If you’re hunting for specialty pizza Upper West Side, here’s the short version: at Two Boots on 70 W. 71st St, a specialty pizza is any pie with a name, a set topping combination and a personality of its own. Think breaded eggplant with sweet red pepper pesto (Emily Litella), or wild mushrooms and vidalia onions (Tony Clifton). Nobody calls it “the deluxe” here. Every pie gets a name, and the names are half the fun.
We already wrote a broad guide to our Upper West Side pizza restaurant, its slices and its specialty pies. This one is a field guide: how to read the lineup, which lane fits your mood, and which named pie suits the plans people make around West 71st Street, from a Lincoln Center curtain to a dinosaur-heavy museum afternoon.
Key Takeaways
- A specialty pizza at Two Boots is a named pie with a signature topping combo, as opposed to a plain cheese or a build-your-own Create Your Pizza.
- On the Upper West Side, start with Emily Litella (breaded eggplant, sweet red pepper pesto, ricotta, mozzarella) or Tony Clifton (wild mushrooms, vidalia onions, sweet red pepper pesto, mozzarella).
- The lineup splits into five lanes: Cajun-Italian, Italian classics, white pies, veggie and vegan, all on our crisp cornmeal crust.
- Pair a pie with your plan: pre-show, museum day, a Central Park afternoon or a group order through catering, with Bombinis on the side.
Check Out Our Menu!
What Counts as a Specialty Pizza at Two Boots?
“Specialty pizza” usually means a topping bundle with a generic label. At Two Boots it means a pie built as a combination and given a name, so you order the idea, not the checklist. You can also order a plain cheese pie, or use Create Your Pizza to build your own from a cheese base, but the named pies are what this guide is about. On twoboots.com the menu is sorted into Veggie, Meat and Vegan Pizzas rather than a section called “specialty”, so think of “specialty pizza” as our shorthand for the named pies.
Two things make our named pies different from a standard specialty menu:
- The Cajun-Italian mash-up. Two Boots was founded in 1987 on Avenue A in the East Village by Phil Hartman, and the name comes from the two “boots” of Italy and Louisiana. That’s why you’ll see crawfish, andouille, tasso ham and Creole chicken sharing a crust with ricotta, sopressata and basil pesto.
- The cornmeal crust. Every pie sits on our crisp cornmeal crust, which gives a slice its signature texture and a satisfying crunch at the edge.
And then there are the names, borrowed from pop-culture icons. Some ring a bell straight away (you might recognize Mr. Pink or The Dude from the movies), while others are a nice excuse to fall down an internet rabbit hole while you wait.
Specialty Pizza Upper West Side: Start With Emily Litella and Tony Clifton
If you only try two named pies at the Upper West Side shop, make them these two. They’re both vegetarian, they both use our sweet red pepper pesto, and they land in completely different places.
Emily Litella is breaded eggplant, sweet red pepper pesto, ricotta and mozzarella. It eats like an eggplant parm that moved into a pizza, with the pesto adding brightness and the ricotta keeping it creamy.
Tony Clifton is wild mushrooms, vidalia onions, sweet red pepper pesto and mozzarella. It’s earthier and a little sweeter, a pie that tastes like autumn on the Upper West Side. Its vegan twin, Vegan Tony Clifton, swaps the mozzarella for Daiya non-dairy cheese.
Here’s how the two leads sit alongside other named pies worth knowing:
| Pie | What’s on it | Pick it if… |
|---|---|---|
| Emily Litella | Breaded eggplant, sweet red pepper pesto, ricotta & mozzarella | You love eggplant parm and want it on a crisp crust |
| Tony Clifton | Wild mushrooms, vidalia onions, sweet red pepper pesto & mozzarella | You want something earthy, sweet and meat-free |
| Vegan Tony Clifton | Wild mushrooms, vidalia onions, sweet red pepper pesto, Daiya | Your group includes a vegan who wants the same pie as everyone else |
| The Bayou Beast (Spicy) | Spiced shrimp, crawfish, andouille, jalapeños & mozzarella | You want the full Louisiana side of the menu in one slice |
| Cleopatra Jones | Sweet Italian sausage, roasted peppers, red onions & mozzarella | You want a red-sauce classic with sausage and peppers |
| The Meg | Provolone, parmigiano, ricotta, mozzarella, roasted garlic & oregano | You’re a cheese person and proud of it |
| Mel Cooley | Sun-dried tomatoes, roasted peppers & basil pesto on a white pie | You like bright, herby flavors without meat |
| Super Newman | Capicola, sopressata, sweet Italian sausage, ricotta & mozzarella | You want the Italian deli counter on a pizza |
About The Bayou Beast: our menu describes it as one of the two foundation pies from the original Two Boots restaurant and a favorite of founder Phil Hartman.
The Five Lanes of the Named-Pie Lineup
A long menu is easier to read when you sort it into lanes.
Lane 1: Cajun-Italian
This is the lane that puts the “two boots” in Two Boots. The Bayou Beast (spiced shrimp, crawfish, andouille, jalapeños, mozzarella) is the headliner. The Dude is “our Cajun bacon cheeseburger pie”: ground beef and andouille, tasso ham, cheddar and mozzarella. Mr. Pink brings Creole chicken, plum tomatoes, fresh garlic and mozzarella, and Big Maybelle puts Creole chicken, Zoe’s all-natural pepperoni and fresh garlic on a white pie. Meat the Mets (marked spicy on the menu) piles on sweet Italian sausage, Creole chicken, Zoe’s all-natural pepperoni, jalapeños, ricotta and mozzarella.
Lane 2: Italian classics, our way
Grandma Bess is organic San Marzano tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, basil, Parmigiano and mozzarella on a thin, square Sicilian crust. The Buckminster is a top-sauce pie: marinara over organic spinach, roasted garlic, parmigiano, provolone and mozzarella. Cleopatra Jones and The Newman (sopressata and sweet Italian sausage on a white pie) round out the lane.
Lane 3: White pies
No red sauce, all personality. The Meg is “our very white pie” with four cheeses, roasted garlic and oregano. Larry Tate brings organic fresh spinach, plum tomatoes and fresh garlic. Mel Cooley and Night Tripper (sun-dried tomatoes, roasted garlic and jalapeño pesto, marked spicy) both start from white. The Bird, also marked spicy, is Buffalo chicken, blue cheese dressing, scallions and jalapeños on a white pie.
Lane 4: Veggie
Our two Upper West Side leads live here, alongside Animal Collective (spinach and artichoke dip, a dash of cayenne, scallions and mozzarella). Want chicken with your greens? Try The CBGB (chicken, broccoli, garlic and basil pesto).
Lane 5: Vegan
A whole lineup on Daiya non-dairy cheese, which gets its own section below.
Vegan Specialty Pizza on West 71st Street
Two Boots has a deep vegan lineup, and several vegan pies are counterparts of the named pies above, so a mixed group can order “the same thing.”
- V for Vegan: artichokes, red onions and wild mushrooms with a criss-cross of sweet red pepper pesto and basil pesto, on Daiya.
- Earth Mother: organic fresh spinach, roasted garlic, roasted peppers, wild mushrooms, red onion and marinara, with no cheese at all.
- Super Vegan: broccoli, artichokes, red onions, shiitake mushrooms, basil pesto, sweet red pepper pesto, Daiya and vegan ricotta.
- Vegan Tony Clifton: the vegan twin of our UWS lead pie.
- Vegan Larry Tate, Vegan Mr. Pink, Vegan Cleo and The VCBGB round it out with spinach, vegan chicken and vegan sausage options.
Add the vegan House Salad, a Vegan Calzone (Daiya, vegan ricotta, marinara) and vegan dippers like Basil Pesto or Sweet Red Pepper Pesto.
Matching Specialty Pies to Upper West Side Plans
The Upper West Side runs on plans. Concert tickets at the Beacon Theatre on Broadway. An evening at Lincoln Center a few blocks south. A Saturday at the American Museum of Natural History with kids who have opinions about dinosaurs. A loop through Central Park, which starts a short walk east of our door at Central Park West. Shopping or meeting friends down at Columbus Circle.
Our shop at 70 W. 71st St sits in the middle of all that, so the question isn’t “pizza?” It’s “which pie fits the plan?” If the plan involves the park, check the Central Park Conservancy for what’s on, then pick your pie below.
| Occasion | Specialty pick | Add-on |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-show bite before a Lincoln Center performance | Emily Litella | Caesar Salad |
| Concert night at the Beacon Theatre | Tony Clifton | Garlic Knots |
| Museum day with kids near Central Park West | Pizza Face (small) plus a Larry Tate for the grown-ups | House-baked chocolate chip cookie |
| A Central Park afternoon with friends | Grandma Bess | House Salad |
| Catching up after shopping at Columbus Circle | The CBGB | Bombinis |
| One vegan friend in a group of meat lovers | V for Vegan next to Cleopatra Jones | Basil Pesto dipper |
| A weekend night out on the UWS | The Bayou Beast | Hot Knots |
| Staying in on a rainy Sunday | The Dude | Cajun Ranch dipper |
Pizza Face is a kid-friendly face pie (small only), a peace treaty for young museum-goers not ready for breaded eggplant. Bombinis are savory Cajun hand pies sold only at our Manhattan shops, so they’re a reason to order from the Upper West Side specifically. Hot Knots, marked spicy, are garlic knots doused in jalapeño pesto.
Ordering Specialty Pies for an Upper West Side Group
One cheese pie feeds a group. Several named pies give a group something to talk about. Here’s a mix-and-match formula for an office lunch or a building get-together:
- One crowd-pleaser. Cleopatra Jones or Mr. Pink, something familiar for the people who “just want pizza.”
- One veggie lead. Emily Litella or Tony Clifton, our UWS lead pies.
- One white pie. The Meg or Larry Tate, so the table isn’t all red sauce.
- One Louisiana pie. The Bayou Beast or The Dude, for the adventurous.
- One vegan pie. V for Vegan or Super Vegan, so dietary needs are covered from the start.
Then build out the table with Garlic Knots, sliders on house-made garlic knots (Chicken Parm, Meatball Parm with andouille meatballs, Eggplant Parm), a Caesar Salad and a few dippers like Blue Cheese and Cajun Ranch.
For bigger orders, head to our Upper West Side catering page and tell us about your group.
How to Order Your First Named Pie
New to Two Boots? Here’s the no-stress approach:
- Start with a slice. We serve slices and whole pies, so you can test-drive Emily Litella or Tony Clifton before committing to a whole one.
- Read the lane, not just the name. White, red or top-sauce? Then scan the toppings.
- Watch for the spicy marks. The Bayou Beast, The Bird, Night Tripper, The Divine and Meat the Mets are marked spicy on the menu.
- Order ahead. Use the Order Online button on the Upper West Side location page to order through Toast, and sign up for our loyalty program while you’re there.
- Still undecided? Create Your Pizza is always there.
Conclusion
Specialty pizza on the Upper West Side doesn’t have to mean a generic “supreme.” At Two Boots it means a named pie on a cornmeal crust, from Italian deli to Louisiana bayou. Start with Emily Litella or Tony Clifton, then branch out lane by lane.
Ready to meet the cast? Visit the Two Boots Upper West Side page to find us at 70 W. 71st St and Order Online, or browse the full menu before you go.
FAQs
What is a specialty pizza at Two Boots?
At Two Boots, a specialty pizza is one of our named pies: a pie with a set, signature topping combination, like Emily Litella (breaded eggplant, sweet red pepper pesto, ricotta and mozzarella). It’s different from a plain cheese pie or a pie you build yourself with Create Your Pizza. Our menu sorts the named pies into Veggie, Meat and Vegan Pizzas.
Which specialty pies should I try first on the Upper West Side?
Start with Emily Litella and Tony Clifton. Both are vegetarian with sweet red pepper pesto, but Emily Litella leans creamy (breaded eggplant, ricotta) and Tony Clifton leans earthy (wild mushrooms, vidalia onions). For the Louisiana side, add The Bayou Beast.
Do you have vegan specialty pizzas?
Yes. Our vegan lineup uses Daiya non-dairy cheese and includes V for Vegan, Super Vegan, Vegan Tony Clifton, Vegan Larry Tate, Vegan Mr. Pink, Vegan Cleo and The VCBGB. Earth Mother is made with marinara and no cheese at all. There’s also a Vegan Calzone and a vegan House Salad.
Which specialty pies are spicy?
The Bayou Beast, The Bird, Night Tripper, The Divine and Meat the Mets are marked spicy on our menu. Hot Knots and the Jalapeño Pesto dipper are marked spicy too. If you’d rather keep things mild, Emily Litella, Tony Clifton, The Meg and Grandma Bess are good places to start.
Can I order specialty pies for catering on the Upper West Side?
Yes. Plan a group order through our Upper West Side catering page. A good mix is one familiar pie, one veggie, one white pie, one Cajun-Italian pie and one vegan pie, plus knots and salads.
What are Bombinis, and can I get them on the Upper West Side?
Bombinis are savory Cajun hand pies, available at our Manhattan locations, including the Upper West Side shop on W. 71st St. They’re an easy add-on for groups who want something to share.
