There are plenty of places that rival Grimaldi's, if you google "best pizza in NYC" you'll get a ton of different answers, but it does seem to generally be the pick. I like Totonnos on the Upper East Side, but it's also close to my place so that gives them an edge. Lombardi's in SoHo typically gets good reviews as well. Pizza 33 (33rd and 3rd, and also on 14th St) is pretty damn good for slices (the more old school places typically only do whole pies) and Artichoke on 14th St. does an amazing job, although it's a bit different than what you might have been expecting (think amazing artichoke dip on a slice, their traditional stuff is great too though). Bottom line, if you look for even a minute you'll find good pizza. Like anything in this city there are people that claim one place is king and others are terrible, but any place in the discussion is going to be good. Still haven't had anything that topped the slice I found at some little shop in suburban Milan though.
And why would you choose a beer like Amstel light that you can get anywhere over a beer that's only available locally? Try some of the local stuff (McSorleys, Brooklyn Lager, Blue Point, even Yuengling). If you're a real beer guy there are also lots of Belgian brew pubs around town that serve all kinds of crazy brews, the Blind Tiger on Bleeker is particularly good IMO.
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