Greenwich Village Eatery Named NYC's 'Top Pandemic Pizza'

GREENWICH VILLAGE, NY — Food critic Ryan Sutton from Eater NY calls the phenomena the "great pandemic pizza pivot." It is a reference to the mass of upscale New York City restaurants that have started offering pizza options to make their eateries more financially accessible during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sutton recently named Greenwich Village's Washington Squares at Loring Place as the best new pizza option to come out of any New York City restaurant during the pandemic.

Washington Squares is a delivery-only pizza operation created out of Loring Place, a popular seasonal American restaurant at 21 West 8th Street.

The Greenwich Village restaurant is run by Chef Dan Kluger, who is best known for previously leading the culinary teams at ABC Kitchen and ABC Cocina — two award-winning restaurants also in Lower Manhattan.

Here's an excerpt from what Eater NY had to say about Washington Squares.

"Kluger serves whole wheat grandma-style pizza here, a sturdy variant that’s also impressively light. The squares aren’t as airy as those at, say, a baker-centric spot like Bread & Salt, where the pizza can feel as weightless as a mini-croissant — but they’re definitely nimble enough to let you eat half a pie without feeling as if a Thanksgiving dinner is growing inside your belly. This is especially true of the tomato pie ($17), where the crust in parts seems to flaunt the delicate crunch of a good pretzel."

You can read the full breakdown of Washington Squares' pizza options on the Eater NY website.

Sutton named five "unlikely purveyors" as the restaurants bringing the best new pandemic pizza options to New York City.

• Washington Squares at Loring Place
• Momofuku Ko
• Peasant
• Smillie Pizza by II Buco Alimentari
• Black Seed Pizza