We stopped by Pulino's for a snack during our walk home from Korin Japanese Knife Shop Tribeca. The red awning and wrought iron/glass doors made it immediately obvious this was a Keith McNally spot. At 4pm on a Saturday, the restaurant was abuzz with patrons and what seemed like just as many waiters. We were able to snag two seats at the copper bar and took a moment to look around. The space is one large room, complete with exposed brick arches, reminiscent of some pizzerias. In the far back corner about half a dozen cured ham legs were hanging from the ceiling. A trip to the downstairs restroom was eerily similar to Schiller's Liquor Bar on the Lower East Side.

Our "snack" consisted of two beers, mine called White Lightning something or other and Dan's an IPA. The restaurant was so busy that the bartender didn't have pint glasses, so we sipped on little milk glasses instead. We ordered a pizza margherita, which proved tasty, but not dreaming-of-it-the-next-day delicious.

Overall, I'm sure this place will do well, if for no other reason than McNally's ability to turn everything into gold. To me, it didn't have the unique character or panache of some of his other hot spots, namely Minetta Tavern and Balthazar. To be fair, we only tried one pizza, and a simple one at that, though my first inclination is that I'd rather spend my pizza indulgences at Artichoke or Motorino...or, if I'm really ambitious, Spumoni Gardens.

What's your favorite NYC pizza haven? What do you think of Pulino's?