Two New York City pizza icons are waging war in the West Village — and its just getting started
Opening a flagship pizzeria directly across the street from your biggest competitor is a pure New York power move.
Two of New York City’s biggest pizza heavyweights opened flagship restaurants directly across the street from each other on Christopher Street in the West Village. Now, L’Industrie and Mama’s Too are locked in a battle for NY pizza supremacy.
And we, the pizza-eating public, get to enjoy the delicious spoils of New York’s latest pizza war.
Mama’s Too owner Frank Tuttolomondo says the location and timing were just a coincidence.
But let’s be honest, the restaurant community in NYC is smaller than you’d think, so it's hard to tell if the new 32-seat, 3,000 square-foot Mama’s Too was a deliberate act of pizza aggression.
The pizzas couldn’t be more different: L'industrie serves classic rounds with blistered edges and a tangy sauce. Mama’s Too serves Sicilian pies with a deep crust, soft chew, and tons of flavor. (Mama’s Too also serves a round pie that Tuttolomondo is quick to compare to L’industrie’s… more on that later.)
Coincidence or not, opening a flagship pizzeria directly across the street from your biggest competitor is a pure New York power move. It’s impossible to rise to the top without going head-to-head with the best. The pizza game in New York City is a full contact sport.
We recently caught up with Tuttolomondo to see how the new restaurant is shaping up, and what it's like going to battle against pizza royalty.
The first time I called you had a 200 pizza order. Is that normal?
Yeah, it's not unusual. Depending on the day. We’re lucky to be in this position. This is a city full of pizza so you can’t take it for granted.
I don't know about luck. Your pizza is amazing. How’s the new restaurant going?
It’s only been a month and a half. So it’s been pretty good so far. It’s a bigger space so we are proud. We have a four-minute ticket time as opposed to a 15-minute ticket time uptown. Its a better experience than our uptown location.
But are people nostalgic for the original?
No, I don’t think so. It’s only been a month and a half. When you go into the new space its just like the old one. Counter is the same, same pizza, same sandwiches. Except for the seating, it feels like you never left the Upper West Side.
Alright, let’s get to it. Did you plan on opening next to L'Industrie? Was that on purpose?
There is a whole story behind that. Long story short, it's a major coincidence. The only reason we found out about it was because Danny (DiGiampietro) from Angelo’s in Philly met up with us to tell us what we thought of the location. We both wanted to open up in the West Village.
What did you say when you found out about L’industrie? That’s a heavyweight pizzeria.
To be honest, it's not really something we talked about even though we are so close. We do different things. We have different clientele. Beyond that, everyone that is going to go try me and try him and vice versa.
What do you think of the pizza at L’Industrie? Do you like it?
Uhh, yeah. I think it’s really similar to what we do as far as the rounds go. But yeah I mean, beyond that no one can really say much about us opening next to each other. It happens at the same time. There’s like ten pizzerias in a nine-block radius from Bleecker St.
How does it feel to see this through? It's a massive restaurant compared to the original on 106th and Broadway.
I’m the type of person that I’m never content or complacent with what I'm doing. It sounds crazy, but it's always about the next year. Every one asks: Frank, what about that crazy line and all the social media hype?
Reality is we opened a massive pizzeria. It's more of a facility than a pizzeria. Time will tell if it’s a success.
But why the West Village?
Making money isn't really the motivation for me coming to the West Village. I could go in any neighborhood and hit a single and make money and so on. However, I went to West Village because it's a whole different market, a whole different captive audience. The access to Mama’s Too extended downtown and it's a lot different now.
For us and me, the motivation to move down there is to have that extra exposure. That’s really it. Time will tell if it’s a success. Time will tell if we are able to get people who said I couldn't do it or didn't understand what I was doing. They don’t matter to me.
The first time we met you told me about your grandma “Nona” and how no pizza you ever made was ever good enough for her. Do you find being that critical as helpful?
That mindset, there's pitfalls to it. Everything can always be better. But you know, that’s part of running a business. Everything can be improved. Sometimes, I catch myself being overly critical of everything that impacts staff, quality of life around me. Even though I recognize that things can be better, there’s pitfalls to always calling them out. There are ways to evaluate a pizza coming out of the oven or operational procedures without being too harsh. Some things are out of your control and there’s no reason to get upset. Dough is a natural living thing you have to adjust to that. It’s important to be critical but you also have to let people around you know they're doing a good job.
So what’s next for Mama’s Too?
I don't know. This is a pivotal second location for us and will dictate how much I really have left in me. Am I thinking about a third? Of course. But you know it all depends on how successful this one is. It's only been 2 months, barely.
The best stuff we ate this week:
The cheeseburger at JG Melon is a classic for a reason. It's unusually simple but satisfying in a way only a classic New York cheeseburger can be.
Dave Portnoy gave Angelo’s Pizzeria one of his highest scores ever. We tried the cheese and pepperoni. Definitely on a list of must try NYC pizzas.
The soup dumplings at The Bao might be the best in the city. The noodles are incredibly thin but its the broth that elevates them to legendary status.
Big thanks to the team behind Smashed Burger Block Party. Five of the top contenders for best Smashed Burger waged a friendly war to see whose burger reigns supreme. Our ranked list:
5th Place: Hamburger America - There just wasn’t much to it. The patty and cheese were okay, the toasted bread was a change of pace. The burger just didn’t feel very special.
4th Place: Virginia’s - I had never had this one before. As a whole, the burger was pretty tasty but no one component stood out from the others. There was a lot of special sauce, too much for me.
3rd Place: Harlem Shake - The double cheeseburger and fries were super tasty. The patty had a nice crust and that stayed crunchy. The hot mess relish with cherry peppers and bacon dominated the burger.
2nd Place: 7th Street Burger. This took me by surprise. Maybe it’s because I caught it super fresh, but this burger was incredible. The onions were cooked directly into the patty and the amount of crust was exceptional. Excellent representation of a classic smashed burger.
1st Place: Nowon -. Last year’s champion did it again. The legendary cheeseburger from Nowon with kimchi sauce and pickle is on a different planet. Sure it’s got a lot going on but because the proportions were correct, it all comes together.
OUR EVENT IS ALL BOOKED UP: The best chicken biscuit in New York City is at Butterfunk Biscuit Company in Harlem.
Thanks to everyone who RSVP’d to come hang with us and Chef Chris Scott at Butterfunk Biscuit Company to learn from the man himself as he teaches us about his incredible biscuit recipe. We’ll be snacking this weekend! If you missed the invite in time, consider upgrading your membership to be notified first about future events.