Vertuccio’s Pizza on the Park

Vertuccio's Pizza On The Park

Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
Our Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Cards: All Major
Price: $$
Hours: Mon-Sun 11am-11pm
Booze: None
Subway: L to Bedford Ave.
Menu: Click Here
Delivery: Yes
We say:

Aficionados of Bedford-area pizza and Italian cuisine might not have sampled Vertuccio’s yet, but they’re sure to be pleased once they do. This large, comfortable spot which neighbors Urban Rustic market and MustLuvDogs on the south end of McCarren Park is a pleasant addition to Williamsburg’s ever-growing number of high-quality Italian eateries. So don’t let the “Pizza on the Park” designation fool you: Chef Gaetanno Giuffre’s menu extends way beyond the pizza oven. Dishes like the Sauteed Wild Striped Bass (with fennel, oranges and a pistachio sauce) or the Grilled Rack of Lamb (with Barolo wine sauce, truffle oil and risotto) prove the diversity of the menu and the attention to detail that the staff has implemented. The dozen or so homemade pasta choices and the gluten-free pizza also offer unique options. The Vertuccio family is often on location, and do their best to create a cozy atmosphere — which is aided by a warm interior, and by outdoor space when the weather permits. Vertuccio’s serves lunch, dinner and brunch, and has five-mile delivery radius as well. The restaurant, which opened late in the summer of 2009, is somewhat tucked away in the winter months, but we predict that will change rapidly when the warm weather brings crowds to the park across the street. Our advice: stop by soon before the crowds start dominating here.

Metromix says:

Williamsburg certainly isn’t lacking in meticulously designed restaurants serving perfectly curated menus (free-range fried chicken with artisinal mac ‘n’ cheese and seasonal Brooklyn lager, anyone?). So although this spacious pizzeria on McCarren park may have a slight Midwestern-red-sauce-joint vibe, it actually comes off as a refreshing alternative to the taxidermy and subway tiles that dominate the local scene. The restaurant’s centerpiece is a sizable brick oven turning out a wide variety of wood-fired pies like a sausage and broccoli rabe pugliese and the tonotto with tuna, cherry tomatoes, olives and scallions. Unlike your hometown Maggiano’s, however, these pizzas are crafted by an authentic Palermo pizzaiolo: Gaetano Giuffre. While giant landscape murals depicting Italian rural idyll and the scent of basil and tomato may have you daydreaming of Napoli, your waitress’s Polish accent will remind you that you’re only blocks away from Greenpoint’s main drag.

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