Best Pizza & Dive Bar
2095 Montauk Highway
Amagansett
631-668-8378
Thursday and Friday, 3-10 p.m.,
Saturday and Sunday, noon-10 p.m.
The rustic marquee letters out front just say “BEST PIZZA.” The building is familiar and nondescript. Sometimes it is occupied by a seasonal restaurant, some years it lies fallow. Can anyone remember a place that lasted here? Napeague Stretch and Banzai Burger are the only two that I recall being decent but still lacking traction. If this location has been “cursed,” then perhaps finally that spell has been broken. Broken by the pizza maestro and host of VICE's “The Pizza Show,” Frank Pinello.
Best Pizza & Dive Bar, on the Napeague stretch in Amagansett, opened in midsummer, but last weekend was the first time I had tried it, in spite of hearing rave reviews from many I trust. I just don’t picture myself hanging out in a place that is also called “dive bar,” with multiple flat-screen TVs, blasting all sports all the time.
This new restaurant was one of the most delightful surprises I have experienced in a long time. The first surprise was that it was packed, proving that it has become a destination, miles from Amagansett’s business district and even farther from Montauk. For some, perhaps, the Jets-Redskins game was the draw, but more likely it is the outstanding pizza.
The building itself is the same, though now the interior walls are riddled with rainbow Sharpie scribbles. Some would call it graffiti, but it is definitely molto scribbles.
Upon entering there is a big wraparound bar in the middle of the room. To the left is another dining area with a fireplace. There is a pool table behind the bar and flat-screen TVs everywhere, at least six of them. You can get pizza by the slice at the bar or go to the back and order at a small counter.
There are a few rustic banquettes, red and white oilcloth tablecloths, metal chairs, Chianti bottles with candles in them, and a Ninja Turtle video game outside the restrooms. The cups are plastic, the plates paper.
I couldn’t imagine better pizza reviewing companions than Peter Bologna, a.k.a. Pebo, and his li’l buddy Claudio, both just back from a trip to Italy.
We ordered garlic and raw onion pizza, as well as the pepperoni and Grandma. We also sampled the meatballs, arugula salad, and garlic knots. The pizzas were excellent, thin and crisp, with very good tomato sauce and just the right amount of cheese. Grandma pizza is a Long Island invention similar to Sicilian pizza, which is square or rectangular with a slightly thicker crust and sometimes a bit more garlic.
There is an island in the center of Best Pizza with the usual shaker jars of chili flakes, dried oregano, garlic powder, and grated Parmesan cheese. Pebo pointed out that the grated Parmesan was obviously fresh, not the powdery stuff that contains cellulose, which is actually wood pulp!
The meatballs were very good. We got about six small ones and they were swimming in an excellent chunky tomato sauce and sprinkled with fresh parsley and basil.
The arugula salad was topped with shavings of young pecorino Romano, sliced fennel, chickpeas, and golden raisins that had soaked up some of the lemony dressing, giving it all a nice “agrodolce” balance. Whoever assembled the salad smartly put the dressing on the bottom of the bowl to prevent immediate arugula wiltage until we tossed it ourselves.
The garlic knots, also about six per serving, were also great. They were smaller than you might find at other local Italian restaurants like Il Capuccino, and that was a good thing, allowing for more surface area and less doughy center. The cup of sauce served alongside for dipping was spicier than the sauce that came on the meatballs. I would like to take a few quarts of this sauce home.
I have been reviewing restaurants for many years and I have learned how to pace myself throughout a meal. My mantra is “you don’t have to eat it, you just have to taste it.” I never waste food. The leftovers are packed up for whoever wants to take them home. At this point in our meal I had consumed no more than half a meatball, one knot, the equivalent of one whole slice of pizza, and about a cup of salad. My guests, however, had consumed mucho pizza and all of the meatballs and garlic knots. They had reached the wadded up napkins, loud burping stage of the meal.
It was at this point that I brightly suggested, “How about some Buffalo wings? We should try them!” The wusses grumbled assent. I am glad we did order them because they were excellent as well. They were all drumettes, not “flats,” the dinkier bony tips with less meat. The skin was still crisp and the hot sauce was just hot enough. The bleu cheese dipping sauce was of noteworthy quality. We asked Diane (who was doing a superb job on just her second day at Best Pizza & Dive Bar) and she had no doubt it was homemade. “Everything is made from scratch here, including the mozzarella,” she told us.
The prices here are moderate. The pizzas are $24 to $28 for a 20-inch pie and slices are $3.75. Additional styles and toppings range from $2.50 to $8.50. Wings, garlic knots, and heroes are $3.75 to $14. Salads are $12 and $14.
There are no desserts here, but it would be swell if there were some Italian ices or a Good Humor freezer come summer. Right now Best Pizza & Dive Bar is open four days a week. Here’s hoping it can remain open through the gloomy, colder months ahead. If our recent visit on a blustery Sunday was any indication, it should have no problem at all; there were at least 30 people there, enjoying the slices, beer, and game.
My only complaint about our visit to Best Pizza & Dive Bar? My old hometown team put up an all-time stinker, once again snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.
