Although the last couple of years here in Buenos Aires has seen a widespread bloom of “Neapolitan style” pizzerias, there are plenty of other pizzas out there. And who’s to say that one style is the be all and end all? Certainly not me, given that my tastes run to the extremes of cracker thin Roman style to deep-dish Chicago pies. If it’s good, it’s good. If it’s not, I don’t care about its bona fides.

Maldito Tano, Guise 1873, Palermo – This one took a little work and planning to end up trying. It’s a little garage, with the outside wall painted to counteract that it’s a garage on a busy Palermo street, and offer up a two dimensional view of something vaguely Neapolitan. I tried to go to this place twice on a weekend afternoon, once arriving a few minutes after opening time, the second, almost forty minutes after. Both times I was informed that they’d “just lit the oven and it would be about 45 minutes to an hour before it was ready”. The second time in I pointed out that it was well past their opening time, to which I was informed that that was the time they arrived, and they still had to get ready. Even so, one might think that you’d start stoking the logs into the oven first thing.

I’d basically just back-burnered the place and left it for maybe someday. Happened to be nearby one recent Saturday afternoon and thought I’d take a look. Open and serving, so I grabbed a table on the sidewalk and ordered up their eponymous Maldito Tano topped with bacon, roasted bell peppers, onions, and smoked mozzarella. It arrived in short order, cut weirdly – into six wedges, but sort of just with three random cuts across the pizza, resulting in odd shaped and very variably sized pieces. Maybe they were just exercising their “damned Italian” ethos.

They bill themselves as Neapolitan, and it’s certainly in that vein, but I’ve never had a Neapolitan style pizza where the crust was crunchy, top and bottom, all the way through. It wasn’t overcooked or burnt, it was just the texture of a cracker… or in this week we’re in, matzo. No flexibility at all. That said, it had decent flavor, and the toppings were good, albeit a bit oily – but that’s probably to be expected when ordering a pie topped with bacon, cheese, and both onions and peppers that are caramelized in oil. It was good, but just a bit different than what I expect when I think of the style. Around 900 pesos per pie, individual sized. I’ve had better, I’ve had worse.

Pizza Paradiso, Sucre 1302, Belgrano – He’s back… well, he never left. Argentina’s answer to Emeril, Donato DeSantis, local omnipresent cooking show star chef has opened up a pizzeria. That’s after expanding his Cucina Paradiso pasta world into three locales, and doing probably a couple of hundred more TV shows where he offers up his take on “authentic” Italian food. Ofttimes, he’s right on the money, though, while I like his pasta places, I wish he’d offer some of the unusual and creative stuff he demonstrates on television at his restaurants, rather than just good versions of all the usual suspects.

An unusual style for Buenos Aires, big, deep dish, one-foot square pizzas. About half a dozen combinations on the menu, only available by the whole pie; and then a daily rotating selection of three additional combinations, only available by the quarter-pie. A very odd system if you ask me, which you didn’t, but I said so anyway. The Horde met up for lunch one lovely sunny afternoon and dug into a full sized pepperoni, and then sampled the three daily offerings. With four of us at the table we didn’t quite finish these off – with that thick, pillowy crust, it’s a lot of food.

The best thing about these pizzas is the crust. It is light, airy, almost buttery, and absolutely delicious. Give me that sprinkled with a little salt like a focaccia, and I’d be in heaven. The pies kind of fall down on the toppings. They’re… fine. They’re just not quite up there with the crust, by any stretch. The pepperoni was kind of bland, and must have been put on near last minute, as it was just warm, and didn’t have that nice edge charring. The mozzarella seemed like any commercial grocery store type. The daily combos were… different: one with squash, basil, and sun-dried tomato, though a rather good ricotta daubed atop; one with pear, arugula, and brie that kinda sorta worked; and a mushroom and tomato one that was probably the best of the three.

The crust was so good, I just wish the toppings had been equally as good. Still, I’d give it a shot. The full pies run around 1000 pesos, but that’s enough to feed 2-3 people easily. At night they apparently also offer Neapolitan style pies. And, they’re one of the few pizzerias in the city that doesn’t offer delivery, though you can get takeout.

Sprittza, Thames 1699, Palermo – An interesting and unusual concept, this place is built around a cocktail menu featuring their own homemade aperitivo, Santino Stevani’s Spritz. Sixteen different varieties lead the menu, followed by a list of classic cocktails, beers, wines, and infused lemonades (the one pictured above – lemonade mixed with green tea, honey, and berries). After you’ve waded through two cover pages talking about their concept, and five pages of beverages, you get to the food, with half a dozen appetizers and a dozen pizzas.

I decided on something classic, pepperoni. I was assured that the pizzas were individual sized, though the 12″ behemoth that landed in front of me shortly thereafter says that’s a generous interpretation. The crust is pure Argentine… that slightly dense, almost bready a la piedra style that you can find at 99% of the pizzerias here. That said, it’s cooked perfectly, it’s lightly brushed with olive oil, and although it could have used a hit of salt in the dough to elevate its flavors, it was eminently edible. Where this pizza shines, however, are the toppings. I’m not sure I’ve ever had that much pepperoni on a single pizza, I don’t think there was a square inch that didn’t have a slice, and it was really good pepperoni; and the mozzarella underneath and browned provolone atop, along with a zesty fresh tomato sauce, won me over completely. I polished off all of it, behemoth or not.

Service was delightful. I love the space (there’s also a huge terrace on the rooftop, along with sidewalk seating and indoor tables. Pies run around the 900 peso mark, and if you went for a shared appetizer first, one is sufficient for two people. Looking forward to returning and trying one of their signature cocktails as well.