A bite of Big Apple pie

Which do Atlantans prefer: eating pizza, or arguing about what constitutes a great pie? One school favors (usually to the exclusion of all other versions) thin-crusted, wood-fired pizzas of a feathery, cracker crispness and a minimum of toppings. The other yearns for crusty-chewy New York-style slices, clobbered with cheese, sauce and nitrate-rich meats. Enter Taste of New York into the discussion. Its colossal pizzas make prosciutto and arugula-topped cousins look like sissies.

Streetwise and honky-tonk: Located in front of a used-car dealership, the pizzeria looks equal parts old-neighborhood New York — with its beaten-up vinyl booths and dim lighting — and down-South grunge. A wraparound counter by the ovens boasts a tantalizing display of fire log-sized stromboli, plump and oozy calzones and a stuffed meat pizza.

In the flesh:

You'll need a knife and fork to eat the meat lover pizza (large, $18.75), featuring a glutton's helping of pepperoni, Italian sausage, meatballs and ham. There's no brick oven at Taste of New York, just the standard decks. Don't let that deter you, though. Your cardiologist certainly would not approve of this pie, yet no grease pools on top of its slices. The mound of toppings and cheese stops just short of excess.

Drool cup not included:

Just thinking about the eggplant parmigiana pizza (large, $19.75) makes me salivate. Slices of breaded eggplant, dabs of ricotta and shreds of mozzarella combine with the tart tomato sauce for a pie that is goopy and messy in all the right ways. Should you wish to assuage your diet-crushing guilt, Taste of New York's salads are as gargantuan and satisfying as its pies. A little bit of feta helps the roughage go down in the black olive-studded, icy-fresh Greek salad ($5.95). It takes two, maybe three people to polish it off.

Tractor trailer collision:

The tractor trailer sandwich ($6.75) is a down-South, lawnmower-racing, redneck Philly that has swept me off my feet. A toasted hero roll is crammed with paper-thin slices of roast beef and crispy bacon, barbecue sauce and gooey mozzarella. A bit of squashing is required to fit bites into your mouth. There's nothing delicate or subtle about Taste of New York, but hey, some of us like our pies like we like our men: a little brutish.

Cynthia.wong@creativeloafing.com