I don’t eat a lot of pizza, but I crave it often. In New York City, there is a pizza place practically on every block. I’ve been to many of the well known, highly rated pizza joints but have not yet found the one favorite place. There are a few places that I think could be the one, but I feel like I have to check out a few more contenders before I can be sure. It’s so easy to eat pizza here because many places sell them by the slice, but for me, I like to share a big pie and enjoy it with someone else. To me, pizza is a group oriented activity. When I think of sleepovers, study groups, and pool parties, pizza is always there. Maybe that’s why I don’t like getting a slice by myself. It makes me feel a little bit lonely.
A few days ago, a couple of my old friends and I had a mini reunion. Some of them just recently moved to New York and others were visiting. It was a really great opportunity to catch up and a good group to enjoy pizza with. There were hundreds of pizza joints to choose from, but I decided to go with Otto Enoteca Pizzeria in Greenwich Village. I have long been a fan of Mario Batali’s and love his restaurant Lupa. But, I think my expectations were a little too high.
From the beginning, something was a little off. Our waiter was very unfriendly and rather grumpy. I’m usually not one to be really critical of the wait staff because I know, from personal experience, how hard it is to be a server. But that night, everything was very unpleasant. Our waiter was very impatient with us as we ordered. He never checked up on us after our food arrived, even though he walked by our table over a dozen times. Our cups were empty the entire meal and we all felt like he was purposely ignoring us when we tried to call him. Anyhow, it wouldn’t be fair to say that the entire restaurant’s service was horrible, but this guy did not represent very well.
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