Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

Crust is burnt and tastes like balsa wood. While the guys running it are nice and have good intentions, this place is WAY over-hyped by the east village crowd.

We were truly disappointed by the regular slice and the spinach/artichoke, both bad for different reasons though the crust is a universal negative - dry, thick, tasteless and cardboardy. The toppings are equally bad. Slices are huge. No place to sit. Not sure how anyone raved about this place.

NYCviaRachel - yes, I have been to DiFara, and yes, Dom uses way too much oil on his pies too. That's the one thing that prevents DiFara from being my favorite pizza in New York. It's a specialty pie, not an everyday eater. Yet, somehow the oil at DiFara *works*, but at Artichoke it fails, imho.

ACoby - I've worked in restaurants, and I know how hectic it can be, but a little bit of organization goes a long way. Not for nothing, but encouraging them to get organized is the point. "how do you know someone didn't call up and order the artichoke/spinach pies for pick up?" - it was pretty obvious, the pies were going directly onto the counter behind glass, while delivery pies/pickup pies were going into boxes.

Ok Ronman....keep hating on people. Meet you there anytime within 5 minutes Buddy. I got money on you owning a competitor restaurant. If you concentrated on your biz rather than hating on others you might be successful enough to not have so much time to blog on a friggin slice website!

So what's the story? Do we love this slice or no? Where's Bubbles when you need him? I can't believe I just asked for the DJ. NYC Food Guy is going to have to hit this place himself and lend the definitive word. Stay tuned pizza lovers.

I've never been to Di Fara's so I don't know what you all are talking about, but this pizza was excellent. Even the blogs on here slamming the place are writing that it is good. Please what's the problem (uneven crust, disorganization, burnt this or that OH BUT it's still good). Shut up and enjoy your slice! Isn't that what this website is about? I'm just delighted a great slice place opened up the street from my house.

Wow Calmdahn...have you ever run a restaurant? It's most hectic, especially during the first few days of being open..And how do you know someone didn't call up and order the artichoke/spinach pies for pick up? Anyhow, like most restaurants/pizzeria/new businesses ...it takes a little time to iron out the kinks, and before you know it, it will run like a well- oiled machine. Isnt this a forum on food? Next you will be commenting on the looks of the employees...
And Di Fara is just as oily, charry, and uneven...thats what makes it oh so good!!
I really enjoyed my sicilian slice, the cheese was top shelf, and the basil tasted freshly picked, and the crispy, oil rich crust was tantalizing...And the spinach artichoke sample was unique too...very rich and tasty...
I give you a 9!!

Went last night at around 7PM. Found it to be wildly overrated. Definitely NOT DiFara level. I had a plain sicilian slice, and while the ingredients were high quality and the balance of cheese/sauce/crust was ok, it was far from a great slice of pizza. WAY too much oil/grease and a really uneven crust, some parts rock hard and burnt (not charred), some soggy and falling apart. I'd give it a 7/10 at best at this point.

Also, regarding service and first impressions of the kitchen, these boys need to get organized! They're not able to efficiently handle the ten or so people who were in the restaurant while i was there. Too many cooks in the kitchen, everybody bumping into one another, no clear division of responsibility. They were making fresh artichoke/spinach pies when nobody in the restaurant was ordering from the one that was already there, and people were scrambling for plain sicilians. Granted, that's their signature, but why make more if nobody is ordering them?