So in the last few weeks I've been on a bit of a pizza kick and managed to hit John's of Bleecker, Song E Napole (thanks [MENTION=711059]NYCRachel[/MENTION] for that rec) and Una Pizza Napoletana, all for the first time. All are excellent, although John's is obviously a very different animal (excellent old school NY slice takeout joint) from the other two (sit-down Neapolitan). But I have to say that between Una Pizza and Song E Napole, I actually think Song E Napole makes the better pie.

Aside from both serving neopolitan pies, Una Pizza and Song E Napole are also pretty different experiences.

Una Pizza is a PITA to get a reservation (they're only open 3 nights a week, and you more or less need to reserve exactly at 9am two weeks in advance of your desired date), but once you're there it's a very pleasant room that seems more like a casual fine dining restaurant than a pizza joint (dimly lit, spacious, impeccably clean). Wait staff is young and friendly, again befitting the casual fine dining vibe, although not quite as attentive as you'd find at, say, a Danny Meyer joint. The menu is extremely limited. The only two appetizers were a plate of olives or a little jar of marinated bean salad (which looked beautiful and was good, but not amazing). The only mains available are pizza with just 4 regular choices (which are all quite similar--the only variables are san marzano tomatoes vs. cherry tomatoes vs. no tomatoes, and mozzarella vs. pecorino vs. no cheese) and a special (that was sold out before our 7:45pm reservation) and a few options for toppings. They had a short wine and beer list, and the only dessert options were a gelato and a sorbet.

Song E Napole you'll need a reservation if you go on a Saturday night (I made that mistake one week, and saw SO many people turned away the next week when I came back with a reservation) but it wasn't hard to get one a couple days in advance. The room is tiny and very crowded. When we were leaving there was a group of older folks--one with a walker--coming in, and multiple people had to stand up for the guy with the walker to get to his seat. There are just a couple of waiters, who are constantly rushing around, but were very efficient, if a bit impatient with all the people waiting for tables who kept holding the front door open to the cold outside. The menu is more of a full trattoria menu, with a number of appetizers, salads, primi and secondi. But pizza and panuozzi (pizza dough-based sandwiches) are definitely the main event. And while Una Pizza makes a big deal about how every day they make exactly enough dough for the number of guets they anticipate that evening, I found Song E Napole's dough to be even better--a little less chewy and a notch more flavorful--and I liked Song E Napole's ratio of dough-to-tomatoes-to-cheese (Una Pizza was too much dough and too little of everything else).

Una Pizza is still very, very good. And it's possible we just got them on an off night. But I would DEFINITELY go back to Song E Napole, and I'm not sure I'll go back to Una Pizza.