King Of New York Pizzeria: Unfortunate Acronym, Delicious Pizza

I'm not a deep-dish kind of guy. Sorry, Chicago but I prefer mine New York style. So a pizzeria calling itself the King of New York sounds like it's right up my alley. King of New York has the unfortunate abbreviation KONY, but I think we're all better off pointing out the name 'King of New York' is also the title of a song from the Disney musical Newsies.

Located in the ground floor of a shopping plaza, it's not exactly the most glamorous location, but inside... well it still isn't very glamorous there either. You've got church basement style vinyl metal chairs and laminate-topped tables on one side of the space and a long counter along the other side. Pick the slices (and at 18" diameter these are pretty large slices) that look best to you, and they'll reheat them.

This back to basics approach is part of the charm. The prices are what my friends in the midwest would call "stupid cheap" and you get a darn good slice of 'za. The crust was thin and crisp on the bottom, so I was happy. My dining companion and doppelganger isn't the fan of the thin crusts that I am, but he also raved about the way that it was still chewy and moist. It's a crust that will please all the people.

Order your pizza by the slice and take advantage of the variety. The hawaiian, chicken jalapeno, and pepperoni with mushroom are all great, and the bbq chicken is every bit as good as the CPK version. Only one slice I had wasn't up to scratch. The cheese on the white pizza didn't taste like much of anything, and the spinach was overcooked.

A check-in offer will get you a free order of garlic knots: slightly bigger than a golfball with a side of marinara for dipping. Reheated, it was good, if a little doughy. In the opinion of my dining companion and lookalike, if we'd had it piping hot, it would have been amazing. But at the price of free (or a mere dollar if you're not using the check-in) it can't be beat.

King of New York is just like the protagonists from that movie Newsies. It's a scrappy underdog of a pizza place. It might not have all the refinement or ambiance of some of its competitors, and you might have some reservations about a reheated slice of pizza. Whatever hesitation you have, ignore it. Even taking all that into account, in the end you can't help but love it.