Half Cheese, Half Pepperoni. Why not.
Like all great New York pizza joints, John's will greet you with walls laden with pictures of celebrities eating at said pizza joint, all housed inside an extravagant (not) two-dollar, plastic picture frame. The countless etchings of names in the wood paneling throughout the restaurant are proof that this place is nearly 100 years-old. And if it's been in business that long, it must be good.
It was good. The crust was super chewy and when you're going for a simple cheese pizza with so few ingredients, it's important that every component is on point. We got half cheese, half pepperoni (although most people in the restaurant seemed to be getting other toppings) and I preferred the cheese, Kenzie liked the pepperoni. Personally, I was hoping the pepperoni on this would be like prince street where I could drink the rendered grease out of the curled pepperoni like tea from a comically sized tiny tea cup. I'm not saying Prince Street > John's, I'm just saying thats the bar I set for pepperoni on my pizzas now.
Anyways, this place really doesn't need much talking up. Dave Portnoy (the one bite guy from Barstool) rated this place near the top of his list, and it's consistently ranked among top New York pizza spots. One thing to note about John's of Bleecker Street is that they don't do slices, and its reputation can draw crowds - especially during popular dining hours.
All in all, I wish I had a pizza place like this during my college years. It has that kind of neighborhood vibe and seems like it should have an appearance in a John Hughes coming-of-age 80's movie. If that's too convoluted, let's just say it seems like the ideal inexpensive pizza spot to gather with friends. Give it a whirl if you're not in a hurry and can sit down to enjoy a whole pie.