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In Park Slope, there’s a pizza joint every few blocks and one look at La Bruschetta’s garish sign blazing “pizza” and “pasta” above the strip-mall façade might have you fleeing from its cafeteria-style tables and its railway-car dining-room. But this pizzeria is better than it looks. Self-taught chef-owner Phyllis Vilardo is a native of Matera, Italy, and everything, including the breads and the sauces, is made from family recipes. While the menu is largely standard issue, there are more ambitious offerings, such as the vodka pizza, Milanesas veal-and-arugula panini, and arancini. In the end, the straight-up cheese pie satisfies best. Its crust is firm but chewy; its sauce is made from tomatoes imported from Naples, and it shows. — Kim McCreight

Cheese pie, $12; vodka pie, $20; baked ziti, $6.50