1923 Cordova RoadThere is almost never a time that I will travel somewhere and not get a pizza. My travel companions usually ask where I’m going expecting me to say Papa Johns or Dominos…but hell no. We’re going to find some place local.
Our third day in Miami was a long day. We had to do a lot of driving around the Miami metro area…and if you’ve ever been to Miami, you know how taxing that can be. I grew up near Chicago and have done a lot of driving in the Chicago area and that seems like a cake walk compared to Miami.
We got back to our hotel rooms right around 6:30. We both still had some work to do individually. Co-worker wanted to get on it right away because there was a social event he was wanting to go to. I wasn’t in a hurry because I’m not a social person.
He went to work and I sent him a text asking if he wanted a pizza. He said yes and didn’t care what kind. Just get something with meat. I said pepperoni or sausage…he said yes, so I took that as both.
I did my usual Google searches for nearby pizza places. I don’t typically put much weight in reviews but I take a good look at the pictures posted. I think I have a pretty good eye for what a good pizza looks like and I just trust that instinct.
I picked Manhattan NY Pizza in Fort Lauderdale. The small pizza joint is in the Harbor Shops near the intersection of SE 17th Street (also known as Florida State Road A1A) and Cordova Road. The restaurant is tucked in between nail salon and a therapeutics place near a Publix.
I put my order in online and drove over to the shopping center from our hotel in Dania Beach. I actually got there about ten minutes early so I headed in to Publix to grab a couple of Pepsi’s while I waited.
The restaurant is a little bigger than I was expecting and it was pretty crowded on this Thursday night. There is a dine in area that was pretty full of people. It’s not a huge area but big enough to get a few parties a chance to enjoy this thin crust pizza right out of the oven.
I headed towards the back of the restaurant where the order counter was. I gave them my name and they found my pizzas still in the oven about ready to come out. I did my best to stand off to the side out of the way while I was waiting but there wasn’t a lot of room and I didn’t want to take up a table in case someone else came in.
I really only stood there 5-10 minutes while my pizzas were cut and boxed up. I ordered two medium pizzas and an order of garlic knots. The total cost was just under $60 with the tip.
I’ve traveled to Florida each of the last three years for work and the thing I keep noticing is how much Florida has an obsession with New York pizza. I somewhat got it in Tampa last year because the Yankees have their camp there but there are New York pizza places all over South Florida as well.
One of the big reasons I chose this particular New York style pizza places was they had a pizza on the menu that just looked to delicious to pass up.
I picked the El Fuego. The pizza wasn’t quite as hot as I was expecting but it was still really delicious.
The thin, floppy NY crust comes covered with jalapenos, crushed red pepper, red onions (I left these off), banana peppers, and a buffalo sauce drizzle on a base of a classic tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. This pizza was the perfectly foldable type of pizza you expect from a place that has New York in the name. There were enough peppers on this pizza that I got some in every bite but it wasn’t mouth burning hot like I was kind of expecting. It was a really good balance between the heat of the jalapenos and buffalo sauce and the slight sweetness from the sauce and banana peppes
Co-worker just asked for meat on his pizza without looking a the menu so I got him pepperoni and sausage. I was really tempted to steal a pizza before delivering it to him just because the sausage looked so good. It was clearly sausage that was sliced off a link. He actually texted me later that night saying he was still thinking about just how good the pizza was. Like I alluded to, he was expecting a chain store pizza when I went out but instead got this delicious, thin crust local pie
I also got one order of a dozen garlic knots to split between us. The delicious, twisty, garlicky bread came with a cup of marinara on the side. I ended up giving all the sauce to my colleague because I thought the bread was fantastic on it’s own. He liked the bread but really loved the sauce….maybe I should have ordered a second cup for myself….hindsight, ya know?
I think I made a pretty good choice picking Manhattan NY Pizza. I had just gotten us both mediums because we weren’t going to be in Miami much longer and I didn’t want a bunch of leftovers. We both had planned on having breakfast the next day but that didn’t happen. The pizzas were so good neither of us could stop eating.