Walking through colorful University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto, one may first notice the more dazzling (not to mention expensive establishments such as celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck’s Spago or the recently opened grandeur of the popular Cheesecake Factory.
However, if one were to walk slowly enough down nearby Hamilton street, he or she may decide to take a gander at one of the humbler neon-flashing nooks known as NY Pizza.

NY Pizza has been around for a while, specifically since the ‘70s and has gone through many different owners. With 25 locations prizing fresh pizza and secret dough and sauce recipes, NY Pizza is doing well despite its small size and has been under new management for four months. The New York reminiscent decor is pleasing yet casually understated with nighttime skyline photos and a colorful wall mural of the Statue of Liberty.

One of my companions noted that the restaurant could have come straight out of its namesake except for its muted lime-green walls. The brightly fluorescent-lighted establishment compels customers to put up their feet, relax, "watch the game" (although the TV is set to CNN) and, if one is of age, have a beer (encouraged by the beer-sponsored football posters plastered everywhere). While the restaurant retains a pleasant atmosphere (save for the incessantly ringing phone), it’s no secret that NY Pizza is really not for dining in. According to employee Hussain Maysan, the new management especially emphasizes delivery, and rightly so. Ninety percent of the business that NY Pizza gets is through free delivery, with most of the remaining 10 percent from take-out, so making a luxurious dining-in experience is not top priority, Hussain said. Limited outdoor seating is also available but not recommended during winter.

The staff are as laid-back as their atmosphere in an industrious sort of way, filling orders but seemingly unperturbed by our lengthy loitering as we debated on what to order.

We started with the Greek Salad ($4.95), a meal-sized combination of romaine and iceberg lettuce, diced tomato, brown olives, cucumber slices, red onion and Feta cheese with Italian dressing on the side. There was more considerably more iceberg than romaine lettuce, but it was crisp and fresh tasting. The sharp Feta and tart olives provided a nice contrast to the vinegary Italian dressing, and the greens provided a thankfully milder foil to the stronger flavors. The tomatoes, however, were rather watery and bland, and the salad did not receive much benefit for their presence. Although delicious, the salad arrived considerably after the rest of our meal and only when we reminded the wait staff that we had ordered it.

We had also ordered Cheesy Sticks ($3.99), but they arrived even later than the salad. Cheesy Sticks are soft, thick, buttery, doughy slices with excess oil and dusted with a grainy topping of Parmesan cheese and other spices, most notably garlic powder. They are satisfying and filling as comfort food, but are quite bland in flavor and have a pervasive Parmesan and garlic aftertaste that a date will likely be unimpressed with.

I ordered three 8-inch mini-pizzas over the course of two meals, cheese, Vegetarian and All Green. True to its name, the cheese pizza ($3) is an extremely cheesy pizza with out as much sauce as I would have preferred. The large quantity of gooey mozzarella cheese blended well with the flavorful, slightly spicy tomato sauce and thin, perfectly cooked golden-brown crust. The crust was mild without being flavorless, crispy on the outside and smoothly soft and textured inside. If the cheese were a bit less greasy and the sauce more plentiful, I would describe this pizza as excellent; but although it is very good it is no ambrosia.

The Vegetarian pizza ($4.50) was a favorite among my companions. This chunky, cheesy pizza came heaping with cooked but crunchy green bell peppers, strategically scattered onions and olives, chunks of tart tomato, mushrooms and a generous amount of that yummy anti-social garlic. I very much enjoyed the abundance of well-cooked, flavorful vegetables, but again there was not enough sauce to make a contrast to the other naturally milder ingredients.

The All Green pizza ($4.50), another vegetable-loaded crowd-pleaser, is made of broccoli, spinach, artichokes, spicy green onions, green bell peppers and garlic. The sauce was nicely proportionate here due to the quantity of vegetables and complementary cheese, the artichokes provided a harmonic bitterness to other tasty cheese-smothered vegetables and the green onions put a little kick into the overall experience. I would highly recommend the All Green pizza to anyone craving something different and healthy.

We also tried the Baby Mixed Greens salad ($4.95), which was somewhat of a disappointment after the Greek salad. The greens were slightly limp and didn’t seem to blend with the rest of the ingredients. The crumbled blue cheese, although a successful addition to the salad, was devoid of the pungent flavor I had expected and did not mesh well with the crunchy walnuts. The Balsamic vinaigrette was thick and unsatisfying, and the apple slices served as a garnish clashed with the overall effect the salad tried to create.

Overall, NY Pizza is a great place for take-out or a semi-leisurely lunch. The service is not slow yet neither is it quick, but the pizza is genuinely good and worth the wait. For an economical and satisfying experience, look closely for this intriguing pizzeria next time you’re craving something filling and flavorful.