An unfortunate fact of life if you’re driving across New York State is that there aren’t a whole lot of good food options near the Thruway. Usually, I try to stop someplace decent in Syracuse (like Dinosaur BBQ), but this time, when we were finally hungry for dinner, we stopped in Herkimer. Let me tell you, there aren’t a lot of options at 8pm on a Sunday in Herkimer, NY.
But on our drive through town, we did see one place that looked worth checking out: Yetty’s Pizza on Mohawk Street. Yetty’s is your basic NY family pizza joint, with several pizzas with different toppings, your various Italian-American pasta and sub dishes, and a small selection of cheap beers. We ended up getting a large sausage and mushroom pizza (my standard pizza at most places).
I was pleasantly surprised by this pizza, despite my severe pizza snobbery that I tend to exhibit on occasion. I’ll never understand the whole crisscross cut thing that some places do, but the crust itself was decently crisp, the sauce nicely seasoned and tangy, and the cheese well-crisped. Where this pizza really shined, however, was the sausage. Instead of fairly generic sweet Italian sausage crumble or slices, Yetty’s makes their own sausage, and it’s quite flavorful, with good pork taste and texture and a variety of spices, with a good fennel finish.
Overall, a nice pizza find and a good stop on our trip across NY state.
yetty's cnt't make a decent pizza or chicken riggies to save their lives
Sorrento's Riggie lover
I was born in Herkimer but did not live there for very long before my family relocated and we never moved back for various reasons. I did live there long enough to partake in a family tradition:Yetty’s sausage pizza. My extended family still lives in Herkimer and whenever I go back for a visit, a stop at Yetty’s is required. This is the pizza that I judge all other pizza against and very rarely do I ever get a pizza that is anywhere close to as good. I have been to pizza joints all over Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens and yes there are some amazing pizza spots there. I have even been to Italy and went to Naples – the very birthplace of pizza. I had pizza in Rome, Florence, and Venice. Yetty’s is still the best. Get the sausage. It really does not get much better anywhere.
Glad to hear you liked Yetty’s. Been a few years since I’ve been over that way, but I was very pleasantly surprised by how good their sausage pizza was, as a random find as we attempted to find sustenance near the Thruway. Definitely worth a repeat visit