Grimaldi's

Grimaldi's
242-02 61st Avenue, Douglaston, NY 11362
(718) 819-2133
Sun.-Thurs. 12:00pm-9:00pm
Fri.-Sat. 12:00pm-11:00pm

Subtract a bridge, add a borough and you have Grimaldi's - Queens-style!  Who knew there was a Grimaldi's that wasn't in Brooklyn?!?  My cousin and I were doing some shopping at Douglaston Plaza and noticed a Grimaldi's on the lower level of the plaza.  We initially thought it was a lookalike (i.e. Kennedy Fried Chicken = Kentucky Fried Chicken).  We decided to do some investigating and upon review of the menu and a quick peek inside we came to the conclusion that it in fact is probably linked to the famous one in Brooklyn.  Our conclusions were further validated when we decided to order.  The man that took our order, who I'm assuming is an important guy at the restaurant, told us that his uncle owned the Grimaldi's in Brooklyn (we'll take his word on it). 

The restaurant was cute.  It had a family-run feel to it.  Everything was very organized and neat.  In the food prep area in the back, there were four workers hard at work, pounding out pizzas.  There were endless plastic rectangular containers filled with fresh cut toppings (the towers of neatly, thinly sliced mozzarella caught my attention).

We ordered one large pepperoni pizza and one small white/garlic pizza.  As quick as the order was taken, our pizzas were done (around 10-12 minutes).  They were carefully packed into individual paper bags (yay! for not using those huge cardboard pizza boxes).  It took about a 5 minute drive for us to get home, which felt more like eternity being that we were trapped in a car with two pizzas emanating delicious fumes.  When I finally got a chance to sink my teeth into those juicy pizzas, I was pleased with the flavors.  The garlic really shined through on the white pizza.  The pepperoni on the large pizza was small, but thick.  The overall flavors were rich and savory.  The crusts were thin and crispy on the outer edges, but overly chewy elsewhere on the pizza - to the point where it was hard to chew.  The cheese was not as gooey as I had hoped, likely due to the car ride back.  I think I'll definitely give this place a try again, except next time I'll eat the pizza there.  I find that it's never the same eating pizza at a restaurant and picking-up pizza to go.  -9/5/09

OVERALL RATING: * * 1/2
FOOD: * *
SERVICE: * * *
AMBIANCE: * * *
VALUE: * * *

PROS:

• Intense flavors
• Extremely fresh ingredients
  
• Friendly staff
  

CONS:

• Overly chewy dough