Motorino

I read about Motorino a few different places, and upon deciding where to go for my birthday it's the first place that came to mind. Boy am I glad it came to mind.

We called them up and found out that they do in fact take reservations for large parties (we had 12). They do a prix fixe deal for big groups, which was an initial turn off, but turned out to be a great deal. They offer a few levels, $20 per person being the lowest and what we chose, and included antipasti and pizza. You can opt for more money and also buy yourself some meat and cheese and dessert. They don't currently serve alcohol, but (score) it is BYOB.

The staff was very friendly every step of the way, confirming my reservation and happily supplying us with wine glasses and a bottle opener. The bread was placed and soon the antipasti starting pouring in, a couple of plates of everything they were offering that night. This included some kind of tasty meat, arugula salad (with pear, bacon, bleu cheese and a light dressing), brussel sprouts (roasted with what I think was bits of pancetta and shaved parm, soooo good), beet salad, roasted butternut squash, mussles, and olives. It was a bit of a feast all by itself, but then came the pizza...

They brought us a couple of several varieties in constant waves. It was almost over whelming. This included: Margherita (bright tasting sauce, good quality mozzarella, and fresh basil), Soppressata Picante (nice and lightly spicy with chili oil and a meaty kick from the spicy soppressata), Brussel Sprout & Speck (chopped sprouts and bits of meaty speck with parm), and Buffaline (mozzarella, olive oil, basil and sea salt). Every one of them was delicious. The crust is not too thick, but pillowy with a nice bit of crunch, and a little smoky from the hot oven. The toppings are top notch, and under normal circumstances one pizza would feed about one person. We had more than enough food, and considering how many different things we each sampled and how much we ate (or me, anyway, I ate an ungodly amount), it was money well spent.

Their pizzas run $9-16 and antipasti $5-15. They have lots of specials every day and also offer meats and cheeses, as well as gelato and sorbet (P.S. I've been back, and the amaretto gelato and blood orange sorbet are to die for). I also heard they are serving brunch now, which cannot be bad. I'd definitely suggest trying this place out, I'm going back ASAP. -Laurel

This place is perfect for large groups and parties. I mean, bringing your own liquor, a prix fixe price so it was the same for everyone (which is the BEST in large groups, because usually someone/everyone ends up paying more than they should because of other people don't pay as much as they should), and the food was awesome.

Unfortunately, as far as the antipasti goes, I couldn't eat a lot of it because of my Crohn's Disease, but it looked good and everyone else seemed to like it! There were some things I could eat, and they tasted great. For someone who doesn't like squash, I was really liked the way they prepared it here - it was sweet and very decadent. Not a big fan of sprouts either but I tried one (can't really have more than that anyway) and the way they prepared it was perfect. I think they may have almost converted Amy - a prominent sprout hater. The meat seemed to be a ham that was cured and very juicy and delicious. The mussels I heard weren't the best ever, but what do you expect for a pizza place?

Speaking of which - the pizza. Not too greasy, a thicker fresh crust, and tasty fresh ingredients all the way through. Normally I add salt to pizza to give it a little more flavor (and because I'm apparently obsessed with salt), but this wasn't needed. I wasn't feeling well so I wasn't going to eat any, but I ended up having three slices because after my first I couldn't stop.

Also, since the place is BYOB, you will save a lot of money, and if you think the waiters did a superb job (as we did), you could give them your leftover wine (as we did). They'll love you for life. - Jennifer

Address: 319 Graham Ave. (at Devoe Street, Williamsburg), Near the Graham Ave. L Stop

Website: http://www.motorinopizza.com/

Payment: Cash, Credit Cards

Delivery: Yep, to a pretty large area, too.

Open Late: Open everyday until 12am

Large Group Friendly: Yep!

Bar/Happy Hour: No, but it's BYOB