Pizza
We all have lazy food days. The day you get home from work and you look at your kitchen and you wouldn’t step inside it even if scantily clad, oil covered Angelina Jolie (or Brad Pitt if that’s what suits you) was inside it. If you’re like me, then them days be pizza days y’all! So what are you options? Here are a few choices.
Telepizza: Spain’s very own franchised pizza delivery service. You would think being this close to Italy this would mean something, but regretfully it does not. Telepizza is bad, bad like pushing an old lady down a flight of stairs. Bad like Mr. Bush trying to read Dylan Thomas out loud. Bad like…well just bad. This should be your choice when it’s YOUR ONLY CHOICE, e.g. If you live far from the center of town and no other place delivers or local pizzerias are nearby.
Opera Pizza: If you live in the Center of the city this place usually gets to your place. If not you can visit them across the street from the Plaza de Isabel II, better known by its misnomer as Plaza de La Opera after the Metro station that exits there. This average looking pizzeria has a big menu that goes beyond Pizza (burgers, hotdogs, salads, etc.) and covers almost all American staples. The pizza is mom and pop’s pizzeria style pizza. Medium Crust, loads of sauce and good ingredients. The quality of the pizza is however enhanced by the piece de resistance of this place: The best chicken wings on god’s green earth. I kid you not my friend, the wings are out of this world. Being a guy who thinks a few slices of pie, chicken wings and beer are the equivalent to Earthly paradise made this place one of the numbers I had on speed dial.
Opera Pizza Slice
C/ Arenal, 23
+91 5591765
Pizzeria Vesuvio: Dank, small, packed and frequented by students; what says “awesome pizza” better than that? This little pizza place on calle Hortaleza is a staple of student dining. Dinner at this place never runs you over 7 € and the pizza is great: Small, crusty with a great flavor. My personal favorite is the shrimp and calamari pizza, the kind of pizza that would make me commit a crime just for another slice. On the downside this isn’t a place to take a first date, the place has no tables and you have to eat at the bar and there’s often a wait. This place is strictly for pizza lovers who don’t mind the surroundings.
Pizzeria Vesuvio
Hortaleza, 4
*91 5215171
Pizzeria Mastropiero: Yet another Pizzeria that looks more like a criminal’s hangout in a filme noir. Run by two extremely sweet, ultra left wing Argentinean old ladies, this hole in the wall was another fav of mine. It’s only open at night and is always packed. If you are a republican or PP follower the decor might not sit well with you; hundreds of posters boasting support for every wacky left wing cause out there. The pizza is crusty and has a nice, home made taste to it. The place is packed, but always has a nice ambiance, and a lot has to be said for a place where people are willing to eat standing up. I usually ordered a couple of slices of a very simple onion, cheese and oregano pizza, which’s name eludes me at the moment, and a couple of corn empanadas, which are a masterpiece. Also a word to the wise, be wary of the hot sauce provided at this place. It’s good and innocent looking, but it’s kicks like a mule. The bill is usually accompanied (always in my case) with a complimentary piece of chocolate cake with dulce de leche. The friendly service and scrumptious food assured return trips to this small wonder in the heart of Malasaña.
Pizzeria Mastropiero
Calle San Vicente Ferrer 34
There are dozens of pizzerias around the city, but these are my top choices. Each has a very distinct flavor to the others but all of them serve a great pie in my humble opinion.
mm mm i agree-opera pizza was my favorite place to eat pizza and the only one i found where you could buy it by the slice! are there any others?
man the wings at opera pizza are the best in the world i agree, and the meat feast pizza was always a favorite amoungst friends..
that must have been Fred who wrote that! I do agree that Opera is the best and i must admit to having it couple times a month!
Really, I believe than Mastropiero is the best pizzeria, specially because I remember the argentinian group Les Luthiers with the name a because it’s run by the sweet, kind argentine ladies.