Roberta’s Kicks It Up a Notch in Bushwick
Since Roberta’s opened last month, I have been there three times. Each time, I took various members of my Bushwick crew, several bottles of wine in hand, and ate and drank merrily and loudly for hours. It’s impossible to go before 9 — people here just tend to eat far too early, and the place is too crowded to get a seat. This suits my group of friends fine, most of them being some flavor of Floridian or Latin American or both, and think eating dinner at 7pm is barbaric.
The staff is like nothing I have experienced. Whereas in our other two neighborhood hipster-friendly eating establishments the staff doesn’t know what’s on the menu, has a bad attitude, and forgets your orders too often to justify their prices, the staff at Roberta’s is the polar opposite. Our favorite waitress — Mary — is genuinely friendly, attentive, and knows everything about the product. One time after we had sampled every one of their standard pizzas, we asked if she thought the chef had suggestions. She asked, he did, and we devoured the tuna belly pizza.
The favorite in my group seems to be the guanciale and egg pizza — guanciale, traditionally used in carbonara, is cured pork jowl, and is sliced thinly and scattered atop the pizza. Before going into the oven, an egg is cracked in the center. If done right, the pizza emerges cooked but with the yolk still a little soft.
I personally go for the margherita with double anchovies. They use what seems to be boquerones, which are anchovies marinated in vinegar — a Spanish snack you’ll find at any tapas joint. It’s bright and tangy and tastes extra good between gulps of wine.
Yes, as many have noted in these pages, the prices are a bit high, but the bright side is that this should encourage other entrepreneurs to open restaurants in Bushwick. At least at Roberta’s you get high-quality ingredients. And considering that right now (and I assume for several more months, considering how this city works) it’s BYOB, you can guzzle all the liquor you want for liquor store prices.
It’s cash only, so don’t forget the green. They’re open from noon to midnight on weekdays, and noon to 2am on weekends. If you’re a large party, they might even save you a table.
Roberta’s, 261 Moore Street off Bogart | 718-417-1118
February 7th, 2008 at 1:51 am
I liked the experience when I went, and it made my model Euro date remember Germany…
but I hear the locals are upset the prices are high -
I personally think they should suck it up and consider BYOB into the factor…
I’ll go again.
February 7th, 2008 at 9:25 am
I don’t think it’s that expensive. They even lowered the price of one pizza since the last time I was there right after they opened. I bring beer and it makes it even cheaper.
February 7th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
“guanciale and egg pizza”
You said the magic words. Swoon!
February 7th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Going to check this place out as soon as I can. Looks great.
One question though, doesn’t Bushwick start on the other side of Flushing Avenue?
February 8th, 2008 at 1:05 am
I like it quite a lot as well, the food is great, and the furnishing is outstanding. That said, i think its lame how it has become fashionable to hate on the other places in the neighborhood. Both the wreck room and life are obviously trying to make a change based on this sort of comment. let’s be thankful at least a little bit for that, in addition to loving on the awesome new addition to the neighborhood.
February 8th, 2008 at 1:27 am
It’s fashionable? I have never been to Wreck Room, actually, but Life had been pretty neglectful until Roberta’s opened, and then suddenly they got scared into improving the food, the service, and even the selection. This is a good thing and I’m glad they are getting their act together, considering I eat there probably 3 times more than NEK and Roberta’s combined.
February 8th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Has anyone been to BOTH Gimme Coffee on Union AND gotten a cup of “gimme coffee” at the Archive?
Is the archive lying when they advertise Gimme Coffee or are they just using a teaspoon of coffee to make a pot of it?
February 9th, 2008 at 1:21 pm
I still want to be supportive of Roberta’s, but last night I stopped by an old favorite from my old neighborhood, BOG: Brick Oven Galleria on Havemeyer.
No contest. BOG has the same if not cheaper prices for larger and more generous pies. Rockin’ tasty too. Come on Robertas, I love yah but you can do better!
February 29th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
The pizzas are expert but absolutely tiny! I love fine ingredients as much as the next girl, but I can’t eat fine every night. Nor can i afford to have a drink with dinner every night. The artisanal pie isn’t a rare treat in NY anymore. It used to be Grimaldies and Lombardies and that was it for good pie. Now almost every neighborhood has a pie that can hold its own against the pies in Naples. Thing is, in Naples, you can get a big pie for six euro. It’ll cost you more than that for a baby at Roberta’s, it wont even have cheese (fine for art, but not for getting full) and you don’t have the option of getting a large, even if you could afford it. Here’s the deal, Folks, a girl’s gotta eat, wants to get filled up once in a while. I don’t need portions coming out like F’ing Tribecca Grand hotel or some fancy trash, you know? Sometimes when I wanna eat pizza, I wanna EAT pizza. If an airline can have first class and coach on the same plane, Roberta’s can have a large value pizza along with their precious art pizzas. Right?
March 1st, 2008 at 5:28 pm
There’s no accounting for taste, but those pizzas sound disgusting to me. Then again, I think Rosa’s on Fresh Pond is good, so my taste is most decidedly plebian and un-hip by “new Brooklyn” standards
March 3rd, 2008 at 1:28 pm
BOWA, come on over and I’ll make you a nice cheez-whiz and hormel “meat”-product pizza. Awtentick Brooklyn!
March 4th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Heh heh… That sounds more like something they’d serve in the Midwest. Like Drew Carey said, “I like my cheese out of a can!”
Most pizza sold anywhere today (Brooklyn included) is crap. Real NYC pizza has been dying out for a long time.
Been to Totonno’s in Coney Island? That’s the real deal. The people there won’t win any cordiality contests, but I haven’t had a better pizza anywhere. I’ve eaten at the legendary DiFara’s and I don’t think it lives up to the hype. YMMV
March 4th, 2008 at 12:59 pm
screw roberta’s! I’ll stick with fortunatas and tonys if I’m in the hood.
March 4th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Apples and oranges.
March 5th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
BornOnWycoff, Rosa’s is “okay” as far as NY Pizza goes (in fact very good), but I still think that Coratos on Myrtle Ave between Fresh Pond Rd and Decatur St is still one of the best around. It’s not far from Fresh Pond Rd’s corner.
There is another Corato’s over by Myrtle and Woodbine, just a block from Myrtle and Wyckoff for those closer to Bushwick, but I haven’t been to that one in some years so I am not sure if it’s still as good as the Corato’s over by Myrtle and Decatur/Fresh Pond.
Inside it’s sort of like stepping back into the 1980’s, with lots of orange in their decor….but it’s as clean as you can get…and the pizza is one of the best, if not the best around the area.
March 5th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Corato’s really rings a bell, but I’m not sure if I’ve ever eaten there. Maybe I just saw it or heard others talking about it.
My old family favorite was Joe’s on Forest Ave.–the old place, not the new place up the street. I ate there last year and sadly, it wasn’t as good as I remembered. It was too doughy and cheesy for my taste. I’d like to think they were just having an off night.
March 7th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Ah yes, Joes….it gave Coratos a good run for the money, when it was in it’s old 1960s-look place. Once they moved, for some reasone it didn’t seem the same. The old store is still open too, but also, isn’t the same. It’s “good” compared to others, but it’s not the old Joes, nor is it “Coratos”….
March 7th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Hmmm… D’ya remember when “new Joe’s” opened? My sister and I ate at “old Joe’s” in 2003 and the pizza was as good as it always was. I didn’t eat there again till last year (as noted above) and it was disappointing.
I wonder if there was a correlation–as you seem to imply above–between the opening of “new Joe’s” and the decline in quality at “old Joe’s.” Then again, maybe it was just an off night.
I feel almost guilty criticizing the place because I have such fond memories of it (I capsized a pizza there when I was 1 year old!). But when it comes to food, I gotta be honest.
March 8th, 2008 at 8:19 pm
well its a nice place but the dough could be better,
throw some stoneground semalina on the floor of the oven, or roll it out on some cornmeal, bump it up please…maybe a tad of whole wheat in that white dough: Good job on the bubbly crust however. Also! how could you put jarred pimentos in place of PEPPERS? please! what a waste, but overall, not bad.
March 19th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
http://events.nytimes.com/2008/03/19/dining/reviews/19under.html?ref=dining
“The place has a D.I.Y. feel, like a Bushwick loft.”
i hope to god he doesn’t mean mckibbin.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:33 pm
I intend to eat here as soon as a can. When they get a liquor licence, so much the sooner!
While we are talking of pizza places, how is Little Munchies faring? This place was all over this sight, but has completely dropped out over the last few months. I ate there one time last November and was very impressed. Is it still open? Any updates?
March 27th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Hey, appropos to FormerRidgewoodite’s comment, recently I was trying to remember a certain pizza joint where my Mom and I would stop for slices while shopping on Myrtle Ave. in the early 1970s. I emailed her and she responded thus:
“I remember it as being in the middle of a block on the left going up Myrtle Ave towards where Karl Ehmer’s was. In fact it might have been almost across the street from Karl Ehmer’s.”
A little Googling reveals that Ehmer had a store at 62-02 Myrtle at the corner of 62nd St., fairly near Corato’s which is on the opposite side of Myrtle near the corner of Fresh Pond. I wonder, could I be thinking of Corato’s–or do any of you remember another pizza place in that vicinity? The place I remember had that classic ’50s/early ’60s “pizza parlor” look which is hard to describe in writing, but most of you can visualize what I’m talking about. Anyone got a picture of Corato’s?
March 27th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Wyckoff, Corato’s opened up in the early 80’s. The spot where Corato’s is now was a furniture store in the 70’s, and burned in a pretty bad fire. After the fire, they fixed the building up, and Corato’s opened….so it probably isn’t the same place you may be thinking of from the 50’s.
The interior of Corato’s is “vintage” early 1980’s….lot’s of orange and light wood, and a real “80’s look”, but it’s extremely clean, and they must have used expensive materials as it still looks great, even if very “80’s looking”.
I think the pizza parlor you are thinking of is on the other side of the railroad trestle, on the other side of Fresh Pond Rd, on the Glendale side. I believe that one is still there too.
March 27th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Thanks… I’ll have to investigate this on my next visit. I’ve been coming down once a year or so for… well, I don’t know why, maybe just nostalgia.
March 27th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Yeah, you will probably like Corato’s if you try it…..
By the way, I drove past this “Roberta’s” place the other day….wow, does it look like a dump on the outside! I guess that’s sort of the look they are going for, but hopefully the food lives up to what they hype about it as the exterior was disappointing!
April 1st, 2008 at 7:48 pm
Mjay, they;re not pimentos like in olives they’re roasted and marinated red peppers and its totally traditional to use them in italian food just like canned tomatoes. Its how they are stored after harvest in Italy and its fine.