Il Gusto Pizza & Pasta

Il Gusto (“The Taste”) is a straightforward New York-style pizzeria offering pizza, stromboli, calzoni, insalati, and subs. With its steady flow of Deer Parkian customers, it’s clear @il.gustopizza has quickly become a neighborhood staple since its 2022 opening. The décor is classic NYC liminal pizzeria, with what you might call a sense of informal functionality. The staff was speaking to each other in what I believe was Albanian*, which brought another layer of authenticity to the experience (for me at least). It reminded me of the many family-run pizzerias in Manhattan & Brooklyn that I’ve been profiling lately.

The pizza here is what I’d call a crowd-pleaser. We ordered a double pepperoni, and the first thing to note is the pepperoni grease, pooling slightly and seeping into the crust, giving the pizza a vibrant flavor. The crust was more workmanlike, in supporting the toppings. To have a great pizza, the crust needs to stand on its own as quality bread: typically (but not necessarily) crisp on the outside, softer and chewy on the inside for a great NY-style slice. Here, the crust was more chewy throughout and lacked much flavor. It was solid crust: not bad but also the type of place where I saw customers not eating their crust, rather than savoring the cornicione (outer crust) on its own.

To me, Il Gusto seems like reliable go-to spot for an easy, satisfying dinner. It hit the spot.

*Having recently picked up a copy of “The General of the Dead Army” by Ismail Kadare at the excellent @conveyor_belt_books, I was excited to discuss the long history of Italian-Albanian exchange as it relates to pizza. Alas, the folks at Il Gusto seemed more focused on their work than indulging in a literary or historical digression on King Zog, Palermo’s Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio, and the Arbëreshë diaspora. Perhaps next time.