Established Harlem restauranteur and Babbalucci Chef Andrew LoPresto and Bar Manager Partner Bruno Molfetta recently opened Bar 314 on 1260 Amsterdam Avenue. Bar 314, with its oven-baked pizza, small plates, salad, and more, is ready to impress all the pizza-lovers in town. (A bar with a wide variety of cocktails, curated wine, and beer is on its way, too!)
Quick grab-n-go pizza places are commonly found in New York City. Wherever you are in the city, you’ll find a place within walking distance, where you can go grab a slice of New York style margherita pizza served on a paper plate for you to eat by the bar or to take away.
Nonetheless, there are times when a fancier restaurant where you can sit down and enjoy a pie of pizza is preferred over take-out pizza places. Bar 314, with its cozy ambience and a brick-oven in the back, is a perfect place with cozy ambience for you to catch up with your friends or have a post-midterm celebratory dinner without having to leave the neighborhood.
Sit-down pizza restaurants are harder to find than take-out pizza shops, and fancier restaurants tend to close for a break between lunch and dinner. Sadly, we all know that being in college or in graduate school means we don’t always get to eat on time. Some days, we eat lunch at 3 p.m. after the lecture that takes place during prime lunch hours from noon to 2 p.m.. On some other days, we are too busy working on our assignments that we don’t get to eat dinner until 8 p.m.. Good news is that Bar 314 is open EVERYDAY from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. without a break time!
When I found out that a new pizza place opened so close to campus, I had to give it a try. Thankfully, because Bar 314 stays open throughout the day, I was able to visit during my awkward gap between classes at 4 p.m. on a Monday.
[ Tai Salad : Refreshing salad with tai mango, cucumbers, spinach, red onion, cherry tomatoes, chillies, basil, and citrus-honey dressing. ]
I like pizza to a point that I had pizza on my 21st birthday and for my last dinner in California before moving across the country for graduate school. After trying different kinds of pizza in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Chicago, New York City, and in many cities of South Korea, I can say that pizza looks and tastes very different in different places. Of course, I’m not here to say that one style of pizza is ultimately better than the rest. Believe it or not, one of the most popular pizzas at Korean Domino’s is Glamping Barbeque Superseed Dough pizza, and who knows, maybe it’s tasty in its own way.
The first thing that stood out from the menu was the selection of ‘no-sauce’ pizzas. While some other places I have been to would serve one kind of bianca pizza, Bar 314 offers 5 different kinds of ‘no-sauce’ pizza, with of course, an option to customize.
[ Babba : ‘No-sauce’ pizza with guanciale, teleggio, mushroom, and truffle pate. ]
All the pizza dough used at Bar 314 is made in-house, and it is amazing. I tried Bubba, Sweet Cheeks, and 314, and all the pies were baked to have a thin and crispy crust with soft and chewy center. The dough was so perfectly seasoned and delicious that I felt as if I could eat the dough by itself, but I can’t leave the toppings out when talking about pizza. Some of the toppings you can find on Bar 314’s pies are guanciale, hot honey, anchovy, truffle pate, and sicilian tuna. You can customize the toppings, and the restaurant also has a gluten-free option for the pizza.
[ NYC : Tomato sauce pizza with ezzo pepperoni, gorgonzola, mozzarella, and hot honey. ]
For lunch, Bar 314 also serves pucce (Southern-Italian sandwiches made with fresh-baked pizza dough), which The Curious Uptowner described as “crispy, soft, warm, and juicy all at the same time.” There may be special dishes of the day, so don’t hesitate to ask. On my second visit to Bar 314, I got to try the lasagna, which was the special menu of the day. It was rich and flavorful without any layers dried out. It was also creamy and soft, and the plate was empty before I even knew it.
[The special of the day : lasagna.]
It’s cold outside, and the pizza is warming in the oven. Sounds like a perfect day to visit Bar 314.