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A real slice of New York in Boca Raton

Aunt LuLu’s cheese pizza.

Aunt LuLu’s NY Style Pizza & Kitchen, a recently opened restaurant near Century Village in West Boca Raton, should satisfy those on a quest for real Big Apple pizza.

By ALAN J. WAX

South Floridians’ quest for “real” New York-style pizza seems never-ending.

Good New York-style pizza can be found. In recent years, I’ve discovered a few spots, among them Conte’s Pizza in Delray Beach’s Pineapple Grove and Angelo’s Pizzeria and Ristorante on Route 7/441 in western Delray Beach, that offer real deal New York pizza.

Recently, I discovered another, a true hidden gem, to use the cliché, in western Boca Raton. It’s Aunt LuLu’s NY Style Pizza & Kitchen.

Aunt LuLu’s is in a West Boca Raton strip center has 3 outside tables.

Buried in an isolated, down-at-its-heels, West Boca Raton strip shopping center known as Hampton Square Plaza, Aunt LuLu’s is located off Kimberly Boulevard behind a Marathon gas station about a half mile west of the Lyons Road gate to Century Village. For more than 35 years the storefront was the home to Mama’s Pizza & Pasta and from 2018, the home of the short-lived Ramona’s Café, a kosher dairy restaurant that, among other things, served pizza.

And there really is a Lulu, Lucianne Morello, who with her family owns the restaurant. I didn’t get to meet Lulu, though I did see her flitter through during a recent lunchtime visit. Her staff, to be sure, is friendly.

Aunt LuLu’s is a true, New York-style corner pizza joint. Nothing fancy. There’s just a counter and brown tables for about 20 diners in a dining room with pine wainscotting and white stucco walls plastered with old family photos. . A small Ficus plant peers down on the room from atop a Coca-Cola cooler. Aunt LuLu’s, which opened late in 2020, looks little changed from the store’s previous occupant.

Importantly, the restaurant has taken to steps provide comfort to patrons fearful about dining out during the pandemic. The staff is masked. Unoccupied tables bear signs that they’ve been sanitized and there’s a hand sanitizer dispenser near the door. Also, there are three outside tables.  On a recent weekday evening the dining room was free of other guests so social distancing was not an issue.

Making the pizza.

Inside Aunt LuLu’s.

Sign indicates table has been sanitized.

Aunt’s LuLu’s pizzas are made with the characteristically large hand-tossed thin crust. They’re sold as whole pies (14 inch and 18 inch) and by the slice. A round cheese slice ($3) is ginormous, almost 8-inches wide at the crust and 9 inches from edge to center. The crust is thick and crisp along its edge, yet soft, thin, and pliable enough to be folded in half to eat. The house-made sauce is just right, not too sweet, and the cheese balance would not be subject to argument. The grease quotient was perfect.

A slice of Sicilian ($4.50), square in my old Brooklyn neighborhood, also was huge, measuring 6”x8” and more than an inch high. Fresh from the oven, the dough was airy, the crust firm, loaded with melted mozzarella and that flavorful red sauce.

6-inch meatball parm sub.

Sicilian slice is 6 x 8 inches.

A slice of the Brooklyn Square ($4.50, essentially, a Sicilian slice with the cheese beneath the sauce in the style of Brooklyn’s well-known L&B Spumoni Garden, didn’t measure up to the original as the topping, after reheating, seemed dry. The dough, however, was light and airy.

Cauliflower and gluten-free crusts are available as are a wide range of toppings. You’ll find occasional special pies, among them Ezzo pepperoni hot honey, eggplant caprese and spinach artichoke on Aunt LuLu’s Facebook page

Garlic knots, which come at no extra charge with an entrée, are ethereal, fragrant puffs of airy dough, crispy on the outside and lathered with loads of garlic and butter.

Chicken francese entree

Cheese slice and slice of Brooklyn Square

An entrée of chicken francese ($17) was golden brown and looked beautiful atop a mound of thick-cut spaghetti and while the chicken was tender, the pale, yellow sauce was overly buttery and might have benefited from more lemon juice and wine.

Sub sandwiches, heroes in Brooklyn, are available in 6-inch and 12-inch lengths. A half-size meatball parmigiana sub featured two pool-ball-sized globes of mildly spiced, tender meat topped with melted cheese and red sauce. My only complaint was the bread lacked a crunchy crust

At lunchtime there is a menu of value-priced specials and combinations.

For a small eatery, Aunt Lulu’s has a wide-ranging menu worth exploring. But above anything else, for now, the terrific pizza is the biggest draw.

Aunt Lulu’s NY Style Pizza & Pasta

19785 Hampton Drive,  Boca Raton, FL 33434

(561) 245-7011

Auntluluspizza.com

 

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  1. Lori kirman says:

    We brought in from them on Saturday. The calamari was outstanding. With jalapeño peppers and delicious sauce tomato sauce. My husband had the Bolognese which is wonderful. I have the house chicken Milanese salad which is wonderful with a balsamic vinegar vinaigrette syrup on top. The food was very very good and we will definitely go and order them from from there again

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