Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian has brought a tradition of over 100 years of pizzas to the Treasure Valley. Located in the Village at Meridian, Grimaldi’s has long been known to uphold the traditions and flavor of the original location located under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn, New York. The interior is roomy, broken up into several rooms as well as an expansive bar. Some rooms are comfortable for groups with large round tables, while others have a nice selection of smaller tables that can make this perfect for a few friends or just a nice date night. An outdoor patio is a good place to enjoy an evening with a view of the spouting waters in the nearby fountain area.
An invitation to The Boise Beat from Rick Larsen, General Manager at Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian, offered a chance to taste some pizza, salad and dessert and find out why Grimaldi’s is so special. As Rick explained, “Our heart is in Brooklyn—even though we’re nationally almost everywhere now, we keep that Brooklyn authenticity here in the pizza in all of our restaurants”.
As we enjoyed a delicious Caesar Salad, Rick talked about the fact that they are first and foremost a pizza restaurant. He said, “I think that is one of the reasons that our pizzas have been consistent year after year after year, because we just focus on pizza. Pizzas and calzones and that is what we do. We also do make our cheesecakes here in the restaurants also—every day we make the cheesecakes. I think those are the things that keep us at the top when it comes to food. Everything is son mass-produced that when you come here you can really taste the difference. It’s in the flavor!”.
At Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian, there are a few things that go into their pizza that makes it really special. The first is reflected even in the name of the restaurant and serves as a centerpiece visible to everyone. This is the coal-brick oven that cooks the pizzas and calzones. As Rick said, “We do New York style, thin crust pizza. It’s coal brick-oven cooked and it’s about a little over 100 years old. We have our coal shipped in from Pennsylvania, it is anthracite coal which is the cleanest burning coal you can use out there. It’s the same coal we’ve been using the whole time we’ve been in existence.That’s a big part of it; that gives it a smoky flavor. It’s a 1200 degree oven and cooks top to bottom. The floor is about 525 degrees and the air inside is about 1200 degrees, so it gives it a great flavor profile that you can’t find anyplace else. The other thing is, we make our dough using a process where a reverse-osmosis system that mimics the water from Brooklyn, so we have that consistency and the flavor throughout all of our Grimaldi’s; so it’s very nice. ”.
Having already been to Grimaldi’s several times before and being a fan of their pizza, Rick picked a nice traditional style pie for us. He said, “The one that we ordered is a basic pepperoni with Italian sausage and onions. It’s a thin crust and the cheese is evenly spread and it is sliced by hand. The cheese comes in as cheese balls and then we slice it at about ten cuts per inch so it’s a nice thin cut. It is laid across the pizza Sicilian style is what they consider that, where they sauce around the cheese and then it is topped. It cooks nice and crisp inside the oven”.
When the pizza arrived, it was quite a sight to behold. The crust had bubbled up around the edges, coloring running from a light golden brown to a dark char in some places. The sauce did not overwhelm the cheese and the toppings were generous. This pizza was cut into large slices, perfect for the desired way of eating New York style pizza—using your hands and folding the slice in half. This is not knife and fork pizza (although there are those utensils on the table), but rather eat it like dose Brooklynites do pizza—-messy and delicious.And sure enough, the taste was superb, with slices of fresh onion just cooked enough to sweeten, spicy pepperoni and of course the excellent Italian sausage.
Having eaten pizza over the years in both New York and also New Haven, Connecticut (the competing place that also claims the title of original pizza and contains some wonderful places), the taste, flavors, texture and look of Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian is the real thing. Rick also gave much credit to the staff, saying that “I think that no matter where Grimaldi’s is that it’s unique to all the other pizzas out there. There’s other good pizza out there, don’t get me wrong; but ours is unique in its flavor and unique in what we do. The guys and girls out there who cook our pizza are skilled at what they do—you can’t just walk in and say i’m a pizza cook and know how to run that oven. Trust me, it takes a while and skill to get to where you’re making great pizza”.
Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian has several pizzas that top the popularity list. Rick said that “We have what we call are Chef’s Selections and they are big sellers for us. I’m going to say the Brooklyn Bridge is number one, the Don is number two and Margherita number three. The Garden and the Four Cheese (Quatro Formaggi) are neck and neck. The Brooklyn Bridge is roasted red bell peppers, so every morning before we open we roast a couple of trays of red bell peppers in the oven, then we peel them, cut them up and use them on our pizzas, our salads, the Antipasto, it’s all delicious. Then we use ricotta cheese and our Italian sausage. And then, the most popular pizza ever is pepperoni; I think everyone loves a pepperoni pizza. When you make it as good as ours, I think it tops the rest too all the time”.
Of course, Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian has a wide choice of beverages too, ranging from iced tea and sodas to wine and beer. Imported Italian sodas and waters are available and even a Blueberry Italian Soda made with fresh berries. The wine and beer is not an afterthought but an important part of the Grimaldi’s experience. Rick explain that, saying “We have an Executive Chef who chooses most of our beer and wines for us. They change about every six months on the wines and the beers change a little more frequently than that. We also carry a couple of local beers in our restaurant, as do all the Grimaldi’s. We have one wine that the Executive Chef went to Italy and they had developed and made for is. It’s called the Mille Gradi. It’s a well-balanced red wine that goes with almost everything I think we have here. It’s delicious!”.
Talking with Rick also yielding some interesting tidbits about him as well as Grimaldi’s desires about how they are seen in the community. Rick talked about how Grimaldi’s is trying to be part of the community, participating in many community projects and supporting charitable groups, food banks, local schools and even pets with donations and food. Rick himself takes an active role in this, trying to show how much Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian is part of the Treasure Valley community. Living locally, Rick has spent most of his life working around pizza and feels that Grimaldi’s is not only delicious pizza, but a great community sponsor.
Besides their made-fresh-daily New York Style Cheesecake, and several other desserts, Grimaldi’s makes one of the best desserts to ever come out of an Italian kitchen (even according to this scene from the Godfather). The Cannoli at Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria in Meridian is a beautiful thing, a golden-brown pastry crust filled with luscious creamy ricotta cheese and chocolate chips. Even after a full meal, the Cannoli is something that should at least be shared to cap off the meal perfectly. It was a wonderful way to finish my talk with Rick Larsen and to see why Grimaldi’s really can’t be beaten when you want a true taste of New York style Italian goodness.
Grimaldi’s Coal-Brick Oven Pizzeria
3753 E. Longwing Lane, #130
Meridian, ID 83646
(Located in The Village at Meridian)
Phone: (208) 884-2031
