Cafe Amore’s Pizzeria Ristorante

The real estate mantra of «Location, location, location!» applies to Amore’s. For if it wasn’t a few feet from the entrance to the West 4^th subway complex I wouldn’t have stopped by.
Hungry but not starving, we figured picking up a slice before returning to home was the right thing to do. Making that decision a few feet from the subway was made much easier by the presence of a standard looking slice shop. (The same logic may apply to the nearby sex shops I suppose for those in the market for adult items)
A long display case with various pies and garlic knots greets the visitor. There’s a narrow space to wait in or simply turn around and place your white paper plate on the counter. Further back you’ll find tables and chairs so there shouldn’t be any trouble finding a seat if you so desire.
Our slices were removed from the oven, place on a green cafeteria tray and we were on our way to the back seating area. That’s where I discovered enough oil to make BP potentially interested.
Letting the oil drip nearly caused an oil spill and easily penetrated the paper plate and napkin I brought to assist with. I’m convinced that given enough time to oil would have made a hole in the tray.
The cheese was such that it wasn’t very integrated with the crust so easy to come loose. The crust wasn’t burnt so that’s a plus. I’ve experienced better.
That’s amore!

They locked the bathroom at 1am, even though they close at 2:45 AM. Then they lied about it. Jerks. Also, the pizza was subpar, but to lock the bathroon was a raw move.

Filth. I don’t recommend. This place received multiple violations for food protection and vermin. Violation as of April2013
Sanitary Violations 04L CRITICAL
Evidence of mice or live mice present in facility’s food and/​or non-​food areas.
Sanitary Violations 08A
Facility not vermin proof. Harborage or conditions conducive to attracting vermin to the premises and/​or allowing vermin to exist.
Sanitary Violations 10A
Toilet facility not maintained and provided with toilet paper, waste receptacle and self-​closing door
Sanitary Violations 04C CRITICAL
Food worker does not use proper utensil to eliminate bare hand contact with food that will not receive adequate additional heat treatment.

I had a late night at the office and with a 30 minute train ride ahead of me, I didn’t think I could have waited to get home for supper. In hindsight I should’ve.
The staff was really friendly, the pizza was fine. But, when I took my pizza to the back where there was seating I almost threw up. I stood there with my tray of pizza deeply concerned that I was the only once smelling the rancid smell of… feces. It was the most grotesque smell ever. I looked all around me to see if there was in fact, poop anywhere. Nothing to be found with my eyes but my nostrils sensed otherwise.
I immediately lost my appetite. I had three bites of my pizza and threw the rest away because I couldn’t stand being inside any longer. It was terrible. It’s a shame because I got my pizza really quickly, the staff was really nice and it was cheap. But I will never come back here because of that experience.

they have good pizza

There used to be another Café Amore on 14^th street, just southeast of Union Square, and it was totally better than this place. It was easily the best pizza in the Union Square area, which is not saying much but sometimes I liked to eat there. It closed down suddenly like a year or so ago. I miss it because I like eating pizza and I like Union Square and it was pretty rad to combine the two.
I don’t like the pizza here as much as I liked the pizza at the other Café Amore, and I don’t like the intersection of 6^th and West 4^th as much as I like Union Square. Downgrades all around. I go here now and again to get a quick bite to eat, but it makes me feel sad because it reminds me of the hole in my heart left by the other Café Amore.
Sometimes I feel like I can avoid these feelings of loss by going to nearby Ben’s Pizzeria, but it’s never a good idea. Ben’s is totally adequate but somehow it always manages to feel like a depressing shithole in there. Don’t get me wrong, the best pizza places look like shitholes, but Ben’s just seems so dismal. Like maybe a pizza man died there once and his ghost still haunts the place.
I believe in real ghosts.

First time I came here: A-​OK sums up Café Amore Pizza Restaurant in Greenwich Village perfectly. My friend and I had a plain slice each and an order of garlic knots. We paid and ate. The pizza was standard New York pizza which means above average compared to the country. My friend is a born and raised New Yorker; he knows.
The dining area was spartan, but clean. The staff was brusque, but friendly, I guess.
Second visit: Incredibly convenient pizzeria. Walk out of the W 4^th station and it’s right there. Good pizza, too. Plain slices are $ 2.70. Pretty good size, plenty of cheese, crispy crust with a nice edge, and quality sauce. Probably will try some other pizzerias in the neighborhood, but I know I’ll be back. Good pizza and what a location!

I like this place. My best eating experience there occurred on a Friday night around 8 P.M., when all the offerings were freshly made. There were combo-​slices that were as well-​made as it comes. Broccoli and chicken, tomato, pile-​high veggie, pineapple, etc., were all thick and very cheesy. That talented guy (gray hair) was even able to make several different combo-​slices fit onto a single pie!
At times, I’ve had a plain, thick-​layer-​of-​cheese slice that has that sort of chewy, buttery extreme parmesan-​mozzarella taste that seems to float separately off the crust over the layer of wet tomato sauce, the sliding thick and chewy cheese having an intensely delicious flavor that that I’ve only rarely encountered anywhere. I say «at times» because the magic happens rarely, even at this place. I guess the stars simply have to align that way. Ah, well, but the memory still lingers.

Of course this isn’t great pizza, its the closest pizza to the W 4^th stop, so if you don’t have the patience to wait for better pizza several blocks away (which I did not, the other day) you get caught going into this place. The only reason this place is in business is just because of their great location. I feel as though if I opened up a pencil sharpener in the same spot it’d have the same success.
A regular slice is $ 2.50. It’s a definite shock to see that down a narrow hallway is this decent sized sitting area with tiles, cheap chairs and a few tables. I doubt they’re rarely used.
I won’t be going back here, not because it was horrendous, but just because there are so many better options.

I am pretty lucky to live in the greatest city in the world. Sometimes I imagine how it would be as a tourist in this hood, and to go on a quest for the culinary delights of the West Village, namely real deal New York pizza. But instead, ending up in this toilet called Café Amore.
Seriously, I’m not even Italian but I take personal offense at the fact that this place calls this stuff pizza. If the City of New York ran out of manhole covers on 6^th Avenue, they could walk into Café Amore and use some of these «pizzas» to cover the sewer holes. In fact, it would probably enhance their flavor after countless taxis and pedestrians trampled all over them.
The first time I came, the cashier was engaged in an argument with a bunch of thugs about the soda bottles being expired. First of all, the idiot thugs should have had their faces kicked in for even starting an argument about this (as soda bottles didn’t even SHOW expiration dates until the last few years), but secondly, this cashier was an imbecile for even entertaining this mess. Kick them out. Ring me up already. Because I am in a mad rush to pay $ 5 for my slice of mediocre pizza. I should have just walked out, but I’m not an asshole. My pizza had already been reheated (marginally) and was ready to be eaten (or thrown into the subway tracks).
Unfortunately, I ended up at Café Amore another time. Yea, I’ve been here twice. Look, we all make mistakes. But it did prove that my first visit wasn’t a fluke– this place consistently sucks. Serve me crap once, shame on you. Serve me crap twice, what the hell was I thinking?

Conveniently located next to the West 4^th subway hub and surrounding smut shops and shitty eating options. Creepily cavernous inside. Low ceilings, dirty because of the ghetto assholes who leave all their crap on the table. Thoroughly unmemorable pepperoni and canned mushroom slice for an equally unmemorable (but definitely excessive) price.

Needed fuel to keep the engine going.
Was desperate for fuel.
Regret fuelling up here.
End of story.

Solid choice if you want something on the run or to take on the train. Canned mushrooms? I don’t think so. But the rest of the fair is nice. The slices are big. The dough is tasty. The service is meh. It takes a hot second to heat up (like any pizza shop — although you pay a bit more here for the location). But, overall, not too shabby.

overpriced and poor quality cheese and sauce.

I go to this place because I know for a fact they have canned mushrooms (I prefer them, don’t ask why). Other than that, it is mediocre at best. Though incredibly convenient, there are two other places within two blocks that are far better (Pizza Booth and Joe’s Pizza). The one advantage of this place is clean indoor seating. There was also a door in the back (a back porch?) that I could hear children through.
All things said, the two topping slices are fairly pricey (more than$ 4), but are foldable and greasy. Staff is helpful, but it doesn’t exactly take much at a pizza joint.

2.5 stars. I had been here a few times before drunk or tipsy wanting some greasy food to soak up the alcohol. However, last Tuesday I came here after meeting with a friend. I came here for a quick bite to go. I ordered a plain cheese slice. Apparently it had been awhile since I ordered this because I was shocked at the price for a plain slice ($ 2.50). But I got it and it was OK. Not great, not bad.

So I arrived in New York a few weeks ago, and one of the things I was most excited about was the pizza. Came out from the West Coast, where I would always say there was nothing like NYC pizza out there. Growing up in DC I used to come up on the train, and first thing I’d do is get a slice in the random basement pizza shop in Penn Station, which beat out anything DC had to offer pizza-​wise.
Anyway, I get here and move into a little W. Village spot and very quickly hop on Unilocal to find the best pizza in the neighborhood. Consistently the one that comes up is Joe’s. So first time 2AM hunger strikes, I make a Joe’s run. Something’s not right. Where’s the pizza with real flavors like Margherita, White Pizza, Chicken and Broccoli, etc. If I wanted to dip cardboard in oil and throw some Jimmy Dean’s on there, I could do it myself.
Next day, I tell my roommate about the experience, she insists Joe’s is the best. So I wait a few days, go back again earlier in the evening to get a fresher slice. Love the roommate, still hate the pizza.
Fortunately then I found Café Amore’s right around the corner from Joe’s. I’m not going to say this is amazing pizza for New York. I’m sure there’s way better to be found. But this is at least the kind of pizza that it’s just very hard to find anywhere else. Even in DC we just got our «cheap pizza with actual savory flavors» place in the last couple years, and in SF I’m not sure there was a single one. The slices at Amore’s are thick for thin crust, they’ve had a wide variety every time I’ve been in, and it’s always seemed pretty fresh. Also a plus: they’ve got plenty of clean seating if you want to hang out for a bit (not that I’m above standing and chomping). Anyway, for New York I’m guessing it’s a pretty straightforward neighborhood joint, but it’s the kind of spot I was afraid I might not find, and now I’m glad I have.

Staff is totally incompetent.
Too stoned or dumb to take my order correctly and mischarged me for an item that they did’teven sell (???). Too busy to speak up, I silently agreed to overpay for two slices, but then the clerk caught her error and, to my great incredulity, tried to charge me even more once the slices were out of the oven.
People that dumb make me wish coproral punnishment were legal.
Their pizza is okay: not too good, but not too shabby either. There are far better pizza places in the West Village, but Amore is right on top of the subway, which makes it convenient when you’re on the run.

I don’t know why Café Amore is hardly ever crowded, especially at lunchtime. It’s as clean and well lit as a Hemingway short story. There is always a variety of fresh pizzas to choose from. The crust isn’t too thin so a one topping slice can actually fill you up. The guys making the pies know what they’re doing and there’s always a cute girl at the cash register (a new one every week!). And once you get your food there is ample seating in the back. Heck, even the rest rooms are tidy. Café Amore might not have the reputation of John’s, Ben’s or Ray’s but if that helps keep the crowds away, that’s «bellissomo» by me!

Stopped in for a slice in my travels today — not bad, but not the best I’ve ever had. Staff was nice and the price was right.