Herrine Ro: America's favorite pizza topping
has time and time again been pepperoni.
We visited three top-rated restaurants,
Prince's, Rubirosa, and Emily,
to find which pepperoni slice is best in town.
Erin Kommor: OK, so, what are we looking for?
Herrine: So, at each spot, we're going to be
looking at three qualities.
One, thick-cut pepperoni.
Each cup should be thick enough to cup up
and have that nice crispy exterior.
Two, distribution.
Since the ronis are the star of the show,
there should be a generous amount of cups on each slice.
And three, overall flavor.
The three pizzas are all different,
so whether the pepperoni is the only topping or not,
we're thinking big picture.
No singular topping or sauce
should overwhelm the palate.
Erin: Let's go. Herrine: Let's do it.
So, our first stop is Prince Street Pizza,
and this place inspired me
to make this whole entire video.
Erin: It is?
Herrine: The reason why is because
the Spicy Spring here
is unlike anything that I've tried.
Erin: What is "Spicy Spring"?
Herrine: It is a pepperoni pizza
that is just covered in pepperoni.
You haven't seen anything like it.
Erin: I believe you.
I am pumped.
Wait, is that the line?
It is fully wrapped around the entire block!
Employee: There you go. Customer: Thank you!
Dominic Morano: Prince Street Pizza started
January 2013, and our most famous slice
is our Spicy Spring pepperoni pizza.
Customer: You can't find this pizza anywhere else.
Dominic: With a lot of the slices that we have in the store,
they're named after streets in the neighborhood
to pay homage to the neighborhood
because I have a lot of roots in here.
Herrine: Why Spring Street specifically?
Dominic: It just rhymed. [laughs]
Honestly, it just rhymed.
The Spicy Spring is a Sicilian.
It's a special cut of Italian pepperoni,
and it has a low-moisture fresh mozzarella
and has fra diavolo sauce,
which is my grandfather's recipe.
For the people at home that don't know what fra diavolo is,
it's a spicy marinara sauce.
With our pepperoni,
it's different from the original types
of pepperonis that are really flat
and they're kinda, like, bologna-ish.
These ones are the sticks,
and we cut them to where
it's not too thin and not too thick.
We cut them right in the middle.
Herrine: Why do you decide to put so much
pepperoni on here?
Dominic: This goes back to what we originally talked about
in the video from a couple years ago.
It'll upset people if you don't give
an even amount of pepperoni on every slice,
like Robert De Niro said.
Herrine: We waited, like, 40-ish minutes?
Erin: 43, to be exact.
It is around the block.
Herrine: Thank you.
OK, there is truly no place to sit.
Dominic: You guys got it?
Herrine: Yeah, we got it.
There's no place to sit.
Erin: Wait, where is he taking us?
Oh...
Herrine: She's stunning.
my
goodness!
Herrine: Is it anything like you've ever seen before?
Erin: No. I've literally never seen
that many peps before.
Herrine: Honestly, this whole experience
is a very new thing for me.
Sitting in a basement of a pizza shop.
Erin: I've never sat in a basement of a pizza shop.
Herrine: Do you have a preference of what slice you want?
Erin: Yeah.
Herrine: Which one do you want?
Erin: They're all honestly perfectly beautiful,
but, let's see, this one's, like, calling to me.
Herrine: OK.
Even distribution, thick cups.
Erin: Even, thick.
It looks spicy. Let's see if it's spicy.
I'm a little worried. Like,
what if it's too salty? There's so many peps.
Herrine: That's a good point. Erin: But let's see.
Let's see, let's see, let's see.
OK.
So I don't know if it's 'cause I don't get out much,
[laughs]
but I've never had a pepperoni that's cooked like this.
Like, do you see the coloring?
It's like a beautiful work of art.
It's perfectly crispy on the outside,
and it's thick,
and the grease, like, pools in the middle,
like a little, like, hot tub
that you wanna go swim in and never leave.
Herrine: No. Erin: OK, cool.
How's the crust?
Herrine: So many things going on.
You get the caramelization from the pepperoni,
but also from the crust.
The sauce is spicy and, like, not wet.
Erin: Yeah.
Herrine: It's just overwhelming,
but in the best way possible.
Like, overwhelming in the sense that, like,
you're struggling to eat it,
but you can't wait to get that next bite
because it's just that good.
The one thing is that, just because it's so greasy,
like, if another place is less greasy
but it has the same exact everything.
Erin: But I don't think the flavors can be
this good without the grease.
But I do, I know what you're saying.
Maybe, like, drawing the grease back a tiny bit.
Herrine: A smidge. Erin: A smidge.
Herrine: So this is already setting the bar
so, so high. Erin: Oh, so high.
I'm, like, a little worried.
Herrine: The other two places that we're going to
are, like, unique spins.
The pepperoni is still star of the show.
It's gonna be really hard to beat this.
Erin: All right, our second stop,
not far from Prince Street,
is Rubirosa.
Herrine: And this place is an absolute neighborhood gem.
Today we will be trying their Tie-Dye Roni Pie.
Bari Musacchio: So, I think the tie-dye roni pie
is, like, just for people who cannot
decide what they wanna eat.
Because the tie-dye pie alone, you have
tomato sauce, vodka sauce, pesto, all on one pie.
Then, our other most popular pizza
is a classic pepperoni pie.
So one day, people just started saying,
"Well I kinda want a pepperoni pie,
and I kinda want a tie-dye pie."
Decided to put it together, and it ended up
being the best combination on Earth.
Customer: It's the perfect texture of pepperoni.
Just because of how it's cooked.
It's got a little bit of everything.
If you want that little bit of crisp with a bite,
if you want that chewiness, it's got it all.
Bari: I think it's the thinness that's really,
like, the signature family technique,
is that we get the pizzas paper, paper thin.
For the tie-dye pizza, we use fresh mozzarella cheese.
If you go to a classic slice joint,
you're gonna use a low-moisture cheese.
This is actually, it's a little bit more similar
to the pies that you would find Neapolitan-style.
It's a signature spiral move.
So, we do tomato on the outside,
then a circle of vodka,
and then at the end we add the pesto,
also in a spiral formation.
What makes our pepperoni different
is just the thickness that we slice it,
and then that allows it to form that pepperoni cup.
Erin: I'm, like, a little hesitant,
because pesto, vodka, and marinara
is a little overwhelming,
but I'm interested to see how it tastes.
Herrine: OK, let's go. Let's do it.
Erin: Let's just do it.
Cheers. Herrine: Cheers.
Erin: Oh, my God.
I'm a big fan.
I've never had pesto on pizza.
Herrine: Really? Erin: Ever.
It's very, like, herbaceous, and it, like,
[clicks]
makes the sauce pop.
[Herrine laughs]
You know what I mean?
Herrine: How do we feel about the thinness of it?
'Cause it's a lot thinner than Prince Street, right?
Erin: It's so much thinner than Prince Street.
But I kinda like a thin crust,
'cause for some reason my brain feels less bad
about eating the pizza.
It's, like, less bread.
Herrine: I actually do enjoy
how the pepperoni cups here are a little bit
thinner, 'cause they crisp up,
and they're a little crunchier
than the ones back at Prince Street.
Erin: I want, like, them to make me,
like, a plate of pepperonis.
Herrine: They're crispier because they're thinner,
but I feel like because Prince Street is thicker,
those cups have a lot more, like, texture to them.
My question for you is, though,
would you take this over,
like, a classic pepperoni pizza?
Erin: I feel like it depends on, like, the day.
If I'm craving something, like,
special and wild, I would go for this.
But if I'm just craving, like, a classic pepperoni,
I would maybe not.
But today I'm feeling wild, and I like it.
OK, Herrine. We are going
to Emily in Clinton Hill.
We are trying the Colony pizza.
It is a trifecta of flavors:
salty, sweet, and spicy.
Herrine: That sounds delicious.
Erin: Yes.
Herrine: So, depending on which Emily you go to,
you can get a round pie or a square pie.
Today we're gonna be trying both.
Erin: Amazing. Let's go.
Emily Hyland: In Clinton Hill, at our original location,
we serve pizzas from our wood-fired oven
that are New York, New Haven style.
So, round, superthin crust,
really fun topping combinations.
In addition to Pizza Loves Emily,
we also have Emmy Squared pizza,
and we serve Detroit-inspired pizza.
Customer: I love the Colony most for
the honey drizzle
and probably the juicy little pepperonis on the top.
Matthew Hyland: I think a perfect pepperoni pizza
has balance on it.
It should have a good amount of pepperoni,
but it shouldn't be overwhelming.
So, we stretch our dough out.
We stretch it out very thin.
We don't like to have a lot of crust on our dough.
So you'll see the tomato sauce goes out
all the way to the edge.
We add pecorino, mozzarella, homemade mozzarella on it,
pickled jalapeños, then we'll put our pepperoni.
We use Ezzo pepperoni.
We like Ezzo because it's thick-cut and it cups up.
It works nice with our flavor profile.
There's a little bit of spice to it, but it's not too spicy.
We're using a wood-fired oven, and our pizza
is definitely cooked a little bit more well done
than New York-style pizza.
It'll come out, get cut,
honey on it, and then served.
Herrine: This one is not traditionally served here.
It's the Detroit-style one,
and they have this at Emmy Squared,
which is their West Village location.
But because this is so similar to Prince Street,
and this one is more your New York-style slice,
more akin to Rubirosa,
I wanted you to try both of them.
Erin: Yay.
Let's try this one.
Herrine: I was hoping you would say that.
A lot smaller, right?
Erin: Cheers.
Mm.
God, the heat at the end. It, like, kicks you.
Herrine: It hits every different part
of your palate all at once.
I'm more excited about the crust.
Erin: I love this kind of crust.
[crunches]
This cheesy edge
is probably one of my favorite things.
Herrine: And I don't think Prince Street Pizza
really had that. Erin: They do not.
Herrine: But do you miss all that roni cup
that we don't get? Erin: You know I love a roni
cup, but I kind of like these roni cups
better than Rubirosa's.
Herrine: Not Prince Street.
Erin: No.
The meat, it's, like, a little more chewy
than, like, crunch.
And I get the crunch from the crust,
and then the chewy of the roni,
and it's like, and then the sweet of the honey.
I love sweet. I love sweet.
And salty.
This is our love story.
Herrine: Now let's move on to this one.
Erin: OK. Shall we?
All right, this crust is, like,
one of my favorites.
Herrine: Now that you've had the Colony pizza both ways,
do you think the jalapeños,
the honey, and the pepperoni is too much?
Erin: No, I love it.
Herrine: You like the trifecta?
Erin: I think it's honestly...
I'm not gonna say what's my favorite yet,
but I've just, I'm a big fan.
I'm a big fan of spicy, sweet, salty anything.
Herrine: I have a hot take.
Erin: What's your hot take?
Herrine: I normally don't like
savory foods that are sweet and salty.
Erin: Really?
Herrine: I like sweet foods that have more salt,
not the other way around.
You know, some days, you just want, like,
a classic pepperoni pizza.
But then other times you want an elevated version,
where it hits all the notes.
And I think, because of the char,
it's also, like, almost burnt, smokiness too,
so you get that fourth little element.
It's everything and more
than you wanted from a pepperoni pizza.
Erin: Exactly. It is not boring.
Herrine: I have my definitive answer, though.
As great as this whole journey has been
and how difficult it's been to, like, nitpick,
I have my answer.
Erin: I hate that you're so decisive.
I honestly feel like if I make the wrong decision,
like, something bad is gonna happen.
Herrine: After loads of deliberation, it is time to decide
which pepperoni pizza is best in town.
Erin, do you have your winner?
Erin: I have my winner. I'm ready to reveal.
Both: Three, two, one.
Erin: Oh, my God!
I did not think you were gonna put that.
Herrine: I'm surprised. This is,
we're off to a great start here.
Erin: Why did you choose Prince Street?
Herrine: I was torn between Prince Street and Rubirosa.
Rubirosa just because their sauces were so great.
But the ronis were a little too thin for my liking.
Prince Street had that perfect thick pepperoni
with a caramelized outer rim,
and then the grease just, like,
pooled inside and cupped up beautifully.
What about you?
Erin: I agree.
There was so many pepperonis,
so many more than the other two places,
and they were so thick and crispy and spicy,
and the crust was perfectly charred,
and the cheese wasn't too overpowering.
It was just my favorite slice of pizza
I've had in...maybe ever.
Herrine: Wow. So not only is this
the best pepperoni pizza you had,
but the best pizza in New York City?
Erin: Yes!
Herrine: So, what do you guys think?
Do you agree with us that
Prince Street Pizza is best in town
when it comes to pepperoni pizza,
or is it just another place?
Let us know in the comment section below.
OK, my fingers are about to freeze off.
Let's go. Erin: I know, I know.
Let's get out of here.
Herrine: Bye! Erin: Bye!