The Restaurants We Can't Live Without By Tom Fitzmorris. . . Revised May 2009 Brooklyn Pizza Pizza. Metairie: 4301 Veterans Blvd. 504-833-1288. Map. Lunch and dinner continuously seven days. Very Casual AE DC DS MC V   WHY IT'S ESSENTIAL   If you consider the pizza made in New York City and environs to be the best in the world, this place will come closer than most New Orleans pizzerias to satisfying your urge.   WHY IT'S GOOD   The pizzas here are classic thin-crust pies with crisp bottoms and light, bready edges, with an ideal (which is to say restrained) amount of sauce and cheese. The ingredients all taste like something. Even the slices (available that way all the time) come right out of the oven.   BACKSTORY   Todd Duvio opened Brooklyn Pizza in a strip mall at the corner of Airline Highway and Labarre in 2005. He had already attracted a good deal of attention when Katrina sent that freakish New Orleans-style flood through half of Old Metairie. It wiped out the pizzeria, but Duvio brought it right back, operating in a trailer. He reopened only to be forced to move to its present location when the lease ran out in early 2008.   DINING ROOM   It has the utilitarian look of a pizzeria, with a few tables and some counters between televisions.   ESSENTIAL DISHES   Pizza, any kind. Salads.   FOR BEST RESULTS   A slice or two of a large pizza is better than the small personal-size pizza. The crust comes out much better.   OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT   The dine-in aspect of the place could do with an upgrade, particularly in the matter of serving utensils. The pizza and salads are too good to be served with the cheapest kind of disposables.   FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD   Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter. Dining Environment -1 Consistency +1 Service Value +1 Attitude Wine and Bar Hipness Local Color   SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES    Open Sunday Open Monday Open all afternoon Vegetarian dishes Quick, good meal Good for children Easy, nearby parking Click here for an index to all 200 Essential Restaurant reviews. © 2009 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com