This pizza reminded me of my childhood.  My family always got green pepper and onion pizza, and if my mom was making it at home, she always put black olives and mushrooms on her side (my dad was strictly peppers and onions).  I used to love black olives.  At Subway, our frequent family dinner out splurge, I'd get extra black olives (and extra pickles!).  I used to be all in on the family favorite green peppers and onions.  And somehow, probably about 20 years ago at this point, I just simply stopped liking black olives and green peppers, in any application.  Not cooked, not raw, not in salads, etc.  I actively avoid bell peppers at this point, and pick around black olives.  And yet ... I was really drawn to this pizza.

And I kinda loved it.  It was part nostalgia for family pizza night, just, with a far superior base product that we ever had, and perhaps just a crazy mood I was in, but, I really enjoyed this slice.  The toppings were even less well distributed than the pepperoni, some bites were all black olive, others were all green pepper.  There were very few mushrooms, and not nearly enough onions.  And again, I still loved it.  I'm not sure about the broccoli on pizza, at least, not with these other basic veggies, but all the toppings were well cooked, and seemed fresh. 

The base product, the crust, the sauce, the cheese, were all the same as the previous, great char, great chew, no dominating elements.  Another 4/5, higher side, and I liked this one even more.