Since the Boyfriend started grad school at NYU, I’ve started compiling a handy list of cheap and affordable restaurants in the East and West Village. We weren’t really feeling Japanese, Thai or Chinese so we opted for pizza at Motorino, which is closer to Union Square than the East Village. Motorino does a great lunch special Monday-Friday from 11am to 4pm. You get a mixed green salad and your choice out of four 12″ personal pizzas.

We stopped by around 12:45pm and was seated right away. We both opted for the lunch special and our salads came almost right away. They come with a side of balsamic vinegar and olive oil as dressing. The portion is actually pretty big for a lunch special. The greens were fresh and the light dressing was very refreshing on a hot day.

I opted for the Margherita Pizza, which features tomato sauce, Mozzarella di bufala, basil, pecorino and Extra Virgin olive oil. The sauce was very sweet, which I loved and the mozzarella cheese was very liberal. The crust, however, was the best part. The insides were soft and chewy while the outside crust was crunchy and crispy. I definitely enjoyed my pizza – in fact I liked Motorino’s pizza more than the famous Grimaldi’s, which I thought was rather bland.

The Boyfriend went with the Brussels Sprout Pizza, which features brussels sprouts, fior di latte (cow’s milk mozzarella), garlic, pecorino, smoked pancetta and Extra Virgin olive oil. The pancetta gave the pizza a really great salty flavor while the brussels sprouts kept it fresh and healthy. I liked my pizza better but he argued that his pizza was better.

We finished off with a slice of their Tiramisu ($9.00), which was very creamy and had just the right amount of espresso flavor. At $9, it was a bit steep for a dessert so I think I’d go without it next time.

 

All in all, we enjoyed our lunch at Motorino. It’s a very filling lunch at a faction of the price of ordering a pizza regularly. If you’re in the area and craving pizza, check out Motorino!