Review: Parry's Pizzeria and Market in American Canyon, California

Locating authentic New York style pizza is always going to be a challenge outside of the Big Apple, but it is an even bigger challenge 2,000 miles away on the west coast. Thank goodness for places like Parry's Pizza, a family-owned pizzeria located in American Canyon, California. American Canyon is a relatively new town 30 minutes north of San Francisco and on the way to Napa Valley, but Parry's Pizza could very well put it on the map!

What makes Parry's Pizzeria so different from other run-of-the mill pizza parlors is that it just screams of authenticity and passion about their pies. One of the first signs on the counter instructs you not to get on the cell phone while ordering pizza. As serious as this was, Evelyn Tropeano (wife of Piero "Pete", owner) was more than friendly in taking our order and seating us.

The décor at Parry's Pizzeria is also homage to the Northeast Atlantic area of the United States and the Piero family's life interests. There are numerous model cars and figurines on shelves; pictures of a military relative on the counter; and then a great artistic rendition of Pete standing in the middle of characters from the Sopranos. Pete is from Danbury, Connecticut. But he also grew up in the Bronx. And he was born in Italy. If you ever met someone in real life that could fit in as an extra in the Sopranos world as a restaurant owner, it is Pete Tropeano.

When my family went to choose what kind of pizza we were going to have, we couldn't help but notice the extreme difference in pie sizes at Parry's. First off, you can get pizza by the slice. But slices at Parry's are big enough to be folded by two hands and required maybe half a day to eat. There were several other sizes, but the most impressive was the 32", 10 pound pizza known as "The Big Gun". Although tempting to purchase, the Big Gun is not for the squeamish.

There were some excellent combinations of pizzas you could get here. One thing we noticed is that, unlike most transplant restaurants, there were no fusion-type of pizzas. There were no fruit pizzas, pizzas with brussel sprouts or tofu. This was straight-up New York and we obliged. We decided to save ourselves and go with a 16" New York Style Combo with salami, sausage, pepperoni, white onions, green peppers and mushrooms.

But as we sat down and waited for our order, another group of customers had their calzones delivered. They smelled extra fresh and were about the size of two forearms put together. They were definitely going on our list of things to order during our next trip here! Evelyn seems to take pride in being extra friendly and real to her customers. I always say that excellent service makes a restaurant's food taste better, and she was icing on the cake.

However our pie was no slouch, either. The New York Combo was splendid and one of the best slices of New York style pizza I've ever had. The crust was a delicately thin and crispy backdrop to everything else on the pie. There was just enough cheese and sweet tomato sauce to support the freshly sliced toppings. There was no overload of cheese or tomato sauce that can ruin fresh toppings. They use Saporito Pizza Sauce as a base (I'm guessing by the wall of cans in the kitchen) but it tastes as if more and more special ingredients are added to that. My favorite thing about New York Style Pizza is that toppings are always thinly cut making it much easier to discern fresh toppings from ones that had been in the back of the fridge a few days. You would swear that Parry's grew and made everything themselves- including the cheese!

Parry's won a place in our heart with their family style service and top notch New York style pizza. If you are ever headed back from the Napa Valley or on the way to San Francisco, make Parry's Pizzeria a stopping point!