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A native of Brooklyn with family in the pizza biz, Vinny Vincenz knows his pies. That knowledge comes through, even if his bright, cheerful restaurant lacks the decades-long patina so prized in many other parlors in his class. What makes it so good? It starts with the basics: The tomato sauce has depth of flavor; it's simmered long enough to thicken up and mellow out. Vinny's self-proclaimed specialty, the Sicilian pie, avoids being the gut buster prevalent elsewhere by loading the cheese and toppings on a dough that's lighter than most. The more traditional thin-crust slices are equally good, but non-pizza entrées (and the impressively huge meatball parm) can take a long time to emerge from the kitchen onto your small table lit by a lamp fixture made from a tomato can. — John D. Rambow

Sicilian pizza, $22.50; fried calamari, $9