"When it opened in 2002, Centro was the crown jewel of downtown, and pretty much the only game in town. Seventeen years later, it’s still packed every night, serving mostly Italian dishes with a couple of safety items thrown in, like the cheeseburger and Greek salad, a common practice with menus around the city (another restaurant charmingly refers to them as “global comfort eats”). Its coal-fired oven puts out excellent pizzas, like George’s Favorite (named after chef-partner George Formaro), which features Italian sausage produced by Graziano Brothers, a local Italian grocery. The New Yorker, topped with meatballs, mushrooms, and roasted red peppers, is also a best-seller." - Gary He