Lala's Brooklyn Apizza

Wow, this is outstanding. Best New Haven thin crust I have had in the city. The chocolate chip cookies are also remarkable, and they even gave us a bonus cookie for just existing!Everyone in our group of 8 was flipping out about how good the food was.

I've found the best way to take advantage of the beautiful weather without having to travel too far! Located in East Williamsburg and specializing in "New Haven Style" pizza - thin, cheesy, and delicious! The pizzeria is located on the rooftop of Grimm Brewery so they have a lot of great beers - checking boxes of great sours, beers for Oktoberfest, and everything in between! They also have cocktails and wine. We tried a classic Mozz pie as well as their "Cozy Pie" - which was perfect for fall with sweet potatoes, sage, and nuts. I grew up in CT so have had a lot of this style pizza. While I can't say that Lala's was as quintessential as Pepe's or Sally's, the vibes were impeccable and this is now a bit easier for me to get to! The space can adapt to different weather, some being covered and some being outdoors. And you could also always go down to the brewery and continue to explore East Williamsburg after. Exploring nearby, we also found quite a few great neighborhood bars. Definitely will return and definitely recommend!

Food: 4.3/5I got delivery, so no service or ambiance scores. This is not exactly a New Haven style pizza, but more of its own separate kind of thing. The crust has kind of a similar texture and thickness as New Haven, but Lala's uses sourdough in the mix, and that acidity really comes through. I am not a big fan of sourdough, but to each his own. I had the clam pie. There were enough clams on the pie, but it was not nearly as densely covered as a Sally's or Pepe's pie. And a couple slices got bent in the delivery process. $30. Overall it's pretty good, but not excellent.

Did anyone else read that children's book Tar Beach? The view from the rooftop here suddenly reminded me of the cover.In any case, I did spend 4 years of my life in New Haven, so I was excited to hear about an official "apizza" establishment opening in New York. Unfortunately they just changed the menu the night I came here, so my favorite New Haven pizza topping - dollops of mashed potato, made famous at Bar Pizza - now comes only on a non-veg pie.So instead I went for the eggplant parmigiana pizza. The pie had a nice thin crust and a slightly sweet sauce. I wouldn't have minded a bit more charr to the crust.

Sorry. Absolutely love Grimm beer and hanging downstairs. Servers are the best. Unfortunately upstairs a different story. Servers have an attitude (not a good one) and pizza was lacking flavor. We shared a pepperoni pie and the size is great for 2. The sauce is a bit thick and needs flavor. The crust is thin and crispy. The pepperoni was good. Cocktail was ok and beer was amazing. No need for us to go back upstairs though. Bummer. Really wanted it to be special.

We came here for dinner in mid Aug when they were first opening up and I think they were still working out the kinks. Biggest con was that the pizzas took 2 hours to come out after ordering. They definitely need to work out a more efficient system given pizzas are the main thing they offer. We got a salad to tide us over in the meantime which came out quickly and was tasty. The pizza itself could also be improved. The crust was almost burnt but the middle of the pizza was soggy. It was really not worth the 2 hour wait. On the other hand, their beers were delicious and they had a great selection. Next time I would just stick to the brewery downstairs for drinks and go elsewhere for food.

In July 2023, Joe & Lauren Grimm (founders of Grimm Artisanal Ales) launched Lala's Brooklyn Apizza: their rooftop pizzeria and bar that specializes in New Haven-style pizza. Joe's fascination for "apizza" (pronounced ah-BEETZ) started during his time as a student at Yale University. Lauren had always dreamed of running a restaurant, so they named it "Lala's" (her family nickname). I recently visited Grimm Artisanal Ales for the first time while I was cycling around NYC. I was trying out a number of Brooklyn and Queens breweries and pizzerias and Grimm was my fourth stop of the day. Not only was I excited to try their beers but also their pizza. I'm a New Haven native and was very excited to try a Brooklyn pizzeria's take on New Haven-style pizza. My visit was actually the second day that Lala's was open. I heard that the pizzeria ran out of dough in a few hours on their opening night, so I made sure to arrive early before the rooftop pizzeria opened for the afternoon. I was one of the first people inside and found a seat right by the wood-fired pizza oven. I ordered a beer flight of four samples including "Afterimage" (Double IPA), "Dihedral Synchro-Helix Actuation Door" (Double IPA), "Stowing Away the Time" (Bourbon Barrel-Aged Imperial Stout), and "Pictures of Your Mama Taken by Your Papa" (Single Apple Brandy Barrel-Aged Barleywine). These beers completely knocked my socks off, especially the latter! For pizza, I ordered the "Clam Pie" (local little neck clams, aged mozzarella, garlic, Physica Riesling butter sauce, fresh parsley) and the "Squash Pie" (summer squash medallions, mozzarella, squash blossoms, egg yolk drizzle, ricotta, black cracked pepper). Holy moly! These pies may not have had the char of authentic coal-fired apizza, but they were still pretty darn close to the real thing! Speaking as a New Haven native, I have to give Lala's my seal of approval! I had a fantastic experience at Grimm/Lala's and I can't wait to go back! I now consider Grimm to be one of my Top 10 favorite breweries!

I came here on a Sunday right as they opened at noon and there were already a few people waiting to go in. There is an indoor and outdoor area in the rooftop where you can eat. The pizza comes out fairly quickly, but personally I am not a huge fan of the extra thin Crust. I love a thin crust but this is a little too thin for me. The red pie was pretty basic and not really worth $16. The cozy pie was definitely a lot more filling and tasty but definitely a bit pricey for $24. glad I tried it, but definitely not worth the craze.

Coming from someone who's spent considerable time in New Haven, the pizza was just ok. In terms of comparing it to real NH-style pizza, they crushed it in terms of the crust, which is usually where places trying to recreate a New Haven pie outside of New Haven fail. The dough was cooked to perfection -- thin, crisp, and with the tiniest bit of char, and had that sharp taste you want. The red sauce, however, was pretty bad. It was so acidic and sour that it literally tasted like someone had squeezed lemon juice on the pie right before serving it. Normally I'm not a white pie guy, but with the crust being so good and the sauce being so bad, I found myself much preferring the slices without red sauce (the mushroom pie was fantastic). Bonus points for the slightly erratic cutting pattern that New Haven is known for. I feel like they got the hard part (the crust) right, so with a few tweaks to the sauce, Lala's could compete with the best pies in Brooklyn.

What an incredible establishment. The wood fired apizzas are incredible- thin and crispy, with a wide variety of creative toppings- I've had nearly every one at this point, and haven't had a single dud. Factor in the rooftop location and the full selection of Grimm's world class beers, and this becomes a must-visit pizza destination, in a city full of pizza places.