Bacon, onion, black truffle, honey, and Calabrian chili pizza on sourdough crust.
Just… wow. I mean, you can’t make this stuff up. At least the mortal throngs of us can’t. Yet two culinary deities disguised as guys from Greenwich can.
John Corbo and Matt Watson created Grigg Street Pizza (on Grigg Street - get it?) which has had foodies salivating with praise for the past two years.
They opened, cautiously, in 2020, one night a week. The onslaught of orders “blew the doors off the place,” describes Matt. They consistently sold out and decided to open two nights a week - Friday and Saturday. Still, if anyone wanted a slice of their magic they had to place their order three days in advance.
Two years later the guys have added staff, tossed more pies per diem, and still sell out on Fridays. They even caution Saturday nighters to order in advance lest they wander home hungry and pizza-less.
You may be wondering… why all the hubbub?
Two reasons:
First, Matt and John use the best ingredients available - organic tomato, high end flour - and the Grigg guys and gals make everything in the Grigg gallery, each pickled pepper, shred of mozzarella, batch of béchamel. Even the sandwich rolls (they’ve added sandwiches. Chopped porchetta, salsa verde, cheese sauce). "We're basically a scratch house,” says Matt.
Sometimes they collaborate with other notables, such as Greenwich Que Co. for brisket (smoked brisket, onion, salsa verde with Fresno chilis pizza on squid ink sourdough crust). Speaking of sourdough, they make that, too, from the starter they made from scratch. And the squid ink? Black crust. I mean… who thinks of this?? (Besides them.)
There’s also the Grampa Pie (“Our version of a grandma style/Detroit style/Sicilian style cross breed”) and the insane Thursday Special Pie - as of this writing, it’s a classic cheese topped with their Greek Salad con crunchy radish/parm/and Green Goddess dressing.
These guys are hands-on. Matt and John “make 95% of the pizzas ourselves. It’s a blessing and a curse because we’re here six days a week…” Plus, they don’t offer delivery so they can get to know their customers. “I don’t want to know their life story,” admits Matt. “I just want to know them a little bit.” I agree. I’d like to know who’s cooking my dinner, but I don’t need to know the saga of their impacted toenail.
Second, their resto is off the hook hopping. Matt and John both dig rock so every day they bring on the beat and spring loose the tunes (B-52s, Joe Cocker, Nirvana). “People love music and being silly,” explains Matt. They cross-promote with their friends from The Capitol Theater, with ticket give-aways for live performances (Gary Clark Jr., The Disco Biscuits). So watch @GriggStreetPizza for a chance to win while ordering dinner. Or lunch.
Third - I’m surprising you with a third reason - they’re super kool kats living the dream. “We’re laughing, we’re joking and having a good time,” Matt smiles. “I make pizza for a living. It can’t get much better than that.”
@GriggStreetPizza
