"What's your favorite restaurant?" That question got us all thinking. If we had to choose one top dog at gunpoint, what would it be and why? Recently Short Order bloggers began celebrate their favorite eateries -- be they celebrity-chef-driven or a neighborhood hole-in-the wall. Why? Because we're tired of having to explain our favorite dining spots at cocktail parties or weddings.
There are some who live to eat, then there are some who eat to live. For the individual who cares not about the trivialities of food, nor the unruly depictions of culinary decadence permeating our internet psyche, there is Steve's PIzza in North Miami.
Steve's Pizza is an urban mainstay. The northern Biscayne corridor is quiet at night, but Steve's
invites you to dine-in, take-out or get delivery. Dining-in is your best
option and for several reasons. Steve's is open until 3 a.m. on the
weekdays (4 a.m. weekends). The decor is a perfect representation of the late-night dive joint school:
graffiti all over the walls and booths, a graffitied arcade game and gumball
machines in the corner, and a dividing wall in the lobby lined with potted
plants. Outdoor dining, patio lights, neon, parking and free matchbooks round out its perfection.
And the pizza. A large 16" cheese pizza just under $14 (including tax) and ready in 20 minutes. The New York-style pie awaits. Comfortable booths await. The muzak turns the mood from hungry to relaxed.
An airtight layer of mozzarella cheese blankets the thin crust, and in between a sauce bursting of tomato flavor. Grease pools in the middle, but non-picky eaters do not care. Pizza is sold by the slice too, $2.75 for a cheese slice approximately 25 square inches in size. Toppings? Unnecessary. But if you insist, get the thinly-sliced meatball topping.
Steve's can't be a true pizza joint without food counterpoints such as cold sub sandwiches, hoagies, spaghetti, ziti, pasta and Italian dinners (salad plus bread) like veal and eggplant parmigiana ($13.75). The bottled beer selection is nothing special compared to having beer itself: Heineken, Stella, Newcastle, Blue Moon, Red Stripe, etc.
Don't confuse Steve's in North Miami with a restaurant of a similar name Kendall Drive. Steve's is my favorite restaurant because it goes the distance: a fortress for crunked-out late weekends/weekdays, consistent pizza and the publicly-decorated interior design.
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