The Search for the Slice Part Deux - Artichoke

The search continues. This time, we took a trip down 14th Street to check out Artichoke. We have been hearing rave reviews about this place for some time now, so we figured we'd make it a destination for the Search for the Slice. The name alone is rather unique. Why in the world would a pizza parlor name itself after a vegetable? In short, it's because this is not your run-of-the-mill pizza joint. Their menu choices can be counted on one hand, and none of them include pepperoni, sausage, or meatballs. What you do have to choose from is margarita, sicilian, crab, and spinach and artichoke. Being that this was our first visit, we ordered "across the board" or one of each.

I suppose I should start this post with the spinach and artichoke slice, the slice that inspires Artichoke's name. I see why so many people love this. Its great, a creamy spinach and artichoke spread covered with a ton of cheese on a very doughy crust. However, this was just way way way too rich for me. I'm not the biggest fan of this sort of thing, like fettucini alfredo, or anything else in a thick white rich cream sauce. Its just too much. Granted its delicious, but I'm KO'd after a couple bites. And the slices here are freakin huge. Though, if that's something that sounds great to you, you'll love it.

The crab slice was outrageous. Imagine a lobster roll made instead with crab, and fashioned into a slice of pizza. Simply delicious, and very out of the ordinary. What's great about it, as opposed to the artichoke slice, was that it was light and doesn't make you feel like you need to immediately lay down. Jared, co-Foodgasm editor, deemed this his favorite, but for me, that honor goes to the sicilian.

I want to preface this by saying that I am not a huge sicilian lover. Given the choice, I would order a regular slice nine out of ten times. However, since we went "across the board" I gladly indulged. This slice really rocked my socks off. What makes this is the crust. Artichoke's sicilian is crispy and buttery and just plain awesome. The sauce and cheese is top notch, but it's the crust, as with any good sicilian slice, that really made this great.

Last, and least, is the margarita slice. I'm not quite sure why this isn't just called a plain slice. Margarita pizza usually connotes fresh mozzarella cheese along with sliced tomatoes and basil. This really just came off as a regular slice of pizza to me, but a good one at that. Its the same as the sicilian, without the great crust. In fact, the crust on this slice was a bit burnt, something I had been warned about before going.

Just so you know, there is no seating, so be prepared to either carry it home or sit on the sidewalk and eat (my personal preference as long as its nice out). And be prepared to wait on line if you go during a meal time. Also, I wouldn't recommend going "across the board" with less than 3 people unless you are a food blogger, seriously seriously hungry, or saving some for later.

Report Card:

Food - A
Service - B+ (there's a line, but it moves fast, and those guys work hard)
Atmosphere - B
Price - B+
Overall - A-