If you’ve ever been to New York City, you know you can get a slice of pizza on almost every corner – in addition to great Italian food in the restaurants and diners sprinkled all over the city. Here at Max & Louie’s New York Diner in San Antonio, we’re making the kind of Italian dishes that transport you to New York with just one bite.
New York City’s Italian food set the standard for how America defines the best Italian food, especially pizza. Here’s why: Italians began emigrating to the United States in the late 1800s – settling primarily in New York. Among the favorite recipes the Neapolitans from Southern Italy brought with them was crusty, cheesy pizza.
Food historians note Italian immigrant Gennaro Lombardi opened the first commercial pizzeria in the United States – in New York City in 1905. His one-time boss, Filippo Milone is also credited with helping increase the number of pizzerias in Manhattan by helping other Italian immigrants open their own pizza shops across the city beginning in 1903. Either way, New York City was home to the first pizzerias in the country – and a new home to millions of Italian immigrants who brought their personalized regional recipes with them.
That’s why pizza and Italian food are New York staples, and why we serve authentic New York style pizza and authentic New York Italian food here at our New York diner, Max & Louie’s, located deep in the heart of Texas.
A good tomato sauce is the foundation of many Italian dishes. And like most of what we serve here at the diner, ours is made from scratch by slowly simmering the finest crushed plum tomatoes, onion, garlic, and fragrant, flavorful herbs into a rich red sauce.
I worked with my executive chef to develop a secret recipe for our pizza dough that uses top-quality, high-gluten flour that gives our crust the strength and consistency that sets our pizza pies apart.
Every Max & Louie’s pizza is hand-tossed, spread with our red sauce, generously topped with a blend of the finest cheeses, and finished with your favorite toppings. One of my favorites is our meatballs – the same meatballs we use in our spaghetti and meatballs and in our meatball hero sandwich. If you haven’t tried our meatballs, you’re missing out on another New York Italian food masterpiece.
Why are these meatballs a masterpiece? They start with a mixture of 80/20 chuck beef, mixed with Pecorino and Romano cheeses, Italian breadcrumbs, eggs, a little milk, fresh herbs and seasonings, and a whole lotta love.
The same love goes into all our Italian dishes including our lasagna with meat sauce, our chicken parmesan, our eggplant parmesan, our vegetarian pasta primavera, and our huge hero sandwiches – all available for lunch and dinner seven days a week.
What are you waiting for? Come on in for a little Pisa New York.
Everything we serve here at Max & Louie’s New York Diner has a story and a place in our heart. I hope you’ll come in soon and try something new, something nostalgic, or something steeped in tradition.
While you’re here, ask for me and let me know what you thought of this episode of Max & Louie’s TV, available in the link below.
I’ll see you soon,
Drew
