Would You Pay $74 For A Pizza? And No, The Box Isn’t Included.

What happens when a couple of Eleven Madison Park veterans open a pizzeria in the hear of Nolita? Lines down the block, viral videos galore, and a sleuth of raving reviews (including a 9.2 from Dave Portnoy – “this is as good as you can get in New York City”). More crowds, more hype, more videos permeating the feeds of food influencers. Can a place possibly live up to this much hype?

Yes. Yes, it can.

What’s Unique? Ceres (164 Mott) is a counter service establishment and they start taking orders for pies — first come first served — when they open their doors, which these days is at 11:30AM on Wednesday and Thursday and 11:00AM on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. When you get to the front, you let them know what time you’d like your pie for, among the remaining available time slots. In other words, the earlier you get there, the more likely you can get your preferred time slot. Lucky for me, my friend got in line around 11:15AM on a Wednesday and there were about 20 people in front of him. We had no issues placing our order for a 6:30PM pick up. When we returned for dinner, they were still taking orders, with about a 90 minute wait being quoted. So if you’re flexible on timing or open to a little wait, it’s easy to get your hands on a pie from Ceres.

What To Eat? Ceres typically has five pies on it’s menu + some occasional seasonable specials. My friend and I ordered a cheese pie (tomato sauce, scamorza, mozarella) and a mushroom pie (creme fraiche, mushroom, onion). Let me be clear: I get the hype. Both pies were phenomenal, but the mushroom pie took me to another dimension. That topping combination (my dream combo), coupled with a crispy, crunchy sourdough crust, feels like a gourmet experience. The slices are somehow filling, but not so much so that you can’t eat four of them, as I did. What a treat to taste such delicious pizza — it exceeded my high expectations.

What To Know Before You Go? Here’s the thing. The pies are astronomically expensive. The evening I was there, the pies ranged from $35 for a tomato pie to $68 for a Nduja pie with burrata (last year the Nduja pie was $63, but it was upped $5 at some point in recent months). With tax that’s $74. I get it. Ingredients are expensive. So is rent. And paying employees a living wage. Here’s the kicker though: if you don’t finish your pie and would like to pack the leftovers in a pizza box, you have to pay $1.63. I can’t think of a more ridiculous policy. My friend and I ordered two pies with the intention of taking home leftovers. The price for two pies was $95.81. When you’re spending $100 for pizza, the box should be included. Does this effect my review? After much deliberation… yes, it does. Ceres would have gotten a 9.5 rating (among the highest I’ve ever awarded), but I’m docking them 1.6 points as a result of their insane box policy. Overall Experience: 7.9.

Would You Pay $74 For A Pizza? And No, The Box Isn’t Included.

What happens when a couple of Eleven Madison Park veterans open a pizzeria in the hear of Nolita? Lines down the block, viral videos galore, and a sleuth of raving reviews (including a 9.2 from Dave Portnoy – “this is as good as you can get in New York City”). More crowds, more hype, more …