Houdini Kitchen Laboratory
“The food is all fantastic, I highly recommend the Houdini Green, Guido BK, and Stinky Feet pizzas, but really they're all fantastic.”
“I'll be so bold to say that it's better than Roberta's. The crust has the perfect level of crunchiness and the sauce has perfect acidity.”
“Amazingly close to Manhattan on the L train (Halsey stop) this place was absolutely fantastic.”
Houdini Kitchen Laboratory
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Outdoor Seating: Yes
Has TV: Yes
Waiter Service: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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The pizza was good, VERY SMALL, but delicious. However, I wanted nearly 30 minutes to get a regular margherita pie to go and the service was the worst. That's why I have to give the low stars. The dudes that were working seemed pissed that we didn't want to sit down and just wanted one pie (had we known it was a pie for tiny children, we would have ordered more, but there is no size listing on the menu). We were told to sit at a nearby table as we waited for the pizza and then were told to move when more customers walked in. There really wasn't a convenient place for anyone doing take out to stand and had I not walked all the way to the back ovens, I wouldn't have even gotten the attention of anyone because there was no planted hostess greeting anyone when I walked in.
I found out the place was cash only after waiting 30 minutes for pizza with not one sign being posted that I could see and nothing I remember on the menu. They do have an ATM thankfully, but I had been sitting holding a credit card for so long, you would think they would've mentioned that initially or advertised it better, especially since they were pissed that I had to go the ATM and make them wait longer after my one pizza took an eternity.
Overall, a smile and customer service goes a long way guys. You should try it sometime.
We decided to eat dinner at this place after attending the cat circus located at the Brooklyn Muse warehouse-looking building. The area at this time at night (10 PM to 12 AM) was very shady! We felt we were going to get shanked, and the entrance of the restaurant was confusing to find. The main entrance of the place looks like a side entrance and has uneven cement by the entrance to the staircase which may be a hazard (someone could trip).
There were two extremely loud and unpleasant noises during our dinner, mostly coming from the metal giant garage door/barrier that opened and closed next door. The noises were so loud and sudden that I jumped up my seat, and others were also surprised of the commotion. The tables outside were somewhat a fail because the ice from my drinks melted (due to hot and humid weather) and dripped through the crevices of the table and wet my leg, ankles, feet, etc.
We ordered the "Guido" pizza and it was very filling. Not one of the best pizzas I had, since I wasn't a fan of the bitter rabe, but I admired how their pizzas are made (fire-wood/oven style). Our initial female waitress was somewhat snobby but after she left her shift, we had a pleasant male waiter who did his job greatly.
Not sure if we would come here again given the shady and graffiti-ed area during the evening time.
P.S. Cash only! They do not accept any cards.
A Roberta's for the "new" destination neighborhood of Ridgewood. I'm not quite sure it's a destination neighborhood right now, but all your obnoxious hipster friends are fleeing out here, so you're going to have to go out there at some point. Might as well stop for excellent pizza.
It's on a desolate stretch of warehouses by the Halsey L stop, but they have really prettied it up. This is a perfect summer spot to drink (relatively) cheap wine (which isn't superlative, but it does the job), and see how much you can gross yourself out with ludicrous amounts of pizza.
Starting with the burrata is a must, but here is a problem – the burrata is $9, but they explain it comes without any bread, and if you would like some bread, perhaps order the foccacia for $5 more? It's not foccacia, by the way – it's just pizza blanca. So, this little bait and switch to get you to order two starters is what loses it a star off the bat. Just add a few bucks to the burrata price, and merge the two dishes. The burrata is worth the $$$. Creamy, chewy, you'll make a mess. Perhaps could use some salt. Feeds two.
The pizzas are larger than you'll find at most high end spots nowadays – you could do 3 pizzas for 4 people, and that would be fine. They are a bit thicker than the neopolitan style, which I actually enjoy – no floppy ends.
Guido BK – this should be your go-to if you haven't been here before: excellent sweet sausage, bitter rabe, slightly more cheese than the other pizzas.
Queen – get this over the margharita – stracciatella instead of mozz, with all the extra cream on top, almost like having a vodka type sauce when the cream mixes with the tomato.
Pork Belly/pancetta – this comes without sauce or cheese, so do an end run, and order the margharita, and add pork belly to it. It's a much less fatty and more dry/cured type of belly that is unusual and flavorful.
Habenero – the tang and level of spiciness of this pizza is very reminiscent of jalapeno potato chips, so if you like that flavoring, this is a good choice. The spice level goes well with the pork loin.
In all, this is not a spot to flee out to nowheresville Queens/BK for, like Roberta's, HOWEVER, it's a very enjoyable experience with above average pizza across the board. Stop by and get some outdoor seating, wine (no bottles over $36), and stuff yourself to prepare to deal with your friend's "art show" that dragged you out here on a Thursday night.
Me: Why isn't my pizza cut into slices?
Houdini: Listen, man. We know that you're probably going to eat this by yourself. More than likely in one sitting, too. That's why we didn't slice your pizza.
Me: You're absolutely right.
*Folds pizza in half and consumes like a giant taco*
Delivery is solid. Lightning fast. Also- It only came uncut once. It's really not that big of a deal.
Service dining in could use some improvement, though. We were never offered a second round of drinks and only got water refills after we flagged a different waitress down.
I ordered the Reverend Yard salad and ask for it with the white truffled robiola gallette and our waitress had no idea what I was asking for. (It's a chunk of soft cheese. It's lovely. Don't skip it.)
After salads, we ordered the Habanera pizza without meat. Seemed like a simple enough request. She suggested that without the meat it was basically just a Margherita. Okay, that's fine. I order the Margherita with the habanero sauce on top and she tries to talk us out of it. It was a little awkward. I order it anyway because I have eaten it that way before and it's awesome. After the meal we all agreed how delicious having the habanero sauce on top was. The Houdini Green is also a solid vegetarian-friendly choice.
After waiting and waiting for the bill it was literally thrown on the table without a word. Ouch.
Visiting Bridge and Tunnel for beer on the same block, this place was a cozy, welcome, and unexpected place. We ordered for take out to the brewery.
It's a magical to see the pizza maker throw the dough in the air and make the pizza in plain view by the brick wood fire oven.
The Nduja (as hard to pronounce as it seems) offers both a really spicy "nduja" sausage along with a crunchy, and a bit meaty, cabbage. The cabbage seems out of place at first, but certainly works with its hint of sweetness, crunch, and fullness.
The pizza stylistically hits in between the soft, delicate doughiness and fresh ingredients of a traditional Neapolitan pizza and the medium breadiness and crust of a familiar New York style spice.
Would have been five stars but for the mediocre lasagna. The taste was right but was too mushy. It was deconstructed-lasagna and the béchamel was a bit overwhelming and made the pasta soupy.
Otherwise, this place rocks! Their pizza is Outstanding (might be better than Paulie Gee's) and certainly the wait is not as disagreeable. The bartender was terrific, our waitress, Yuki, was a GEM! She was sweet, funny, informative and totally made our evening!
We had a marhgerita with mushrooms; lasagna and gnocchi. The homemade gnocchi was lovely with butter and sage. The pizza was…well..I already said. We had burrata to start that was creamy and divine. The basil was sooo fresh.
It's a bit out of the way, in the middle of nowhere, but wow….we are absolute fans!
Simply delicious! Everything from the Houdini green to the basic magherita is tasty. Everything is super fresh and the pizzas are big enough to be shared or be prepared to have leftovers.
On top of the amazing food, the decor is really nice and rustic. They offer a ton of indoor and outdoor seating.
I'll def come back and dine again.
Disclaimer: it's cash only so come prepared
Soo, I think this is one of those places where you hear amazing things about the food and atmosphere, and then you go in a much smaller group than your friends who've been before, so your experience is way different.
I came here on a date, Monday night. The weather was great, so the outdoor patio was fairly packed, with 3-5 tables inside. So the restaurant wasn't packed by any means, but it was busy for a Monday night. We entered through the backyard door, which doesn't really look like an entrance. We walk up the stairs and are greeted by…… no one! For 5 minutes we are standing outside on the patio wondering where the host/check-in counter is, and finally we walk inside and look around… nothing. Then finally a girl (who's sitting in the corner of the kitchen in the back, doing paperwork or something?), slowly pops out of her chair and looks around, confused… and starts to slither over our way when the waitress pops out of nowhere and asks if we want a table. Yes please!
We were able to get seated outside easily. They've got a HUGE outdoor patio, which is awesome. One is elevated while the other one that's on the ground has picnic style tables. They were showing a movie on a screen outdoors last night, which was pretty cool, but a bit distracting and conflicted with the ambiance of the upstairs patio that doesn't have a view of the TV screen.
We started with a salad (can't remember the name but it was the 2nd on the menu, with mushroomies, sun dried tomatoes, and carrots) – I really enjoyed the dressing. Almost every other table was ordering the buratta started (which I wanted to get, but it's literally a bowl of buratta and a few pieces of basil thrown in there… not worth $8/9. Maybe put some tomatoes in there please!).Then we waited, and waited, and waited for our pizza to come out. We got the "Houdini" – $15 which is pretty reasonable in price – which was vegetarian. We asked if we could put the goat cheese on only half of the pizza… they said they don't do halves or substitutions. In all honesty, the pizza was delicious, however I would stick with the regular margarita. There were too many conflicting tastes going on on this pizza…. it was much sweeter in flavor than I would've thought. I couldn't really taste the eggplant at all, and there was a lot of eggplant on there. The pizza is nice and chewy, and the crust is nice and crisp.
I'd go back, definitely, if I'm in the area. But the service was nothing special, and the patio was a bit buggy, so I'd go indoors if the sun is down.
CASH ONLY. So so irritating as the nearest drug store is a half mile away, so you're forced to use their atm with a fee.