Specialty Pizza Park Slope: Named Pies for the Family Table

Some pizza orders are a checklist. Pepperoni, extra cheese, done. The specialty pizza Park Slope families keep coming back for at Two Boots works differently: every pie has a name, a set topping combination and a personality you can’t build by ticking boxes. You walk into 284 5th Ave, Brooklyn, and you order Grandma Bess or The Buckminster the way you’d ask for a friend by name.

So what is a specialty pizza here? Simply put, it’s any of the named pies on the Two Boots menu: a signature combination of toppings on a crisp cornmeal crust, as opposed to a plain cheese pie or one you build yourself with Create Your Pizza. Some lean Italian, some lean Louisiana, and plenty of them are vegetarian or fully vegan.

This guide walks through the lineup the way a Park Slope household actually orders: who’s at the table, what the night looks like, and how to split a few named pies so the kid, the vegan cousin and the person who wants crawfish all go home happy.

Key Takeaways

• A specialty pizza at Two Boots is a named pie with a fixed topping combination, served on a crisp cornmeal crust.
• Park Slope tables can start with Grandma Bess (a thin, square Sicilian crust) and The Buckminster (a top-sauce spinach pie).
• The menu runs in lanes: Cajun-Italian, Italian-leaning classics, white pies and a deep vegan lineup made with Daiya cheese.
• For birthdays, playdates and office lunches, the Park Slope catering page lets you mix several named pies with knots, sliders and salads.

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What Makes a Pizza a “Specialty Pizza” at Two Boots?

Out in the wider pizza world, “specialty” usually means a deluxe or supreme: the same toppings every shop uses, piled higher. Two Boots doesn’t even put the word on its menu. The site sorts pies into Veggie, Meat and Vegan, and every one of them carries a name. That’s the real definition here: a specialty pie is a pie with an identity.

Three things make that identity:

• The two boots. Two Boots opened in 1987 on Avenue A in the East Village, founded by Phil Hartman. The name points to the two boot-shaped places on the map, Italy and Louisiana, and the menu blends both. That’s why andouille, tasso ham, Creole chicken and crawfish sit next to San Marzano tomatoes, Parmigiano and basil pesto.
• The crust. Every pie starts on a cornmeal crust that bakes up crisp, with a texture you notice on the first bite.
• The names. Pies are named after pop-culture icons. You might recognize a few: The Dude may ring a bell for Big Lebowski fans, Mr. Pink for anyone who has seen Reservoir Dogs, and The Newman for Seinfeld watchers. The CBGB nods to the East Village club from the era Two Boots grew up in. Others you can enjoy as a mystery.

Create Your Pizza, which starts from a cheese pie, is the freestyle option. The named pies are where the matchmaking is already done.

Specialty Pizza Park Slope Lineup: Start With the Square and the Spinach

The menu is the same across Two Boots locations, but a neighborhood of stoops, strollers and multi-generational dinners needs a starting point. Here’s where we’d point a Park Slope table.

Pie	What’s on it	Pick it if…
Grandma Bess	Organic San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil, Parmigiano & mozzarella on a thin, square Sicilian crust	You want a square slice that grandparents and kids both understand
The Buckminster	Top-sauce pie: marinara, organic spinach, roasted garlic, parmigiano, provolone & mozzarella	You want greens on the table without a fight
Pizza Face	A kid-friendly face pie, small only	The youngest diner needs a pizza that smiles back
Cleopatra Jones	Sweet Italian sausage, roasted peppers, red onions & mozzarella	One person at the table wants a classic sausage-and-peppers pie
The Bayou Beast (Spicy)	Spiced shrimp, crawfish, andouille, jalapeños & mozzarella	You want the full Louisiana side of the menu in one pie
The CBGB	Chicken, broccoli, garlic & basil pesto	You want something green and savory that isn’t a salad
Emily Litella	Breaded eggplant, sweet red pepper pesto, ricotta & mozzarella	You love eggplant parm and want it in pizza form

Grandma Bess is the quiet star of a family order. It’s square, thin and built on organic San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil, finished with Parmigiano and mozzarella. Squares are easy to share, easy for small hands and easy to stack in a box for a walk home up the slope.

The Buckminster is a top-sauce pie with marinara, organic spinach, roasted garlic and three cheeses. If you’ve ever tried to get a nine-year-old to eat spinach, this is a strong opening argument. Pizza Face (small only) rounds out the kids’ end of the table.

The Cajun-Italian Lane: Where Louisiana Meets 5th Avenue

Once the family basics are on the table, the Louisiana side of the menu is where Two Boots stops looking like any other slice shop.

The Bayou Beast carries spiced shrimp, crawfish, andouille, jalapeños and mozzarella. The Two Boots site describes it as one of the two foundation pies from the original restaurant and a favorite of founder Phil Hartman, so ordering it is a small piece of the 1987 story. It’s marked spicy on the menu.

The Dude is billed as “our Cajun bacon cheeseburger pie”: ground beef and andouille, tasso ham, cheddar and mozzarella. It’s rich, meaty and a natural pick for whoever at the table always orders the burger.

Mr. Pink keeps things gentler: Creole chicken, plum tomatoes, fresh garlic and mozzarella. Big Maybelle takes Creole chicken and Zoe’s all-natural pepperoni with fresh garlic onto a white pie. And Meat the Mets (marked spicy) goes big with sweet Italian sausage, Creole chicken, Zoe’s pepperoni, jalapeños, ricotta and mozzarella. We’ll let Brooklyn’s baseball loyalties sort themselves out.

For the bigger picture of the shop itself, our earlier post on what makes this pizza restaurant in Park Slope special is a good companion read.

White Pies, Pesto Pies and the Top-Sauce Oddball

The menu flags a long run of white pies, which skip the red sauce and let cheese, garlic and toppings do the talking:

• The Meg, “our very white pie”: provolone, parmigiano, ricotta, mozzarella, roasted garlic and oregano.
• Larry Tate: organic fresh spinach, plum tomatoes and fresh garlic.
• Mel Cooley: sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers and basil pesto.
• Night Tripper (marked spicy): sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and jalapeño pesto.
• The Newman: sopressata and sweet Italian sausage.
• The Bird (marked spicy): Buffalo chicken, blue cheese dressing, scallions and jalapeños.

Pesto pies form their own little club. Tony Clifton pairs wild mushrooms and vidalia onions with sweet red pepper pesto, and Animal Collective is spinach and artichoke dip with a dash of cayenne, scallions and mozzarella. Then there’s The Buckminster, the menu’s top-sauce pie. A good rule for a mixed table: one red, one white, one wildcard.

Vegan Specialty Pies for Plant-Based Park Slope

Park Slope has no shortage of plant-based eaters. The vegan pies use Daiya non-dairy cheese unless noted, and several mirror the named pies above.

• V for Vegan: artichokes, red onions and wild mushrooms with a criss-cross of sweet red pepper pesto and basil pesto, plus Daiya.
• Earth Mother: organic fresh spinach, roasted garlic, roasted peppers, wild mushrooms, red onion and marinara, with no cheese at all.
• The VCBGB: vegan chicken, broccoli, garlic and basil pesto with Daiya.
• Vegan Cleo: vegan sausage, roasted peppers and red onion with Daiya.
• Super Vegan: broccoli, artichokes, red onions, shiitake mushrooms, basil pesto, sweet red pepper pesto, Daiya and vegan ricotta.
• Vegan Tony Clifton, Vegan Larry Tate and Vegan Mr. Pink follow their namesakes with Daiya and, for Larry Tate, vegan ricotta.

There’s also a Vegan Calzone (Daiya, vegan ricotta, marinara) and a vegan House Salad with organic mixed greens, chickpeas, red onion and shredded carrot. Three of the dippers are vegan as well: Marinara, Sweet Red Pepper Pesto and Basil Pesto, with Jalapeño Pesto (spicy, vegan) for anyone who wants a kick.

Pies for Park Slope Days: Stoops, Washington Park and Game Nights

Two Boots sits at 284 5th Ave, on the busy avenue that brownstone Brooklyn uses for errands, coffee and dinner. It’s the kind of avenue where you pass three strollers, a dog wearing a sweater and someone carrying a cello case in the same block.

A couple of blocks away, Washington Park on 3rd Street is home to the Old Stone House, a piece of Brooklyn history sitting right in a neighborhood park. On a weekend it’s full of kids on the playground and parents on benches. Uphill, Prospect Park pulls in picnickers, runners and anyone with a frisbee. And toward Flatbush, Barclays Center draws crowds for games and concerts, which makes an early pie on 5th Ave a sensible plan before the doors open.

Here’s how we’d match a named pie to the kind of day Park Slope actually has.

Occasion	Specialty pick	Add-on
Saturday at the Washington Park playground	Pizza Face and Grandma Bess squares	Garlic Knots (3) with marinara
Brownstone dinner with grandparents	The Buckminster and Cleopatra Jones	Caesar Salad
Prospect Park picnic with a vegan friend	V for Vegan and Earth Mother	Vegan House Salad
Early bite before a Barclays game or concert	The Dude and Mr. Pink	Cajun Ranch dipper
Rainy movie night at home	The Meg and Emily Litella	House-baked chocolate chip cookie
Class party or kids’ birthday	Grandma Bess, Pizza Face and The CBGB	Gluten-Free Brownie
Craving the original Two Boots story	The Bayou Beast	Blue Cheese dipper
## Feeding the Whole Brownstone: Ordering Specialty Pies for a Group

Big orders are where named pies shine. Instead of five identical cheese pies, you can give the table a tour of the menu. Here’s a simple formula that works for most Park Slope gatherings:

1. One crowd-pleaser square. Grandma Bess keeps kids and cautious eaters covered.
2. One green pie. The Buckminster, Larry Tate or The CBGB.
3. One meat pie. Cleopatra Jones for classic, The Dude or The Bayou Beast for Cajun.
4. One vegan pie. V for Vegan or Super Vegan, so plant-based guests get a full pie of their own.
5. Something to grab. Garlic Knots (butter, parsley, garlic, Parmigiano, side of marinara) or sliders on house-made garlic knots: Chicken Parm, Meatball Parm with andouille meatballs, or Eggplant Parm.

Round it out with a Caesar Salad (organic romaine, croutons, parmigiano, house-made Caesar) and a spread of dippers. Cajun Ranch and Blue Cheese pair naturally with the Cajun lane, while Sweet Red Pepper Pesto and Basil Pesto make the crusts disappear.

For school events, office lunches near 5th Ave or a backyard birthday, head to the Two Boots Park Slope catering page to set up a larger order.

Conclusion

A specialty pizza at Two Boots is a pie with a name and a point of view: Italian on one side, Louisiana on the other, all on a crisp cornmeal crust. In Park Slope, that means Grandma Bess squares for the stroller crowd, The Buckminster for the spinach skeptics, The Bayou Beast for anyone curious about where Two Boots started, and a full vegan bench for everyone else.

Ready to meet the cast? Visit Two Boots Park Slope at 284 5th Ave to order online, then pick a named pie you haven’t tried yet.

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