Black Oak Nights – New York

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Di Fara Pizza: Is it worth it?

Posted by Black Oak On September - 3 - 2009

What goes up but never comes down?

You said it, my friend!

Pizza prices!

And that very thought is something that patrons of Di Fara Pizza will have to reconcile with, because according to “Slice” (the New York City pizza blog), their favorite pizza slice is going up a whopping 25%, from $4 to $5, and it’s not going down—ever!

So what kind of pizza is worth $4, nevermind $5! Well, according to patrons of Brooklyn’s Di Fara Pizza, located at 1424 Avenue J, Brooklyn, NY, this slice of pizza is made with such Italian authenticity that it is well worth the price…and the wait!

Some people wait upwards of an hour to get a slice of pizza from Di Fara. Combine the long wait with the price increase, and one would think that that business at Di Fara was doomed to slow down. But after a recent visit to this popular pizza haven, it didn’t appear that Di Fara was experiencing any kind of a let down. In my experience, you wouldn’t be hardpressed to find someone shelling out $50 or more on a couple of pizza pies from Di Fara, where a whole pie with nothing but cheese cost $25! Twenty-five bucks for pizza, and you have to wait? You would think this is a 5-star restaurant.

But that it isn’t. Di Fara is in a shabby hole in the wall right next to a 99-cent store. Not to say that it takes away from the quality of its product, but one can safely assume that the high price of pizza here doesn’t have anything to do with excessive overheard.

Perhaps the high price does have something to do with the fact that every pizza made at Di Fara is made by one guy: Domenico DeMarco. Domenico is not your average short-order cook, but instead he is an Italian immigrant chef, who believes in using nothing but the finest of ingredients. But according to Slice, Domenico’s recent splurge on toppings may have something to do with his “overuse” of ingredients. According to the New York Times, “[Domenico] has been more generous with them, part of what [his daughter] called his new heavy hand.” Of course, it doesn’t help that patrons are allowed to choose their own individual toppings for each slice.

What’s really amazing though, is that with the new 25% increase in price, there will be a 16% drop in service. Di Fara will now be closed 2 days a week (Mondays and Tuesday) to help ease the stress of their sole and aging pizza-maker, Domenico.

Despite the price, long lines, and unattractive storefront, don’t count Di Fara out on the account of exterior details. You should venture to Di Fara Pizza and make your own determination, because surely if anyone went by facts, common sense and reviews alone, there’s just about no way anyone would justify buying a $5 slice of pizza. So try it yourself, and then you be the judge.