Caserta Vecchia

221 Smith St
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(718) 624-7549

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Dear Pizza, I love you....

Caserta Vecchia offers a spacious indoor dining area with a romantic feel, perfect for a hot date. The wood fired brick oven reminded me of a restaurant around the corner from where lived in Sicily for two months. This was a bit of a nostalgic meal for me, but I did not let it influence my judgment, to bad.

Caserta Vecchia has a nice outside patio with a mix of chairs and wood benches for all ass types. I ate outside and usually do if offered. It is nice when a place puts money into landscaping and decking. Eating on gravel is a drag, unless you are at the Astoria beer garden.

After the seemingly authentic wait staff sat me I noticed I felt a bit sober. So I reached for the the menu and perused the drink selection. Do I try the Basil Mojito or just get a beer? The Basil Mojito is going to be really good or fucking putrid I thought. I rolled the dice and won, it was a great reinvention of the traditional. Highly recommended.

After sipping a whole drink on an empty stomach within seconds I started to feel a bit inebriated. An overwhelming cornucopia of options on the menu and a slight buzz was making it impossible to focus.

When I go out to have a nice Italian meal I often look over the pizza section all together and sprint to the pasta. Since I could not focus (by the way I was half way into my second drink at this point) I decided to keep it simple. Pizza and mixed greens it was.

I ordered traditional mixed greens dressed by the house. The salad was crisp and the dressing was excellent. I tend to enjoy dressing on the more acidic side and have been know to just eat vinegar on my greens, but this was a perfect balance of acidity and sweetness. This meal was off to a great start.

Now for the main event. When I looked down to order I noticed something quite amazing. They offered whole wheat home made dough. You do not see that to often in any pizza or pasta joint. This excites those of us who love to enjoy pizza while avoiding type II diabetes.

When the pizza came out it was topped with the perfect amount of cheese, a bit of sausage and a couple well-placed olives. It not only looked and smelled fantastic, it was a damn good pie. Dare I say best pizza in Carroll Gardens?

The crust had good flavor, the sauce was seasoned well and the cheese was not overpowering or excessive. The three main pizza components where joined together like a three piece Voltron of perfection

Oh, and they took credit cards! I wanted leave, puke in the street and come back for another meal.