Joe’s, West Village – Pizza 3

Joe's, West Village New York

Image by Geoffrey Dunbar

Joe’s, West Village – Pizza 3

Geoffrey Dunbar photo

Geoffrey from New York

Knowing and loving New York is having lived through many of its manifestations.....

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What to do when your best pizza place starts expanding – remain loyal or find another?

What did customers, who went to the first MacDonald’s, do as it expanded? As the burgers’ uniqueness diminished, were they even aware?

Joe’s, in the West Village, has about four locations now, and reports from LA say there are Joe’s out there that seem similar.

I’ve witnessed the expansion game before, in the 70s and 80s, with the Ray’s Pizza syndrome. There was a Ray’s in the Village that was good, and suddenly there was a Ray’s everywhere, and then there were Original Ray’s everywhere. It was an insolvable joke, so I stopped going to Ray’s altogether. There’s still an Original Rays.

There was one Vinnie’s (my best) that closed ten years ago and still gets mentioned on Yelp, there is one DiFara, one Sal & Carmine’s (check out the articles), and four Joe’s. But Joe’s Carmine Street slices are still good so I recommend trying them, for now.

The ‘original’ on Carmine Street qualifies as a real pizza joint: no tables, no chairs, no bathroom, no credit, open ’til 4 am, and a really long fucking line.

The thing is that Joe’s has had a good reputation for a long time, so it gets the benefit of my doubt, for now. From Joe’s, if you cross Sixth Avenue, you’ll be at Minetta Playground – “The Cage” – famous home of Manhattan’s aggressive, show-offy big-man street basketball games.

Uh, oh! Another Ray’s pizza war just broke over ‘Joe’s’, here.

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Geoffrey from New York

Geoffrey Dunbar photo

Knowing and loving New York is having lived through many of its manifestations.....

Read all articles

Details about this spot

Categories

Address

7 Carmine Street, New York

Telephone number

+13473124955

Opening Times

10:00 - 04:00 daily

Price

Plain slice: US$ 3

Website

Check on Facebook

Last Changed Date: 2016-05-19 11:45:13 +0200 (Thu, 19 May 2016)