22 February 2010

The Lonely Beacon of Ben's Pizzeria


I find the ever-lit corner of Macdougal and W. 3rd Street belonging to Ben's Pizzeria—"Since 1956," "The Most Famous Pizza in the World"—to be ineffably sad, in the way a soup kitchen is sad. The double walls of glass doors always reveal the most despairing of midnight tableaus. Solitary, disheveled figures in heavy, rumbled clothes munch on heavy, reheated slices of what everyone knows is very far from the most famous people in the world. They don't speak. There's no life to the space. The pizzeria seems reserved for those members of the Village that no other place will take in. It's Bowery on Macdougal, pizza for the drunk, or for those so lost in their own existential trauma that they let the dinner hour pass, and the three hours after that, without eating anything.

The decor is grungy in that layered-with-time look some pizzerias get, in which one thing after another in hung or taped on the wall and nothing is ever taken down. The walls look like the pages of an aged, neglected scrapbook. There are three clocks for some reason, and a hard-to-look-at New York skyline etched into mirrored glass. The light is harsh and florescent. There are so many choices on the menu that you get the idea that Ben's doesn't care what they serve, as well as the suspicion that there's no way a place like this could make that many things well, so your odds of eating something good are quite low.

I like its never-changed-since-1977-because-that-would-cost-and-who-cares-anyway vibe. And Lord knows, I don't want it replaced by anything else. But the sadness of the place can't be ignored.

8 comments:

Ken Mac said...

Ben's used to be Ben and Frank's pizza -- Frank cared about the pizza, but he passed a few years back. Now the pizza is beyond horrible, but it's very fitting for a neighborhood mostly visited by drunk B&Ts, tourists and all night revelers who can't taste the pizza anyway. Walk the one block to Joe's Pizza on 6th where the workers are surly but the slices are excellent.

Anonymous said...

the decor is sad-yes. But the slice is AMAZING!!

BabyDave said...

I don't find the place as grim as all that, but your description is pretty spot-on and quite poignant. Thanks.

Anonymous said...

yeah, it doesn't look like much. But 20 to 25 years ago they made one of the best Sicilian pies. it used to be a very late night run to buy records at Bleeker Bob's (when he was down on Macdougal near 8th) then over to Ben's.

Nancy C. said...

Ben's is memorable to me because my usually-docile niece had a major screaming tantrum in there when she was two years old, in 1983 (something about not wanting to put her hat on), thus every time I pass it, I remember that day and tell the story to whomever I'm with.

Lisanne said...

Love that you noticed this place..used to go there when i cut school to hang out in washington square park around 1980..the west village has been touristy and b&t forever, things have changed here but not really..

Jackie said...

I used to live right down the street about 10 years ago -- the pizza was actually quite good, perhaps the best of the MacDougal/Bleeker spots.

chaika said...

Does anyone know which kind of shop was there before Ben's pizzeria? I've found a photo where it seems to be there the 'Greenwich Village Pharmacy'???
Could you help me please?
Many thanks from Italy;)