Artichoke (Manhattan)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive:  Artichoke slices are great as are the Margarita slices.  The Sicilian pizza is the best!

Negative:  Make sure to tell the waiter to have your pizza cut with a clean cutter and don’t cross contaminate with their pork meatball sauce.

Overall: One of the best pizza I have ever eaten.

Revisit:  OF COURSE!

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want to try delicious pizza and don’t want to wait long?

I was in the mood for Difara’s Pizza but it was closed. That is a rare occurrence but the main problem of Difara’s is the amount of time you have to wait. I agree that his slice topped with fresh mozzarella and basil is the best I have eaten, but sometimes you just dont have the time to wait. I looked up a few review websites and lists online, and decided to try out Artichoke Basille’s Pizza. I saw that they were known for their Artichoke slices but I didn’t think I would like them given that I usually like simple toppings or plain slices. Nonetheless, because of the raving reviews on sites and the customers I met at the location, I decided to take the plunge.

I would definitely say that if I liked toppings or was in the mood for something unique I would love the large, artichoke slice. It reminded me of spinach and artichoke dip on pizza. However, I am a simple person and plain slices just do it better for me. Also, if it had tomato sauce, then I may have liked it better. I did however, really like their margarita slice which closely resembled Difara’s but did not get as far. However, when I tried their Sicilian slice my mouth was doing the tango and I thought it was better than Difara’s by far. They had lightly burnt the bottom, something they were supposed to do, in order to give it a burnt/bbq style taste along with the already delicious sauce, buttery crust, and mozarella cheese. Given the time it took to get the pizza and the taste I experienced I would go to this place over Difara’s any day. However, if Difara’s just sped up the process I would definitely go there for their regular slices.

The sicilian winner in my book, though, is definitely Artichoke. The other great thing is that they have a few pies already out and constantly being made so that you can grab a slice on the go (unlike DiFara’s) and not wait around for pies to be made. They also have three locations in Manhattan (East Village, Chelsea, and Greenwich Village). Overall this is a great restaurant to hit up when in the mood for excellent New York style pizza by the slice or as a pie. I have yet to review other well known establishments but so far this place takes precedence over Difara’s based on taste and the waiting time.

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artichoke’s Website

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The Kati Roll Company (Manhattan)

Rating: 

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price , & Staff

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Positive: Popular Kabab roll place that tries to bring you back to the origins of this dish.

Negative: Overly rated and expensive due to the uniqueness of the rolls they sell.

Overall: Good place to go if you are craving Kabab Rolls.

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Craving Kabab rolls from YOUR MOM’S Home COOKING OR FROM pakistan?

Then go to Kati Roll. These rolls don’t compare to the ones you find back in Pakistan but are a good alternative (if you decide you don’t want to try making them yourself) The paratha that they use seems to be one of the frozen ones you can find at an indian store.  I recommend the paneer roll as it is not too spicy, unless of course you like overly spicy food. The chicken roll is good as well but it has been a hit or miss for me.  You cannot get the workers to modify it in any way and that kinda ruins it for people living in a “you get what you want” atmosphere.

I do think that they are a bit pricey for what they offer because most people need to eat 2 to be full.  Another negative is that the Macdougal Street Location is very small and you usually can’t find a place to sit if you go on a busy night. The midtown location is a bit bigger but not in the best location.  However, if you are craving kabab rolls, then this is the place to go in NYC!

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Kati Roll

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Douglass Pizza & Grill (Central NJ)

Rating:

Quality, Taste, Cleanliness, Environment, Price, & Staff

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Positive: Good quality cheese steaks and fat sandwiches in a great location unbeaten by surrounding “halal” restaurants in downtown New Brunswick and Somerset.

Negative: There is nothing exceptional for which I would drive here over and over again unless if I went to school/work in the area.

Overall: Good quality food that you can’t beat when going to Rutgers University or visiting New Brunswick.

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Update (5/14/2011):  All in all I am disappointed in Douglass Pizzas decrease in food quality and increase in prices.  But, what I can say, their locations are excellent, they still have pretty decent food compared with other similar halal food places, and their menu is pretty expansive.

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Those were the days.  Where art thou?

Wow…I miss the days of going to eat at Douglass Pizza on Commercial Avenue.  Their cheesesteaks were amazing (especially the chicken cheesesteak which I enhaled almost daily after I worked out)!  After they closed down during Rutgers University’s takeover and reopened at two great places in New Brunswick & Somerset they were never the same again.  (By they way, I think that these two places have now split but have similar menus).
Maybe it was because they didnt use the same grills they had or maybe its just because they have hired help that doesn’t put as much passion into food as they did.  Those were definitely the days..but now they are gone and I dont think they will be coming back soon. There is another place called New Brunswick Pizza & Grill (opened by one of the original Douglass workers) in the area which has a similar menu but probably not as good.

Douglass, however, does have alot more additions to their menus and some are actually very good.  Their fat sandwiches (especially the fat zaza if you are into the gyro meat or fat boy if you like cheesesteak) are good and unique to New Brunswick and the Grease Trucks.  The cheesesteaks are not as good as they used to be – however they still are pretty good compared to their other dishes.  Their buffalo wings were never that good and still aren’t.  The meat pizza is decent, but Paulies Pizza (another similar place on Easton Avenue) has better pizza by a long shot.  And their hamburgers are either good or average depending on the day.  I never tried their random sweet dishes at the counter so I dont really know how good they would be.

All in all I am disappointed in Douglass Pizzas decrease in food quality and increase in prices.  But, what can I say, their locations are excellent, they still have pretty decent food compared with other similar halal food places, and their menu is pretty expansive.

I used to go to Douglass Pizza almost every week or two, but now I barely go every few months.  Its good for those that live in the area I guess and pretty unique for those who like fat sandwiches from other states – but I think they really need to increase the quality of their food back to the original.

Also, the difference between the George street, New Brunswick Douglass and Somerset Douglass is the crowd.  In New Brunswick you’ll see mostly students and the location is fairly new looking.  Best place to park is in the deck behind the store.  The Somerset location is next to a Halal Meat store and you mostly see families and people from surrounding areas.

From Sameerseats.com:

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Douglass Pizza (Somerset) Website

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