Photos by Shoshanna McCollum, Samantha Salerno, and Joe Cook.
Cherry Grove Pizza
179 Ocean Walk, Cherry Grove, New York
631-597-6766
New York and pizza is a top-tier combination that has been around since the early 1900s. On Long Island, you can find multiple pizza shops in every town. Long Islanders love the beach and they love their pizza, so by combining the two, you’re batting 1,000. At times, some of those beach pizza shops are not, as you would say, “up-to-par” with the standards of pizza people around here are used to. That, however, is not the case with Cherry Grove Pizza, which is right up there with some of the best pizza places around.
They offer the standard regular cheese pizza, or pepperoni pizza, which is great, but what really stands out is their specialty slices. Numerous options of specialty slices are available to customers and they have something that appeals to everyone. Some of those include the buffalo chicken pizza, eggplant rollatini pizza, white spinach pizza, and bacon cheeseburger pizza, just to name a few. One of the coolest options they offer is the garlic knot pizza, which combines the two staples of pizza places: pizza and garlic knots.
I had the pleasure of eating a buffalo chicken slice and as someone who loves buffalo chicken slices, it was honestly one of the best that I’ve had. The dough was baked to just the right temperature and the ingredients blended together seamlessly. You can tell that this shop knows exactly what it takes to make great pizza. There was no short-changing of ingredients, as the slice itself was very big and included a large amount of chicken. The buffalo sauce was superb, as it was just the right level of mild to a little bit of spice. If you don’t like spicy foods, you can eat this with no problem and be happy. The same could be said for it if you do like spice, as it does have a little of that classic buffalo kick to it; it blends well to create the right amount in between. The best part of this pizza was the cheese. Pizza lives and dies with cheese, and the cheese at Cherry Grove Pizza is fresh and excellent.
One of the reasons pizza is a top choice for people is because it’s convenient and fast. At Cherry Grove Pizza, that is most definitely true. On top of being very polite, the staff is very quick. I walked into the shop around lunchtime, 1:30 p.m., on a Saturday in the middle of summer, and ordered my food, paid, sat down, and began to eat within five to six minutes. They also offer dining services with waiters and waitresses and the speed and top-notch service applies there too. The table next to me had five beachgoers who were seated for lunch, and within 15 minutes their drinks and pizza were on the table ready to be enjoyed.
Another very underrated factor when eating pizza is drink selection. It almost seems like you’re breaking the law if you don’t enjoy a cold soda or sugary beverage with your pizza. Cherry Grove Pizza 100% passes the fountain soda test. There’s just something different about soda when it comes out of a good fountain system. The Coca-Cola there tastes like vintage and rich Coke that will beat the taste of a bottled Coke any day. It combines perfectly with the great food offered here.
After a long day on the beach, you should definitely look to fill your appetite at Cherry Grove Pizza. If you don’t want pizza, the selection of hero sandwiches is excellent as are their pasta dishes. Don’t forget their week night dinner specials: Get Baked Tuesdays offers complimentary dinner salad, wine/beer or soda, and ice cream at Sweet Licks. Thursdays are Employee Day with 50% discounts on all entrees and 25% off the rest of the menu. Cherry Grove Pizza also has a long season – serving up great food through September and into Columbus Day Weekend. The only bad thing about Cherry Grove Pizza is that if you’re not staying in Cherry Grove, you have to take a boat to get it.
