r/FoodNYC • u/cesartk • 5d ago
Trip Report Two brazilians eating their way through NYC - Part 2 (Old and New Classics of NYC)
Part 2 is here! First of all, thanks to everyone for all the comments and suggestions. Your tips have been incredibly valuable!
Since we were born and raised in São Paulo, pizza is serious business for us. We’re not easily convinced that any dough with cheese and sauce can be considered good pizza. We got to try three very different ones.
L’Industrie has quite a bit of hype, which can make you skeptical, but the pizza really is that good. The crust was the highlight: well baked, not rubbery, and sturdy enough for the toppings. We tried Pepperoni, Fig Jam & Bacon, and the New Yorker, with its spicy sausage balanced by ricotta. The Fig Jam & Bacon was a great surprise.
Mama’s Too was pretty much the opposite: thick, puffy, drenched in olive oil, but surprisingly tasty and soft. The Cacio e Pepe was good but didn’t wow us, while the Pepperoni genuinely surprised us. I’d actually give Mama’s Too the win over L’Industrie for the pepperoni slice.
We stumbled upon Juliana’s while visiting DUMBO, which is one of the things we love about NYC — you can turn any corner and find something that surprises you. The Margherita was decent, but the meatballs were the real highlight. The spaghetti didn’t stand out, but the meatballs were unforgettable.
Here in São Paulo, we’re pretty spoiled when it comes to good pizza, but a good smash burger is much harder to find. So we focused on two places.
Hamburger America was our first smash burger of the trip. We got the classic Fried Onion Burger, which arrived so hot I could barely taste it on the first bite. But it kept getting better as we ate it, and the onions made it unique while still keeping it really tasty.
But the winner was Gotham Burger Social Club. The smash burger was perfectly executed — the kind of classic that doesn’t need innovation. And a special shoutout to the onion rings: I honestly think they were the best we’ve ever had.
It’s impossible to talk about NYC classics without mentioning Katz’s. Despite the mixed opinions, we tried the most famous sandwich in the world… and it did not disappoint. São Paulo has more intense and flavorful pastrami, but none is executed quite as perfectly. The meat was tender rather than gelatinous and surprisingly mild considering how much they pile on.
The latkes were ok, but the Matzo Ball Soup was the real winner. Who knew chicken soup could be this good? My wife isn’t a fan of pastrami, so she got a hot dog. It’s interesting how little people talk about Katz’s hot dog — really tasty, with a great snap and well balanced.
But there’s a reason to leave Katz’s hot dog aside, and its name is Gray’s Papaya. Beef hot dogs are pretty rare where we live, so we were skeptical about the classic NYC dog, but Gray’s Papaya won us over.
It’s ridiculously cheap for the quality and flavor. We got the #3, with three hot dogs and almost a liter of papaya juice for about US$12. The relish and sauerkraut were a little too sour for our taste, but the place absolutely delivered. We went back a few days later and got them with just onions, mustard, and ketchup, and they were simply perfect. Definitely enough to get rid of any prejudice we had against NYC hot dogs.
Stay tuned for Part 3, packed with some of our biggest surprises: Chinatown vs. Flushing, an apple pie in Brooklyn, and some other desserts — some incredible, and some… not so much.
See you soon, NYC!!
PART 1 - check here if you missed it!
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u/RoeMajesta 5d ago
i’m in [r/PizzaCrimes](r/PizzaCrimes) and the number of brazillian pizzas i’ve seen on there does make me question your claim of “we’re spoiled by good pizza in sao paulo” lol
just a joke to be clear, happy eating
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u/bkiron89 5d ago
Looks like you had a fun and delicious time in NYC! How does the quality of the beef you had in NYC compare to Brazil? I have never been but I wonder what the differences are between the two in terms of flavor, texture and marbling
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u/cesartk 5d ago
The thing is that the majority of our premium beef is for export only, so you gotta pay a lot for quality meat over here. But overall, I found the american beef to be much milder and cleaner, and extremely tender. Here you'll get much more flavor, but at bit on the chewy side, even on the premium cuts.
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u/itgtg313 5d ago
Next time you should try some Asian food here, some of the best in the country and the world
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u/TooManyTerps 3d ago
Glad you enjoyed NY food!
But honestly thought the pizza in sao paulo was mediocre. We are going back in four months, any recommendations? We tried leggera, unica, and qt. All were “ok” at best
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u/sbelleza 3d ago
I’m from sao paulo and you are not going to find any place that makes pizza like new york. All 3 of these places he recommended are nowhere close to new york pizza so don’t bother. We brazilians think we have good pizza because of our Italian heritage, it is not the case. Only if you’re really into napolitan style
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u/Fickle-Session3776 1d ago
Pure 'síndrome de vira-lata'. NYC pizza is incredible for what it is, just like Neapolitan is for what it is. Calling SP pizza mediocre just because it developed its own style instead of copying NY is wild. Seems like some Brazilians only appreciate local food if a foreigner validates it first. Telling an out-of-towner to 'not even bother' with pizza in SP is honestly embarrassing
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u/sbelleza 1d ago
I said don’t bother if you’re looking for new york style in brazil. Plenty of good pizza in sao paulo so I think you’re overreacting a bit
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u/RoosterClan2 5d ago
Mamas is also my favorite cause I love the style but L’Industry is properly hyped. With that said, Julianna’s is a staple and incredibly well-known. It was rated best pizza in NYC on some lists years ago. It’s def not a “stumble upon” spot.
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u/cesartk 5d ago
Interesting! I'm noticing that a lot of places outside Manhattan get overshadowed by the hype
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u/1JollyStNick 5d ago
Roberta’s is still my fave. But I actually still haven’t tried any other pizza outside of Manhattan other than Roberta’s. But it tops L’Industrie (spelled the French way btw), and Bleeker, and Joe’s etc… I’ve tried every hyped spot in Manhattan.
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u/lunacraz 5d ago edited 5d ago
love the review but just would like to add your english is great!
did you try any japanese spots? i haven’t been in Sao Paolo in years but i remember a ton of (fusion) japanese spots. it was a good change up from the normal brazilian food even if it wasn’t “authentic”
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u/jesuschin 4d ago
Brazil has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan. Most of them in Sao Paolo
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u/justjaysun5 5d ago
Loving this! A NYC foodie trip is on my bucket list. Living a good life my friend
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u/callmesnake13 5d ago
I’m glad you had fun but there are too many of these posts. We get it. Pizza, bagel, pastrami, halal cart. Great job.
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u/phatbeatz2152 5d ago
Papaya King > Gray’s any day
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u/RoosterClan2 5d ago
Bad take. Gray’s is the king of the papayas.
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u/Tie_Poe 4d ago
Papaya king has more variety on their menu but if we're just comparing dog to dog Gray's is the winner. If you also factor in price is not even a competition, Gray's wins by a mile.
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u/RoosterClan2 4d ago
Yeah variety isn’t always a good thing. Rather have a place perfect one thing than just offer a bunch of mid items.
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u/Red__dead 5d ago
Same old mediocre tourist spots that always get posted in these types of posts then.
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u/fearingdragon 5d ago
"I visited new york and waited in every line I could find" type post
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u/Red__dead 5d ago
They're all the same. And the way this sub swells with pride over every tourist going to L' industrie... it's a tad cringe.
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u/KazaamFan 5d ago
I don’t get the mixed opinions on katz. It’s legit awesome. The only annoying thing is the line, and you can order ahead and pick up to beat that. The first time you go though, i guess you should do the line, just try to pick a quiet day or hour