It's the water.
That's how people who visit Eddie & Sam's N.Y. Pizza in downtown Tampa explain the delicious and fulfilling slices and pies and other italian concoctions that come from the pint sized kitchen of the shop which opened at 203 E. Twiggs St. in 1998.
The water that is shipped in once a month from Livingston Manor, N.Y. in the Catskills.
One-thousand bottles of crystal spring water, and yeah, it makes all the difference in the dough that is used as a base for all of those thousands of pizzas that go flying out of the ovens, and off the shelves of the glass enclosed cases as fast as the small staff can make them, and into the hands and bellies of the thousands of satisfied customers who visit the shop all year round.
And yeah, the story of the water is true, Examiner knows a fella who lugged a whole lot of those bottles up the stairs to the store room during the monthly delivery, and his arms and legs can still attest to that fact!
Yup, the water, and a special and secret family recipe for the sauce. That is, the sauce for the tomato sauce based pizzas.
There are so many kinds of pizza lining the glass shelves at Eddie & Sam's it's hard to decide which culinary delight of a slice you want today.
Will it be the Caprese Pizza, the one topped with soft buffaol mozzarrella and fresh basil and a shot of olive oil and garlic and hot peppers; The Eggplant Parmesan pizza made with slices of eggplant and loaded with melted parmesan cheese; the Chicken parmesan slice with chicken smothered in parmesan and spices; or the Greek with feta and olives and spices.
You might try a stromboli, vegetarian or meat. Or, mama mia, the lasagna, like no other lasagna in the land. Then you have the Hawaiian pizza, pineapple on the top and of course, cheese. And the barbecue chicken pizza, with, guess what...barbecue chicken.
And you've got bianca (white) pizzas, for those of you who don't like red sauces. Bianca with spinach and artichoke is a house favorite. And primavera, an all vegetable pizza with spinach, broccoli, mushrooms and onion sauted in olive oil and smothered in cheese.
You've got Hero sandwiches, and pasta dishes, like spaghetti and baked ziti and ravioli. And of course calzones, those great big slices of dough wrapped around loads of melted cheese and just about any filling you desire.
And dinners. eggplant parmesan, and chicken parmesan. and garlic knots.
Nobody really knows what a garlic knot is, but it looks and tastes good, and it sure does have garlic.
And, if you think you have the room for something after the big slice, or dinner or sandwich you just ate, well make way for one of the best cannoli you have ever tasted. And the tiramisu, the Italian pudding is a delight, too...both are, as any New Yorker might say, "To die for."
And any New Yorker would be right at home at Eddie & Sam's. What with the New York subway signs, the posters of the Empire State Building, the Yankee caps and other New York memorabilia that line the walls of the long, narrow, bustling, aromatic space.
Now, you don't have to be a New Yorker to appreciate Eddie & Sam's, but after one stop there, you'll be in a New York State of Mind.
Eddie & Sam's N.Y. Pizza 203 E. Twiggs St. Tampa 33602 813-229-8500
Open Saturday-Thursday 11-9 Friday and Saturday 11-10
Comments