Annabel — a neighborhood restaurant in Hell’s Kitchen— has a long happy hour, which is why a group of us opted to gather there one Friday night. Some in our group ordered wines off the regular menu (up to $18/glass), but I drank their decent Nero d’Avola ($7 a glass happy hour price).

We ordered some appetizers to accompany our libations. I’d recommend their stacked tomato. pesto, olives and burrata ($14) drizzled with balsamico along with their amazing puffy bread served with black olive tapenade and a spicy calabrian chili oil ($5). The bread is one big pita-like puff that each of us tore off a hot chunk from the round.

Still hungry, we ordered a trio of their wood-fired artisan pizzas. My favorite was the simple san marzano tomato sauce, fior di latte (Italian-style mozzarella) and basil ($14). Second best was the taleggio topped with lots of caramelized onions and mushrooms ($17). I wasn’t wild about the seafood one ($18) purportedly with grilled octopus, chopped clams, red chili flakes and parsley ($18), as I couldn’t find much of my favorite cephalopod mollusk. Their wood fired crust on each was chewy, as I like it — reminiscent of the crust at the now defunct Naples Pizza on Yale Campus in the 90s.

Annabel is not a bad place to stop for a quick bite before theatre.

– bonnie

BonnieBOTB
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Annabel
Hell’s Kitchen,
809 9th Avenue (53/54)
New York, NY 10019
(212) 245-2215
Annabel Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato