2 Amys

2 Amy’s is a popular Neapolitan pizzeria that does not take reservations, and is known for the perpetual queue outside its door. The dining room has closely packed tables, and at the back as you enter is a bar area with counter seats and a few additional bar tables. Every one of these was occupied when I arrived, but the twenty-minute estimate for a table turned out to be a little pessimistic, as this is not a restaurant designed for people to linger. As well as pizzas there are a few salads and nibbles, and there was also a short wine list, with bottles grouped for convenience into price buckets. You could pay $35 or $50 etc, up to $200, with a few bottles in each group. The markups were pretty fair. For example there was Antonelli Trebium Trebbiano Spoletino 2017 at $35 compared to its retail price of $18, Cascina Roccalini Barbaresco 2015 at $75 for a bottle that you can find in the high street for $37, and Castello dei Rampolla Vigna d’Alceo 2011 at $200 for a bottle that will cost you $131 in a shop. 

Bruschetta topped with tomatoes was a generous portion, but the toast was a little soggy from its topping (11/20). The main event, a Pozzuoli pizza, actually had a slightly over-bready base and a cornichon (the edge or lip of the pizza) that was rather too wide. Toppings were decent, but this was nothing special, and not a patch on a pizza I had eaten a few days earlier at Tony’s Pizza Napoletana on the west coast. Service was perfunctory though quite efficient, and the bill came to $40 (£31) with beer to drink. Overall this was a harmless enough experience, but it was hard for me to see what the fuss was about. Perhaps it is a restaurant that had once seen better days.