DiFara

The best The best The best, Tried every place on the face of the planet, Love my Pizza, I have heard talk about Frannys and the other place in Carroll Gadens(sorry forget the name) all good pizzam DiFaro's just in a league of thier own

4-5 dollars a slice? jigga whaaa?

-rob

I was ready to hate this place because of the hype, but I had to admit that this is really the best pizza I've ever had including what I ate in Naples.

Yeah - the new slice price is silly.

But... honestly... It would be nice if Brownstoner included reviews of restaurants that don't already have 427 articles and 10,000+ reviews written about them.

It is not hype. Best Pizza ever. Ever. I mean ever. The store is in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere. I mean nowhere. I remember watching the soup Nazi episode on Seinfeld and wondering if the character was based on Dom. He is the nicest man, but he truly is no nonsense. Dont even think of calling in your order. He will start when you get there and thats it. Dont like it? Leave. I once saw someone ask for grated cheese for his slice. Dom looked him in the eyes, shook his head, grabbed a chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano and smashed it with his fist, crumbled it onto a paper plate and handed it to the happy customer. It must have been at least 5 bucks worth of Reggiano. It was Dom's way of saying "Why would you mess with perfection?". Places like this are a rarity these days. Great food for poor people. Go now.

DiFara's is not in the middle of nowhere. It's just off the J street train station and not far from where I was raised, so I've been going for years. Dom is exactly the kind of Brooklyn proprietor that was pushed out of most neighborhoods by gentrification, so his attitude doesn't earn him any points from me. The pizza is fine - often singed too much for my taste. And overuse of grated cheese usually leaves me with heartburn for hours. Give me Totonno's in Coney Island or the square at L&B Spumoni Gardens any day. Plus you don't have to deal with the crowd of tourists out for an "experience."

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The pizza is good but I'm not willing to wait in line that long. Obviously many people are and that's fine, but for me it's just not worth it. I went there once and after that excruciating wait, never returned-- even though I live in walking distance.

I was there after the mermaid parade last June. We arrived about 4, and got our pizza about 6:45. About a half hour wait to get in the door, and then 2:15 after we ordered. Pizza was fine, but I'm never waiting 2:45 for pizza ever again.

www.forgotten-ny.com

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Last time I went it was a rainy night, and empty on a Thursday evening around 9:30 pm. There was no line, and we hung at the counter and watched a true artisan at work. I'd walk a mile for a slice.

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MM waiting for hours and then getting heartburn from some ass who overcharges for a slice, sounds great. What a great city we live in.

Definitely not worth the wait. Do it once to experience a bit of local culture, and then find a place in your neighborhood with a shorter line.

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Artisan pizza. He grates the four cheeses for each pizza individually and takes the pies out of the oven with his bare hands. It's not fast food, but I've never waited longer than 45 minutes. A little respect for Dominic's work will go a long way. If you don't look like you are happy to wait for one of his pies- he will make you wait longer, just like the soup nazi.

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Reality check please. So the pizza is good but in the same way that the place under the bridge and the place in Coney Island are. Why then would you wait a painfully long time in possibly the dirtiest restaurant on the face of the earth to watch an old guy make a pizza and cut basil with his nasty old scissors in strobe light time? Well, as a person above said, do it one time. It is theater and a test of your patience all at once. By the time the food comes, you will love it because you are damn hungry and you are fin-ally the lucky one to get the food. After an hour of waiting, which gives you enough time to really inspect the inches of grease and dust and filth on everything, you are just happy that it doesn't suck. The mind wants to make it greater than it is, just so that you don't feel like as big a sucka.

H-Y-P, I'm hypnotized.

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Goodness gracious, I am so sick of people raving about this burnt pizza. It's Brooklyn, folks, and there's an awful lot of good pizza. Our personal favorite is Luigi's on 5th Avenue by 20th Street. Fresh ingredients, a proprietary pesto-like sauce on one of the varieties, and a really pleasant staff. Gio, who runs the place, is a champ. I've brought several friends there and they now swear by it. When I'm out with my kids and we're looking for a slice to take the edge off, we go to Luigi's.

DiFar's is dirty and smelly. Sure, the pizza's good, but the crust is too often too burnt. And why would you wait that long to pay that much and be treated poorly? Does you mom know what a fool you've grown up to be?

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I made the mistake of stopping by with my family on a Sunday night at dinner time hoping to get a pie to take home. We gave up after an hour when the young guy pathetically attempting to keep track of orders said we were "6 pies away".

My son wanted us to bail when we saw how disorganized and inefficient it all was, and was upset that we had "waited an hour watching that old fart burn pizzas for nothing". He said he was going to find all the online sites he could find to give him terrible reviews.

Later on a weekday afternoon my wife got a pie, and it was pretty good. But $4 a slice and a 2 hour wait for a pizza, that may be burned beyond recognition? Fuggetaboutit.

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Dom's pizza is the tastiest of all the Brooklyn pizzas. I've been to them all, and each time I go to DiFara's, I crave it the next day. Yes, the line can be long, but I usually go early in the afternoon, the wait is no longer than 45 minutes. The ingredients are top notch and if you love pizza, you have to make a stop here.

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This guy sounds like a lunatic, why would anyone put up with this? It boggles my mind. I get it kinda of, but your desire for authenticity can become a little delusional sometimes people.

Sure the pizza is good, but the experience is so lousy that it's really not worth it.

I would say if you happen by and the pace is quiet, give it a try. Otheriwise run the other way.

Bottom line:
Pizza: very good but extremely variable (slices may be burnt or cut too small)
Service: pathetic
Ambience: the place is a dump
Value: a waste of time

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Good, but inconsistent. The long wait and location are deal breakers. John's on Bleecker and Lombardi's are comparable and more consistent.

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The reviews here boggle the mind. All the people who want instant service at DiFara's are spoiled brats who demand instant gratification of your every little need. GO AWAY and watch your television sets and play on your little X-box. Good food takes awhile. You cannot always be first. So the place isn't pretty. The last I heard that had no effect on the quality of a slice. Waaaaaaaah my pizza is burnt. Waaaaaaaaah I was next in line. Waaaaaaaah the table wasn't cleaned by some low-paid immigrant so I could sit my fortunate ass down. Shut up and deal with it, you babies. Better yet, stay away so the lines will be shorter.

Those of us who have a bit of patience will wait, watch a true artist at work in real old-school fashion, and be rewarded with outstanding pizza. If you get there when he opens on Saturday morning, even better, as you won't have to wait at all. The food isn't dirty, you germaphobes - I've never ever gotten sick there, and I eat there quite often (it's on my way home from work). Bring a book if you're so impatient, or strike up a conversation with your neighbor in line. Clean up after yourself when you leave. It's yet another reminder that the world doesn't revolve around you.

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Di Fara's rocks. All you nay-sayers, just stay away. The lines are long enough as it is.

i love difara. i'm naming my future adopted daughter after them.

watching dominic make the pies is great too. and riding the Q train aboveground is a nice build up to the experience.

definitely get it plain. the more toppings the saltier it gets.

and in the summertime take your pie to one of the neighboring stoops to eat. just clean up after yourself.

i think i'm going to jump on the train now.

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Full disclosure: I've been to DiFara's two, maybe three times.

The pizza is up there with the best in the city, but it isn't nearly the only one at that level and it isn't transplendent. I found the guy quite nice actually and a little hypnotizing to watch. But to call him an artist is just a little silly. Just because he moves slowly--more slowly than I thought a human being could move--doesn't mean the oil he is pouring is an art.

Sure it's a kick to go, but I would never go there during anything like prime time unless you bring a book...and a sandwich.

Pizza is a passionate subject in this town. The aura that has been built up about this place is absurd, but in truth the pizza is really good.

Di Fara's is in the Guinness Book of World Records for winning every award anyone could ever win.

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My out of town relatives had heard so much about it so we went. I'm sorry to say it's not worth the wait and it tastes like burnt Ellios frozen pizza.

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Back in the seventies, I lived in the area and went there all the time with my family. It was totally different then. It was like a regular NY Pizzeria. You didn't have to wait long and only neighborhood people went there. When I read in the papers that it was a popular place, I was shocked. So I went back to the old nabe and saw a line outside the pizza place and couldn't believe my eyes. People from Brooklyn Heights and other areas were salivating and complaining about how long they were waiting, but that it was worth the wait. So I decided to wait and wait for what seemed like an hour. The pizza was very good so I guess the wait maybe was worth it. My advice is to go when you have time on your hands and bring some family or friends and grab a table, maybe a deck of cards and spend time in some good conversation because the chances are good that you will be there awhile.

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The best city pizza I've tried - my other favorites would be Patsy's of Harlem, Denino's, and Lucali's. I like the square pie with artichokes the most, but I'll take anything I can get. The wait can be frustrating, but bring a bottle of wine for your wait, read some of the articles, and make sure to flirt with Dominic! You can't beat the price as far as I'm concerned - whether it be a $4/slice or $28/pie - for the best pizza in the city, it's well worth it.

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I could care less that DiFara is dirty, cramped or has a long wait. Dominic makes a damn fine pizza. And that he does this solo, that he hand makes every single pie for hours on end, to me this makes the $4 a slice well worth it. He is a true artisan and his product shows. Now if there happens to be a huge line I will take a shortcut and order a meatball parmigiana hero. His meatballs are probably the best I've tasted in NYC.

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To all those who have been frustrated by DiFara: I feel your pain. I have seen people literally flip out at the lack of organization and "customer service" this place regularly displays.

But here it is: They just don't care. Really. They don't. Importantly, however, it's not that they're jerks and are indifferent to your frustration. It's just that they really are doing the very best that they can. Yes, their order-taking system is bizarre and often leads to confusion, yes the old man moves slowly--but that's as good as they can do. They are inept at everything except making delicious pizza.

I prefer to think of it, not as a restaurant or a business, but rather a spontaneous confluence of events that produces a stunningly good slice of pizza. And, if you're lucky enough to happen upon it at the right time, you can eat some of it.

As one who refuses to wait more than ten minutes or so, I expect, at best, a 50/50 chance of getting a slice or two.

Keep your expectations along these lines and you will be happy.

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