These are reviews of Uncle Vito's Slice of N.Y. from 2008. For more current reviews, visit the entry.
2008-06-25 19:13:24 Another pizza place? I have mixed feelings about this... —SunjeetBaadkar
- 2008-06-26 13:26:00 Perhaps to balance out the plethora of yogurt, thai, sushi, etc. places we have downtown :) BillKendrick
- But why not something different? Like maybe an actual chaat house that doesn't go under? Or perhaps an authentic bbq joint or pub? Or maybe a mom & pop type shop?
- Feel free to start your own. The shops we have in this town aren't created by some overlord to balance out some equation. And the chaat house went under because they made too much money, obviously, and felt like had earned enough. — JesseSingh
- I was thinking more along the lines of why someone would look at Davis and think "I should build a pizza place in this town" when we already have several. You'd think a new business wouldn't want to jump into an already on-going competition. And as far as the chaat house: how come they thrive so easily in Berkeley but not here? —SunjeetBaadkar
2008-06-28 15:41:44 This place has good pizza - I am excited to see that it is coming here. —AcMach
2008-06-28 18:08:24 You guys don't recognize it's not just a pizza place. It's a bar. Uncle Vito's in Sac is awesome. When my gf lived a block away, I used to go all the time. I even recommended it to a bunch of people here on the DavisWiki (Craig comes to mind). The happy hour special was beer and a slice for $5. Greasy delicious New York style pizza, with a fun bar, fun bartenders, and a cool atmosphere. I approve! —EdWins
- Oh, see now, that's a better thing then. I googled Uncle Vito's but didn't see anything about a bar or happy hour. Now this place is starting to sound good. I do like me alcohol. —SunjeetBaadkar
2008-08-29 08:26:29 Is this place open yet? If so, has anyone been there to see how it is? —HDLee
2008-08-29 11:57:33 not open yet, I peeked in at the remodel, the bar is on the west side, it looks to be interesting. —StevenDaubert
2008-08-30 13:40:51 I wonder if they are gonna go for a sports bar type angle. That might be nice to have downtown. Maybe... —SunjeetBaadkar
2008-10-01 01:52:06 If my memory serves me correctly, this is being built at the old location of Wok 'N Roll. The Davis Driving Academy School was next door, where Cartridge World now is. But anyways, even though I am a die hard fan of Woodstock's, I am looking forward to trying this place out. —JeremyDutch
Pretty sure that they took over part of the area that was the driving academy as well as old wok n roll location —StevenDaubert
2008-10-02 19:51:57 It may have taken up half of where the Driving Academy used to be, as I remember it being right next to Misha's Cafe. Now Cartridge World is there but it's a possibility that this place is bigger than Wok'N Roll was. —JeremyDutch
2008-10-03 15:02:48 What is up with their garage-like front window? Do they intend on having an open area? —SunjeetBaadkar
2008-10-14 17:17:25 I just passed by again today and it appears they will be having a small patio area out front, like Chipotle has. —JeremyDutch
2008-10-27 13:12:57 Slices are pretty big, but they're thin crust. The "Combo" slice I had didnt have too many toppings on it. The take-out window is open til 2AM. Overall, I don't recommend the pizza there during the day when you're sober, but if you're out hitting the bars and can't taste much anyways, order a cheese pizza from the take out window. —GunIk
2008-10-27 14:22:54 I can't wait to try this place. Thin crust pizza? Finally. Schweet! Thick crust? That horrible Chicago slop? No, thank you. —CurlyGirl26
2008-10-27 17:37:10 It's supposedly opening in the very near future (has it now done so?) They were doing a dress rehearsal in preparation for opening last week. It looked very promising. Can't wait to try this place! —IDoNotExist
2008-10-27 17:45:52 It is now open for business. I was in there today to try to pick up a job app, but they were out. Seems like a nice place, but haven't tried the food. Currently opens at 5pm, but I can imagine that this will change to include lunch hours once they get the ball rolling, so to speak. —MaryLieth
2008-10-27 20:50:30 I didn't like the pizza at all. The whole thing was overall too bready and too crisp, as there wasn't much sauce (which was little more than tomato paste) and cheese. Except for the shape of the slices, it didn't remind me of the slices I had in NY. The salad tasted cheap as well. I can't believe I like Woodstock's more. —JesseSingh
2008-10-28 01:54:27 The good: Very tasty pizza. Slices are very large. I liked the thin, crispy crust. Definitely better than Woodstock's or Steve's. The bad:
The pizza was a little bit greasy.
Your only choices are to either get single slices of pizza (large, see picture), or to get an entire pizza. The pizza comes in only one size - 20"! That's probably way too much pizza for a group of < 3 or 4 people. Smaller whole pizza options would be very desirable.
Prices are rather high. A single slice is quite expensive, although to be fair, a single slice here is probably about 1.5 times the size of a typical slice at Woodstock's once you take into account that the crust is a lot thinner and the source pizza is 20" in diameter. Prices for whole pizzas are VERY high - in the $20 - $24 range. This is about twice what a large pizza from Pizza Guys costs, and while the pizza was good, it was not twice as good as Pizza Guys good.
The restaurant is about 1/3 bar area, 1/3 stool area, and 1/3 other area. It seems to be aimed at a fairly young crowd.
The music was VERY loud. It would be hard to come here with the friends that you would need to actually eat one of their pizzas and have a conversation, because you would probably not hear each other. This really detracted. I liked the pizza a lot, but if I can't hear myself think, I might stay away. —IDoNotExist
2008-10-28 09:43:57 I actually really liked the open atmosphere of the place. It was fun to be there. The pizza was good. I like the crispy crust and IMO it wasn't as greasy as some other places. The hot wings were ok and the blue cheese dressing was very flavorful unlike some other ranch-esque blue cheese dressings. Slices are huge so half a slice was enough for me. Spent about $32 on 3 slices and a 10 pc. hot wings, a soda, and two beers. —Rachelottlinger
2008-10-28 10:25:49 New York pizza? More like garbage pizza. —AvidSpots
2008-10-30 05:11:43 This is great stoner food I believe —Brians
2008-10-30 12:21:03 The prices at this place are outrageous. We paid $9 for a white wine and PBR then $10.50 for a white wine and a Stella. WTF, Prague prices without the fireplaces. Boooooo!!!! —stevie13
2008-10-31 12:24:03 Prague prices? When I was in Prague, a giant beer cost about $.30 US. Has it changed? I must be old. I know this has nothing to do with Uncle Vito. The truth is, I have not tried his pizza yet, but I am going to, probably for my election night partay. —ifoundthistape
I think stevie13 meant Little Prague. —LillianChow
2008-11-01 00:53:38 It was grubbin, for sure! Staff was friendly and the bartender Jason is a champion! All pizza I observed was pipping hot. They have an internet jukebox in the corner that goes thru the sound system, the remodel looks nice and the little bay door to the mini patio is chill for sure! Only bad thing is there is a gap between the awning and the building and it drips when raining, my drink got attacked by a particularly fat drop but it got replaced post haste. Vito's is pricey but pretty cool, I will be back! —StevenDaubert
2008-11-01 01:17:18 The patio and the bar are nice but I also thought it was kindof expensive. With 4 people splitting a pizza I was still hungry, but then I went to Swirl and was happy. At Vitos the FDNY pizza was pretty tasty. —NickSchmalenberger
2008-11-01 10:27:09 We went to Vito's last night. Not impressed. A slice of cheese was almost $4, which is OK, but I expect a $4 slice of pizza when I pay $4 for a slice of pizza. It looked like it was going to be delicious—the slice was big and hot, but ended up being just kind of blech. The cheese had no pull to it, and seemed cheap. The sauce was flavorless and bland. The crust, which usually makes or breaks a pizza for me, was quite good—soft in the middle and crispy at the edge, but it could not make up for the quality of the other ingredients. I'll probably go back in a few months to see if they are just finding their bearings so close to the opening. But right now, I'm skeptical. —ifoundthistape
2008-11-01 14:04:29 Tried this place out last night with my peeps. Love the set up, bar, ambiance. Enjoyed sitting on the patio while eating and chatting. Love the skinny crust. Pizza is tasty—and large. And they have PBR on tap. What more can a girl ask for? This will probably become a regular spot for me. —CurlyGirl26
2008-11-01 14:33:53 So good! I've been waiting for this place to open for months. NY style pizza (thin and floppy)is the best! The atmosphere is great, and it makes great leftovers. —BeckyKP
2008-11-01 14:39:24 I've visited Uncle Vito's twice in the past week. To tell you the truth, i do enjoy the overall atmosphere and idea of the restaurant, however, things are a little overpriced for what the food quality actually is. The volume of the music is extremely loud. I found myself yelling to communicate with my friends who sat right across from me, and it was only 7 pm. The first time I went, it took 25-30 min for my food to come out and it looked somewhat apparent that they had forgotten about my order. The second time, my food was cold. One thing I do enjoy about this restaurant is the hospitality and the attitude of the employees. The cashiers, always makes sure that the customers are happy and her attitude is refreshing and enjoyable. The food is alright, the atmosphere is on its way, but the service and attitude of their workers show the potential of the restaurant. I wish the prices of the pizza slices would go down at least 50 cents to a dollar though. —film
2008-11-01 17:44:02 Some of the comments above are pretty disappointing. I loved Vito's in Midtown Sacramento, when my girlfriend lived only a couple blocks away, I used to go all the time. It's why I was excited to hear it was coming to Davis, even if I'm not there to enjoy it. Sounds like they definitely changed pricing to try to take advantage of the new locale. In Sacramento, cheese was $3 for a huge slice, $3.50 for a pepperoni. (Generously large slices...) They always had good specials too - last August, it was $2.50 a 'Skinny Dip' beer every Sunday. Happy Hour is (was?) a pint of beer on tap and a slice of pizza for an even five bucks. And they had 10 beers on tap. —EdWins
2008-11-03 13:14:46 Went & grabbed a couple slices for lunch today. Slices are big but using one big cardboard box for each individual slice seems a little wasteful. Pizza was pretty good, nothing special; Village Bakery still rules thin crust in my mind. —CindiDrake
2008-11-06 17:42:58 I still prefer the pizza at Village Bakery and Symposium, but this is the only sit-down pizza place in Davis that doesn't completely suck. The pizza is an acceptable form of NY style. There's an oregano flavor, the pizza is 20" and foldable, I couldn't detect sugar in the sauce, and the crust is thin. The cheese pizza is decent, but not great, either as NY style or in general. The cheese isn't elastic enough, and the sauce has some kind of an unpleasant grainy quality to it. They told me there wasn't any parmesan or romano cheese in it, so I have no idea why the sauce was like that. The daily special today was caramelized onions, ricotta cheese, and mozzarella. The dominant flavor was overcooked onions, and the cheese didn't taste, I dunno, creamy enough. The crust on both had the right amount of moisture for Californians, but I personally prefer it a tad bit drier. The tip and edge were okay, but had they cooked it longer, they might avoid the flaccidness I noticed in the center of both slices. Price-wise they're reasonable. They're twice as economical as Woodstocks Pizza if you go by functional square inch. —CraigBrozinsky
2008-11-06 22:47:36 I had Veggie and Pesto slices here. The cheese in their Pesto smelled a bit weird, and I didn't like their dough (dry but not crispy). On the plus side, they did put a lot of garlic cloves on the veggie pizza (which unfortunately is not sold in single slices). Village Bakery pizza is much tastier, and their dough is way better too. If only the Village Bakery would offer crispy pizzas as well. —JoFeuerstein
The "weird" smell is the feta they put on top. =) —lizburciaga
2008-11-07 09:13:24 Ok, I had great hopes for some good NY pie in Davis. This place was ok. The dough was thin and pretty crispy, but also a little too dry. I had the tomato and pesto slice and it was decent. People, listen, the key to a good NY style pie is FRESH MOZZARELLA!!! Why does no one understand this?!? Not grated, sliced thin. Can I not get a good slice of Margherita anywhere? How about fresh basil leaves? I'll probably go back, the beer was pretty decent- $4 for a pint and the glass was so cold my beer started freezing. The slice itself was good sized, if I was super hungry I could eat 2, but 1 was just enough. The most annoying part was having to wait in line to get pizza, and then wait in line to get beer, and 2 credit card transactions. I think you may be able to order pizza at the bar? —emargiecarlson
- Basil leaves and fresh mozzarella? I think you're confusing Naples, Italy with NYC. Pizza Margherita is the historical antecedent of NY style pizza, but the two are really different. Italy has a mediterranean climate, so it's easier to have tomatoes and basil year round and cheap. NY gets pretty cold and the Neopolitan immigrants of the early 20th century made do with canned goods and dried spices. Even the mushrooms tend to be canned or at least marinated. And fresh mozzarella is way too expensive given the monstrous amounts put on NY pizza and the low price. It's more common now than when I grew up, but I consider that a gourmet thing. They do tend to have higher milk fat in their cheese. That and the olive oil on the slices make it greasier and really yummy. —CraigBrozinsky
- That is a good point, Craig. I don't think many people realize the difference between fresh (high-moisture) mozzarella and the low-moisture stuff they buy in large bags from the grocery store. Frankly, I don't think most people have even had fresh mozzarella... —SunjeetBaadkar
2008-11-08 12:31:41 BY FAR THE BEST PIZZA IN TOWN!!! ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!!! BUY BUY BUY!!! NEED NEED NEED!!! —thelonepiper555
2008-11-08 12:57:34 I tried a slice of each type of pizza here with the family and came away a little disappointed. What we all liked was the "special" which that day was carmelized onion and sausage. The crust is thin and crisp. The cheese and the pepperoni slices were ok but nothing special. My wife thought the tomato sauce was a bit too sweet. The tomato/pesto slice was really greasy and kind of falling apart - Steve's pesto/tomato is better.
The place seems cool from a college student point of view, with a big bar, lots of big screen tv's and a pretty noisy atmosphere. It was actually hard to talk across a booth table. The bar drink I had tasted pretty bad. The place is not all bad though - let me be clear that I think the late-night pizza slice window facing the E Street sidewalk (open until 3am) is the best idea since pizza itself. And I will probably stop in for other "special" pizzas just to get a slice. I just don't think I'll take the family there to sit down and eat. —EdHenn
2008-11-11 15:00:23 I think the pizza looks good from a distance but it couldn't taste more bland and pathetic. I was really, really, really disappointed. I thought this place was going to be great and it isn't. —Etherington
2008-11-12 13:12:23 Just ate here, and I like it! Good pizza, decent salad for $3.95 (though they should give a little bit more dressing since the salad is a little watery), fast service. I live in Midtown Sac and frequent the Uncle Vito's there - this place is definitely more family friendly, larger seating area, good atmosphere. I love the idea of the late night walk up window. Will definitely be coming back. —j0liefllle
2008-11-18 02:09:30 Lemon Tree. —smisson
2008-11-20 09:47:55 I went here for the first time last week. I loved it! Good pizza and I loved the garlic fries —dunnypockets
2008-11-20 14:55:28 I haven't heard any good things from friends or family about their pizza, although my parents like their Greek salad (Caution: lots of onion). My favorite pizza is Village Bakery and I'm not looking for another place. I just don't think Davis has "room" for another pizza place, even if it has a bar (isn't Froggy's just down the street? and G Street Pub around the corner?), and even if it is supposedly N.Y. style.
Has anyone heard that they have eating utensils made out of potatoes? (Heard this from someone, but they may have misunderstood) —gurglemeow
Some of the silverware, now deemed only for to-go usage, is made out of potatoes. However, they switched to using metal silverware now for dining in. The plates are also made from sugar-cane! —lizburciaga
2008-11-20 15:46:36 I am not sure how to describe Uncle Vito's pizza. I prefer pizza with lots of toppings, lots of cheese and fluffy crust. Obviously, New York style pizza is not that. I would still eat it again because, as far as pizza goes, it isn't the worst or anything. The sauce was somewhat sweet, which was different but not bad. I ordered combination, but it seemed like they were stingy with the toppings (although I guess thin crust can't hold so many toppings). It was almost $5 which honestly isn't too bad for the size of the slice. I liked the environment, and the bar seems fun. The place is kind of a tight fit, also. —Kiran
2008-11-22 03:09:42 Okay. I have been there a few times after the opening and I have always liked their wings and the thin crispy pizza. However, today I received my credit card statement and I was charged $1,800 on Oct 31. At first I thought it was another fraud, so I went to the restaurant and talked to the manager. The explanation was that their credit card machine wasn't functioning properly in the first 2 weeks of opening, so they had to enter each and every transaction by hands, and they made a "mistake" on my transaction (Entering a $18 purchase into a $1,800). Although they immediately refunded me all my money, I would appreciate it if the owner checks all the sales at the end of the day and correct any suspicious transactions instead of LETTING THE TRANSACTIONS GO THROUGH WITHOUT BRINGING IT TO ANY ATTENTION!!! It's $1,800, not $180, if I didn't check my statement they would have just pocket the money without saying a word. That is VERY UNACCEPTABLE. And I am writing here to ask everyone of you who has been to this place to check your credit card statements to see if there's any suspicious transactions!! —Saru
- Not to defend Vito's at all, but I can understand how $18.00 can become $1800.00 if their credit machine has a 00 (double zero) button. Someone possibly pressed it twice when they meant to press the single 0 twice (or when they should have pressed the double zero once). Having worked retail, I have made the same mistake (but I always catch myself before totaling out, so no harm done). —SunjeetBaadkar
- I work at a place that takes credit cards and I just want to say that, for me personally, if I don't actually write a person's name on their receipt or somewhere next to their CC number, there is no way to tell whose it is. Meaning, if you just swipe your card through, they will get the number, but not your name, address, or phone number — so they probably had no way to contact you unless you gave them a business card or something. —gurglemeow
*Dude! So sorry about that! I work at Vito's and would absolutely like to apologize. The first week was hectic, that's for sure. By no means would a transaction like that get through anymore, things have been fixed and I can assure you if he had a way of contacting you we would have in a second. You bringing it to the attention of Vito's was the best thing you could do your yourself and the company to make sure that it got fixed.
2008-11-22 11:51:24 I had my first slice last night, and I have to say, it was really, really good. Incredibly tasty, well done New York style pizza. And I used to live in NYC, so I would know. Not sure how they are with the gourmet type stuff that the Davis crowd seems to enjoy, but I really loved it.
One thing that was a little annoying is that I got my slice at the back window, and unless you ring that bell and do a dance outside, no one notices you there. I rang the bell a couple times, no one answered. There were two women just inside the window ... LOOKED RIGHT AT ME ... and then went and took care of other business. I waited for about five minutes before they served me, when a two-second "I'll be right with you" would've totally sufficed. Plus, the wait for the actual slice was a bit longer than it should be. It was about 10 minutes - to heat up a pepperoni slice? Really?
Anyway, 4 out of 5 stars. Those four are based totally on the food, which almost made up for the service. —condemned2bfree
2008-11-24 12:38:33 I wanted to write a review because I've now eaten at Uncle Vito's twice. The first time I ate there was during the first week they were open. My husband and I stood in a long line and ordered a whole pepperoni pizza and the 3.95 pasano salad with ranch and vinaigrette both on the side. That time we had no expectations and the pizza was greasy in a pleasant way, hot and tasty- a perfect NY foldable crust. And yes, I also noticed the sauce was a tad sweet, but with the pepperoni, it was a nice touch. The salad was really flavorful, because the tomatoes that the put in it are actually a bruchetta mixture with garlic and such. So all in all, the first time was good enough to go back. The second time however, both the salad and the pizza pretty much sucked. This was last Friday night, a week and a half after the first time. We ordered this time the Sicilian style pizza, which was a whoppen 26 bucks! But we felt that it was justified to some degree owning to the prosciutto on it. We also ordered a Caesar salad to go. While we waited 30 minutes for our pizza (which was confusing because the pizzas themselves are already cooked with sauce and cheese and stacked on a rack), we sat in the bar and enjoyed a beer, which I must say was pretty fab, because the mugs were extremely cold, which is something I like and I also love that they have New Belgium's specialty beers- I ordered 2 Below- the winter amber ale, which is extremely tasty. We had ordered our pizza to go. So, we left and when we got home we dived right in. The 8.95 Caesar salad was the biggest rip off ever. It was one handful of lettuce, a sprinkle of Parmesan and a sprinkle of stale packaged croutons with a very small side of salad dressing. All in all, the salad was not worth more than 2.50- for it was much worse than the 3.95 pasano dinner salad we had before. The pizza was extremely bland this time, even though it had more topping. The cheese wasn't really melted, the sauce non-existent and the toppings were unimpressive and spread unevenly. So, my point is that Uncle Veto's is NOT good for take out or even after the first ten minutes. The special salads are a RIP OFF if you get them to go. My second experience was very disappointing, so much so that I am hesitant to ever go back. I'd rather have Woodstocks. —JamieParker
2008-11-24 21:41:57 Has anyone seen/heard of being able to get the Wii controllers and playing a bit of Wii while there? —MichaelAWoods
2008-11-26 02:29:13 I just wanted to comment on the service I got here tonight. The bartender, Corbin, was extremely friendly and personable. He was extremely helpful and cheerful and seemed like he actually liked working at Vito's, which was great to see. However, the man who worked at the register was much less amiable. He spoke very gruffly to my friends and me, and was extremely impatient with my friend. We had a misunderstanding about ID's because we were not aware the restaurant was 21+ after 10 PM, though we were not told this until after a few demands for ID's. Just the attitude and tone of the man's voice was not what I expected as a customer. I didn't expect a big smile and warm welcome, but I didn't expect to feel angry for being talked down to while eating my pizza either.
Also, they use an ID scanner at this location. Does anyone have any information on it? If it just checks ages, or if it gathers information? —E.Liu
EDIT: I should add that when I went in that night, they were having happy hour, or something like that. It was a beer and one slice of a one topping pizza for $5, if I remember correctly.
Happy hour is, indeed, a slice of a one topping pizza and a beer for $5. Also, no information other than what is on your ID already is gathered. —lizburciaga
2008-11-26 15:07:14 Is it true if you're not 21 that you can't get anything here after 10pm? —SunjeetBaadkar
Thursday-Saturday anyone under 21 is not allowed after 10pm because it becomes a bar. —lizburciaga
2008-11-27 09:23:33 It's a bar after 10 pm due to the liquor license, they check ID's. The scanner might save information but should just verify the ID is legit... Corbin is the bar manager IIRC, he and Jason have great service. —StevenDaubert
- FWIW... Vito's, like most restaurants, has a Type 47 liquor license: On-Sale General Bona Fide Eating Place. This license does not prohibit minors from entering and remaining on the premises. Restricting people under 21 is the establishment's decision and not due to any ABC requirement. It's much much easier to control underage drinking if minors are kept out. Taking ID checking responsibilities out of the bartenders' hands also saves time and labor. But technically, all the bars in Davis could allow minors to enter and remain until closing. —KevinWan
2008-12-02 15:06:34 The pizza is great here, expecially when they aren't busy as the pizza sees more oven time. I do have one complaint though...I ordered my slice of pizza to eat in the restaurant and it was served on a paper plate. I think that this gratuitous use of paper plates should be changed. —achassy
The plates are made out of sugar cane, says so on the plate. —lizburciaga
2008-12-04 23:19:43 Went there tonight to pick up a slice of pepperoni. The atmosphere was nice, but they played their music rather loudly. The slice was HUGE, and looked very appetizing, but the taste was just so-so. If you're a crust person, this is definitely not the place to go. I still much prefer Steve's or Lamppost to this. —BrookeB
2008-12-14 19:48:07 This place is bad ass. I fuckin love it. I was a loyal woodstocks customer for many years, and I must say the pie at woodstocks is exceptional. However, Uncle Vito's offers a full bar and enormous slices of pizza. Woodstocks only serves slices after 8:00pm. Advantage Vito's. Vito's also has happy hour daily from 11-midnight, whereas Woodstock's only promo worth attending is pint night on Tues where you get to keep the pint glass. Overall, Uncle Vito's is a better choice for a date or to chill with buddies. —RichardNichols
2008-12-15 16:55:56 When I heard that a New York style pizza place from Sacramento was coming to Davis, I crossed my fingers, prayed to the gods, and hoped for Luigi's. Oh well. —thisisjoel
