Quote:
Originally Posted by Hitch
FWIW, and unrelated, mostly, to the actual rant/vent, I do NOT like PJ's pizza. Man, it's worse than Pizza Hut, and that's saying something. OTOH, I was raised, in my youth, in NYC and the boroughs, so...I have a very specific barometer for "good" pizza versus bad.
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I live in NYC, and concur. I'm bemused by a Dominos around the corner from me, as there are plenty of "real" pizza places in walking distance. But they're still there, are entirely take out and delivery, and meet the minimum standards for decent pizza, so...
Down the street from me, there's a place that makes thin crust pizza, and has outdoor seating in decent weather. They do land office business. Service is slow, but you don't eat there if in a hurry. The pizza is good, they serve other things as well, and you sit outside with your friends on a nice day, hang out, and have a meal.
There was another pizza place around the corner from me, and they went through a period where the staff were all Asian (Vietnamese, I believe), save for a token guy I'd seen in other places whose function appeared to be teaching the Asian staffers to make pizza and hoagies. They went belly up more recently when they failed an NYC health inspection. Given how long they'd been in business, I'm not sure how they failed, but a fair guess was vermin. Most places that sell food have a cat in the basement to keep the rodents under control, and there's a secondary market in the food trade for the offspring of known good mousers. I believe
having the cat in the basement is a technical no-no, but it's not one an inspector will gig you for.
A friend of a friend was an NYC food inspector, and a member of the Society for Creative Anachronisms. The latter served him in good stead. He inspected a Chinese restaurant and gave them a failing grade, and an employee attacked him with a cleaver. Fortunately, he had just acquired a set of ring mail from a vendor who made period gear, and was wearing it under his suit. He got a bruise but no other damage. The restaurant no longer exists, and the last I knew, the chap with the cleaver was still a guest of the NYC penal system.
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Dennis