Nexus Pizza Orlando: Can This Brooklyn Style Spot Replicate a New York Slice?
After a disastrous New York City trip during Christmas time, I learned a lesson not to go to the most packed city in America during the busiest time of the year. But one of the solaces I found was this fantastic pizza joint near my hotel that served an amazing margherita slice that I quietly ate in my boxers in the bathroom while my wife and I tried to keep our toddler asleep in the room.
I don’t eat a lot of pizza but I wanted to see if that experience could be replicated in Orlando. I found Nexus Pizza which had very high ratings and from the pictures had a lot of qualities I liked in a pie.
A Note on Brooklyn Style
I’ll be honest, as someone that doesn’t eat a lot of pizza I don’t know much about regional pizza styles other than New York style and Chicago deep dish. While Nexus Pizza considers themselves Brooklyn style, I have no idea what that means and the online consensus isn’t sure what the distinction is besides thinner and wider slices. So I’ll just say it’s similar to New York style.
Meat Lovers Pizza (14 Inch)
We got a whole 14 inch meat lovers pizza topped with ham, sausage, pepperoni, and bacon bits. Of course it’s saltier than a Philly versus Boston playoff NBA game. It’s still good and I know what I got myself into, there’s no way this wouldn’t be salty with a bunch of cured meats on top. It’s not meant to be well balanced, the greasiness is the point. It’s for meat lovers.
Margherita and Hawaiian Pizza (18 Inch, Half and Half)
We got another 18 inch that was half margherita and half Hawaiian. The margherita half was okay but for me it was too cheese heavy. I would have preferred a pizza that’s checkered between cheese and blotches of sauce, but this was more like a standard cheese slice with a single dollop of tomato sauce near the crust. The sauce was also not to my preference but that’s just personal taste. I like my pizza sauce to have more sweetness but the sauce at Nexus leans very savory.
The Hawaiian half was better. The salty ham is well balanced out with the sweetness and sourness of the pineapples that have been cooked a bit in the pizza oven. I know this is a polarizing pizza so if you like this combination of fruit and meat then I don’t have to sell you on it.
The Hawaiian half was better. The salty ham is well balanced out with the sweetness and sourness of the pineapples that have been cooked a bit in the pizza oven. I know this is a polarizing pizza so if you like this combination of fruit and meat then I don’t have to sell you on it.
The Verdict
Recommended
Nexus Pizza is a decent pizza place. Is it the best New York style pizza shop in the Orlando area? I haven’t eaten enough to have a definitive answer, but one major flaw I will point out is the actual pizza dough. A good New York slice is foldable, has a crusty undercarriage, and a chewy airy crunch. But at Nexus the pizza is hard, crackery, and quite dense. If a pizza doesn’t have a good foundation then it’s not a good pizza.
- ✓Toppings are good.
- ✗Dough was too hard and dense.
Tips for Visiting
- The pizza dough is the weak point lacking the foldable chewy quality of a proper New York slice
- The sauce leans savory so if you prefer a sweeter pizza sauce this might not be for you
- Good for a group since the 18 inch half and half lets you try two styles
