Tufino Pizzeria, Astoria, NYC

Food: ☆☆½

Service: ☆☆☆½

Ambiance: ☆☆☆

Cost: $$

Must try:

Tufino, a family owned pizza spot on Ditmars in Astoria serves up classic Neapolitan style pizzas.

All the pies here are baked in their custom Stefano Ferrara oven made in Naples with volcanic lava ash from Mt. Vesuvius that gives the crusts here a unique flavor.

There are many options of toppings from arugula to potato and everything in between. Tufino also offers a range of fried Neapolitan snacks such as potato croquettes, aracini and so on.

I have to say that none of the food at Tufino’s really cut it for me. The best dish I tried was the fresh mozzarella, which I must say, was excellent but that’s about where it ended.

The problem I found was with the ingredients – the greens lacked zest and vibrancy. None of the dishes we tried popped in anyway. I found the sauces heavy and dense and the pizza, though had a good crust was weighed down by limp toppings.

I really liked the place and the people at Tufino’s but just had a hard time convincing myself to go back for more. I sure hope I was wrong.

Here is some of what we ate: