Square & Round: L & B Spumoni Gardens, Brooklyn, NY

Maybe it was the much-hyped VMAs, but I was feeling Brooklyn this week. And what better place to get your Brooklyn on than at L & B Spumoni Gardens. 

About 5 years ago, JB and I were obsessed with a show called Man vs. Food. The show's host was from, you guessed it, Brooklyn, and he criss-crossed the country taking on small food challenges, like consuming 20 inferno-hot spicy chicken wings in 5 minutes or eating a 5-lb cheeseburger. The show didn't last that many seasons, mostly because of health concerns for the host. But what did last was my memory of one particular spot he visited -- L & B Spumoni Gardens in his hometown. And this week, we finally went. 

L & B Spumoni Gardens is an institution of sorts. Founded it 1939, it is an Italian restaurant, pizza place and ice cream shop all-in-one on a corner of a not so trendy area of Brooklyn. Let's just say it's close to Coney Island. This is a place worth traveling to and the throngs of people who frequent this establishment agree.  As we sat outside at one of many picnic tables we saw everything from soccer moms to EMTs to, well, us.

The draw here is Spumoni and pizza or pizza and Spumoni. Depending on your priorities.

First, the pizza. There are two kinds: square and round. Round is your traditional cheese pie- it is good, but average. The square, however, is the star. I mean star. A traditional Sicilian slice it is not. The secret to their success is that when they make the pizza, they put the cheese (mozzarella) IN BETWEEN the crust and the sauce and then more cheese (pecorino romano) on top. This produces a sort of yummy gooeyness inside with a nice crispy, thick crust. Note to any other pizza makers: Try this. 

JB made two trips to the pizza window for us, the second batch of slices were even better than the first. Next to the pizza window is the ice cream window.  In addition to the Spumoni in their name they also have ices and regular ice cream. We tried it all. 

 
JB opted for a vanilla spumoni which also had pistachio ice cream and chunks of the nut in it. I shared a lemon ice with Little D and Big Z opted for a plain-old vanilla soft serve. While the spumoni was good and somewhat obligatory, we all believed the ices were the best. So we got a coconut ice to share which was even better than the lemon ice. 

We left L & B with full bellies, vowing to come back. Next time, I want to try the Italian food with a slice of square and an ice on the side.

Until our next Berger,
KLB

L & B Spumoni Gardens
2725 86th Street Brooklyn, NY 11223
718.449.1230
www.spumonigardens.com