Greenwich Village in Manhattan is where global capital collides with the artistic avant-garde. Leave the W 4th St subway station, turn your back on the night view of Washington Square Park and step into the alleys around MacDougal St, and you find an island in the city that grows livelier as the night deepens, stirring with the energy of youth
Greenwich Village in Manhattan is where global capital collides with the artistic avant-garde. Leave the W 4th St subway station, turn your back on the night view of Washington Square Park and step into the alleys around MacDougal St, and you find an island in the city that grows livelier as the night deepens, stirring with the energy of youth and Bohemian socializing. Students from New York University (NYU), artists who have just blown off steam at Blue Note or the Comedy Cellar, all gather at 3 a.m. looking for salvation. That place is Artichoke Basille's Pizza.
In the late hours, when the orderly dining schedules of late capitalism have shut down, a single oversized slice of Crab Pie piled onto an orange paper plate becomes the kindest culinary rescuer for city dwellers wandering the streets before dawn. We take a close look at the history behind Artichoke Basille's Pizza and the craft of its cheesy, aromatic pies on a thick, crisp crust.
A Late-Night Map of MacDougal Street off W 4th St: The Ark Where Youth and Pop Culture Gather at Dawn
Greenwich Village and the W 4th St area have historically been home to Bob Dylan and the writers of the Beat Generation, serving as a base of American counterculture. Today the area is both an academic space for NYU students and a vital artery of Manhattan's late-night culture, where some of the world's best jazz clubs and comedy lounges operate day and night.
After 3 a.m., the lights of nearby restaurants go out one by one, but the oven at Artichoke Basille's Pizza, at 111 MacDougal St, only gets hotter. Open until 4 a.m. on weekends, the shop is more than a simple fast-food outlet. College students worn out from studying, jazz musicians who have finished their sets and travelers who have made the night's energy their own fill the sidewalk, chatting over pizza boxes, turning the spot into an urban plaza and an emotional ark.
Revolt of a Four-Generation Staten Island Pizza Family: The 2008 Story of Breaking the Thin-Crust Formula
Artichoke Basille's Pizza, which has since expanded across New York and into major U.S. cities, began with a decisive move by cousins Francis Garcia and Sal Basille of Staten Island. Raised in a family of pizza makers going back four generations, they spent their childhoods in front of the oven at the family's Italian restaurant, Basille's. In 2008 they opened their first shop in Manhattan's East Village (on 14th St), sending a jolt through the New York pizza scene.
At the time, New York's pizza world was dominated by the thin, crisp, fold-in-half "NY Style Thin Crust" and traditional Neapolitan wood-fired pizza. Garcia and Basille boldly broke with those conventions. They created a pie-style pizza by taking the warm artichoke cream dip their mother made when they were children and baking it on top of a hefty dough shell.
Soon after opening in 2008, customers had to wait in line for more than an hour for a single slice, and many media outlets and food critics praised it as "the most delightful rebellion against the set mold of New York pizza." That story carried over to the MacDougal Street location in Greenwich Village, which has become an icon of late-night culture on W 4th St.
Hearty Satisfaction by Design: The Artichoke Spinach Pie and the Crab Pie
What Artichoke Basille's Pizza offers is less a snack than something close to a full meal, with extreme volume and layered flavors. The Jumbo Slice that comes out of the oven is so heavy it needs to be held with both hands.
Artichoke Spinach Pie (Signature): The masterpiece that embodies the brand's identity. It is baked with a generous layer of cream sauce made from a secret blend of chopped artichoke hearts, fresh spinach, heavy cream, mozzarella and Pecorino Romano cheese. The crisp bottom crust against the soft, rich artichoke dip that fills the mouth quickly satisfies early-morning hunger.
Crab Pie: A signature menu item combining the subtle savoriness of crab meat, a deeply flavored crab sauce and fresh cream. The briny character of the seafood and the richness of the dairy balance each other, earning the pie a devoted following.
Vodka Pie: A classic of American comfort food, baked with fresh mozzarella and basil over a smooth vodka sauce that perfectly balances the brightness of tomato and the softness of cream.
A Late-Night Public Good on a Paper Plate: The Analog Charm Greenwich Village Has Held On To
In New York's harsh cost-of-living climate, getting a slice of premium handmade pie bigger than your palm for around $10 is a welcome comfort for young people on tight budgets and artists worn out from working through the night. Sitting under the lamps of Washington Square Park with a slightly greasy paper plate and biting into a slice, you can shake off much of the city's bleakness.
In a New York overflowing with established chains armed with the logic of capital, Artichoke Basille's Pizza, which smoothly combines four generations of craftsmanship with the wildness of street culture, is an analog legacy that Greenwich Village has protected. The savory aroma of cheese and artichoke drifting over the yellow sidewalk of W 4th St will be remembered as an enduring oasis for New Yorkers, a place to drop in anytime and feed the hunger of the soul.
Address
111 MacDougal St, New York, NY 10012 (3-minute walk from W 4th St subway station / near MacDougal St & Bleecker St)
Hours
Thursday–Saturday: 11 a.m.–4 a.m. (late-night hours)
Wednesday: 11 a.m.–2 a.m.
Sunday–Tuesday: 11 a.m.–12 a.m.
Contact
Official Website