May 29 2006
Car Trips: L&B Spumoni Gardens
We rented a car for the weekend with the intention of going places we wouldn’t normally go. Friday night that meant a trip to Bensonhurst’s L&B Spumoni Gardens, which holds a special place in many people’s hearts for its square Sicilian-style pies (even Slice liked it).
I can, without reservation, say it’s not very good and is definitely not worth the trip unless you are taking that trip soley for nostalgia purposes only. It’s certainly quaint, has a large outdoor patio, and the servers and pizza makers are full of charm, but the food didn’t cut it. We had the most uninspiring fried zucchini strips I’ve ever put in my mouth, and the pizza was unbelievably bland.
I always like to judge a pizzeria by how they cook a whole pie. A slice could have been sitting there for a while, or it could have been not warmed through, but when you order a whole fresh pizza, you’re really expecting something great. We ordered ours with sausage and mushrooms; the mushrooms were canned. And while the bottom and sides of the crust were burnt, the middle of the rather thick square pie was uncooked dough. I have had better pizza at Sbarro. I think what burned us was spending more than $20 bucks on a poor pie. If you were to spend a couple dollars on a slice, the quality would not be so bothersome. We were so disappointed, in fact, that we skipped the spumoni.
Next up, our adventures at City Island!
18 Responses to “Car Trips: L&B Spumoni Gardens”
I have to disagree. I love L&B piza. It’s unique, the sauce is great, and I love that the dough has the slightest bit of rawness to it. Sorry you didn’t like it. I’m talking about the squares not the round pies. Don’t bother going there for the round pies.
Yeah, we were talking about squares. L&B had been highly recommended to us. Maybe we set our expectations too high. I did like the sauce and contrary to what someone suggested on gothamist, we weren’t looking for a pie with tons of cheese. Who knows, maybe we got a bad pie. Regardless, I doubt we’ll go back.
Gotta disagree with the first post as well. The only thing you need to eat there is the squares – and they RULE – best in NYC !
These are exactly the sorts of statements that sent us to L&B in the first place, only to be disappointed. One would think, with all this enthusiastic support, it must be good. Unfortunately it wasn’t. We had the squares (whole pie) and were let down, pure and simple. The burnt ends were *slightly* better than the completly mushy center pieces.
how disappointing. never ate there myself. sometimes those old new york italian-american places are just what i’m in the mood for. they can be good in their own right.
L&B might be the palce for you then. We didn’t try anything else because the squares were so highly recommended.
Have you been to DiFara’s on Avenue J? Now that’s some old school New York City pizza. Hot diggety!
I still go there because it’s convenient on the way home from Coney Island with kids. The quality of the pizza is average at best. I never understood the raves this place gets. Despite the hype, I have yet to have truly great pizza in Brooklyn – I’ll have to try DiFara’s…
I was disappointed by the pies there too but I loved the spumoni.
1) This requires a car? Too far to take the ol’ train into Brooklyn? Ohh no, more than 10 minutes outside the city…can’t be safe on the subway!
2) If you bothered to look around for half a minute, you’d see that no one orders any toppings. That may be what ruined the taste.
but more likely it was:
3) They saw who was ordering and gave you shit pizza on purpose. You think they can’t tell your elitist attitude and lack of respect for the place? If you ordered from what was out already without nonsense fancypants toppings, you wouldn’t have had this problem.
4) Skipped the Spumoni. That’s an enlightened thing to do.
Regardless, I’m sure no one is gonna miss you, not like you’d ever go back to that neighborhood anyway. And don’t recommend Difara’s to these people. It’s more than a 10 minute subway ride and there’s no parkign lot like l&b for their rental car. You’re wasting your time.
1) We live in Brooklyn and take the subway on a daily basis..
2) Most of the people were ordering Olive Garden sized portions of pasta.
3) Our server was very friendly as were the rest of the folks working there, but that didn’t hide the fact the food wasn’t very good.
4) Why bother at this point.
Because we thought the food sucked we’re suddenly elitist? Guess nobody is allowed to have an opinion if it conflicts with yours…. Oh wait! that sounds elitist! Hypocrite!
I know this is a late post, but I just read the article, I would really hope, almost plead but at least politely ask you to try L&B again. Only this time, please order from the window on the outside patio, grab a soda and enjoy. It sounds like you went into the restaurant itself and ordered with toppings, which is not the way to go and/or you were just unlucky getting a bad pie. I’ve been a patron there for over 20 years and the ONLY things worth eating are the “squares” (no toppings) and the spumoni.
The food inside the restaurant was never good, I will try it maybe once every couple years and always come back with the same results. The squares are king!
Hope you try it again!! If you need a draw to get yourself to that part of Brooklyn again, you can do some shopping on 86th street!
Definitely go back and order a couple of squares at the window. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Someone mentioned DiFara’s… IMHO, it’s good but overrated. And forget eating-in, the place is a tiny dump. And there’s always a line of hipsters and yuppies out the door. No thanks.
(As a B’klyn native, I have a bit of an attitude about hipsters and yuppies because I don’t like how they’re taking over the borough and pricing out the working people… But that’s a discussion for another time).
Yeah, f’n hipster, yuppies, and hippies.. nobody likes newcomers! Especially us ancestors of immigrants! Good thing we drove all those native americans right out of their territory first with all our diseases and guns!
“Ancestors of immigrants?” Do you anticipate that our children and grandchildren will be moving to a different country?
I would hardly say it’s fair to draw equivalence between working-class immigrants (or their descendants) and the same sort of people who are pricing them out of their own neighborhoods. In other words, the huddled masses of poor and hungry have my sympathy. But the yuppies who move across the bridge in search of “charming” brownstones, or the trust fund kids or “artists” who move in because it’s currently the hot, happening place to be–do not.
Having said that, I came into B’klyn for a show at Southpaw lately and I thought some of those hipster girls looked absolutely adorable with their tattoos and their little horn-rimmed glasses, so I guess the depth of my resentment can’t be all that great.
But back to the pizza… L&B’s sauce may be the best in the borough, and I say that as someone who generally considers Totonno’s to be the all-around pinnacle of pizza. And do try the spumoni on your next visit–I happen to like pistachio best.
Different country? Sign me up! Let’spread freedom!
As an Italian-American Born in Brooklyn raised on Staten Island,who has lived in Florida for 20 years, I would give my right arm for some L&B square pie and spamoni! I will agree that those are the only things worth ordering. And whats with the toppings thing? Here in Florida they order everything from barbaque chicke to pineapple on pizza! Is’nt that a mortal sin? Cant beleive it has spread to Brooklyn. And What ever happend to just meat and cheese maybe some hot peppers on a hero? The world is coming to and send! Anyway L&B is OK. My favorite pizza was always Tony’s on Ave. U near the old Faymart. God bless and death to yuppies!
I think this square needs improvement. It should be thoroughly cooked, and not soggy or doughy. This is a sign of the owner skimping by lowering the temperature of the oven. If they want to save money, they should get rid of the mice problem according to the NYC Dep’t of Health violations.