Neapolitan Pizza Parlor Extraordinaire Motorino Fires Up the Ovens on the Upper West Side

Mathieu Palombino quietly opened the doors to the newest Motorino at 510 Columbus Avenue on Wednesday night. The menu is similar to the ones offered at the East Village and Williamsburg outposts. Motorino UWS is serving nine wood-fired pies and nine starters, including salads, chicken wings, meatballs, and baked clams. Right out of the gate, Motorino uptown is also offering delivery with a service zone that stretches from 72nd to 96th streets, and from the park to the river. Here’s the crew on opening night:

In his 2010 assessment, Times critic Sam Sifton proclaimed that Motorino served the city’s best pizza. His review noted: "Motorino pies are great hot out of the oven, 5 minutes later, 10. You can order too much, watch a pie go cool on the plate, eat it anyway and discover: terrific." Palombino has expanded his empire since that review was published, and he lost the original space along the way, but the chef manages to keep the quality up across the board. In addition to the three NYC restaurants, Mathieu also operates two locations of Motorino in Hong Kong, another pair in Manila, and one more branch in Singapore. That’s a total of nine Motorinos.

The new Upper West Side restaurant is currently open from 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday through Thursday, and from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. Lunch and brunch are on the way. If you live in the neighborhood, call 917-675-7581 to place a delivery order, or find Motorino on Caviar. And if you happen to stop by this weekend, please let us know what you think.