Morningstar’s New York Pizza

Love the pizza, but chopped the salad and we split the combo calzone today. So fresh and tasty. The marinara and house ranch ROCK. Service is friendly and helpful — smiling!

The pizza was delicious when it was first delivered to our table, but make sure to chow down while it’s hot! The pizza grew cold very quickly and the melted cheese did not have the same effect on the taste buds. The garlic balls were good, with the marinara sauce that had a distinct taste. The breadsticks were another story, the seasoning on them was a little heavy handed and it was a unique array of spices that didn’t cater to my taste.

I was here last Autumn with a friend for a calzone, which was actually pretty well done, so I decided to try it again with my Sicilian-​born wife. For a city of nearly 100,000, it is appalling that Lawrence does not have a single decent. authentic Italian restaurant. A Carrabba’s would even be a breath of fresh air, but the tight-​knit city «powers that be» seem to be pretty good at discouraging innovation and «chains» in favor of «mom and pop» establishments. Unfortunately, none of the moms and pops seem to have a clue how to run a decent restaurant, Italian or otherwise. Anyway, all that being said, Morningstar’s is not bad.
We tried the garlic knots ($ 3) which came with a side of red sauce. Baked balls of pizza dough infused with garlic apparently, I could barely taste the garlic and the «knots» were not baked long enough, a little too chewy … too bad!
The prices are decent except for the pizzas which are a bit pricey, so my wife ordered The New Yorker calzone ($ 7.25) with mozzarella, ricotta & parmigiana cheese, no sauce (she is allergic to tomatoes — some Italian!), with mushrooms added ($.50 extra). She was quite happy with the calzone. The dough was baked to perfection and there were just enough ingredients, so my wife (who has lived in Naples, Italy — the home of the best pizza in the World — most of her life) was actually impressed. Bravo!
I wanted to try a few different things, so I got the Jumbo Combo ($ 9.75) which came with chicken parmigiana, eggplant rollatine, stuffed pasta shells, a side of spaghetti, and a meatball. I asked for the baked manicotti instead of the stuffed shells and they were happy to comply. Unfortunately, when my dish arrived I was a bit dismayed to see everything crammed into a casserole dish. The chicken parmigiana was actually cubes of breaded chicken piled on one end of the dish and the manicotti and eggplant rollatine were on the other end, layered one on top of the other. The whole dish was covered with sauce and mozzarella cheese, then baked in the oven. The side of spaghetti was not well drained, so it was a bit too watery. Too bad because the sauce was decent. With no meatball in sight, I asked the server where it was, but she said the dish did not come with one. After informing her that the menu indicated that a meatball did come with the dish, she scurried off and brought me one post haste. In all, the dish was a bit of a mess, but it was actually not that bad. It could have been better presented and would have been much more palatable had the chicken, manicotti, and eggplant been separated on a large plate, but with a name like Morningstar you cannot expect authentic Italian dishes.
Alas, still no authentic Italian food in Lawrence, but Morningstar’s does a fair job of trying. Their prices are fair and the service is decent, but it looks more like a sports bar than an Italian restaurant. The old world ambience just is not there. As Morningstar’s would say: «fuggedaboudit», but not just yet. We will likely be back because my wife liked the calzone (as did I on my first visit), so maybe I will try one of their sandwiches next time. I would also offer suggestions for improvement if invited because I will do ANYTHING to help a local business as well as my chances of having a decent Italian restaurant meal without having to drive 4o miles. HOOAH!
CombatCritic Gives Morningstar’s New York Pizza 5 Bombs Out Of 10 (2 ½ Stars) … More Bombs Are Better!

Morningstars is one of the first places I tried after moving to Lawrence. It just kinda worked out that I was in the shopping center and wanted to eat. The other restraints seemed more expensive than I wanted at the time and wings sounded pretty good.
When I walked in I instantly liked the décor. Nothing overly fancy but it’s got a nice pizzeria vibe. Obviously my wife and I ordered the wings and they were even better than they sounded!!! The wings were made to perfection! Sweet and not too hot cause my wife can’t take it too crazy. The dance was also really good! We have ordered from them several times since and it is always great! The pizza is also great! It’s Brooklyn style but not overly greasy like you come to expect. They also have some remarkably good pastas including one dish with stuffed egg plant. All of them are amazing especially for a place where you would normally get pizza!
My best experience with them came about a year after my first visit. We ordered delivery and after 50 minutes nothing had come. We called into the store and they told us it was on the way. Well 30 minutes later we still had no food. We called again because it was the first time we had even had a late delivery from them. Turns out the drivers car had broken down and they had to send someone out to get the food from him. They apologized for the delay and refunded our money without being asked too. I think that shows remarkable service and made us very happy patrons. We will be back as often as possible!
Go with these folks and you’ll be treated well and fantastically fed!

Great surprise from strip mall pizza! Ordered a combo pizza and garlic knots. Both were great. Knots were only $ 3 (and we got 9 of them!!). That’ll be a go to snack. Next time I’m there I’ll get a meatball sandwich. It was beautiful.
This place needs another location not in a strip mall

Awesome delicious flavorful NY style pizza. Foldable and excellent crust. Best authentic Italian sausage in our area and fresh toppings on the Supreme

What a great place, stopped in while in town picking up my son from Basketball Camp. Nice friendly place, the service was very good and our server was very nice. We met some family there since we were in town, split a couple different pizzas. The ingredients were very fresh and the crust was perfect.
Do yourself a favor and stop by, you won’t be sorry you did.

I am giving 2 stars because the experience really fits with «meh. I’ve had better.»
The place was really clean. The service was good. The portion sizes were generous. Except for the large order of bread sticks wasn’t very large. The best part of whole experience had to be the marinara sauce.
Never been to New York so couldn’t tell you how this compares, but personally I’d rather have a wood-​fired pizza.

Legitimately good New York Style Pizza. The calzones are superb and the pizza is very good. Just on the food I’d probably give between 3 and 4 stars. But what makes this a 5 star review is the service. I haven’t been anywhere in Lawrence, or ordered delivery from anyone else in Lawrence, that had such consistently friendly and excellent service. That feeling, that the people running the store always want you to be happy and really care about the overall quality of your experience ordering from them is unparalleled at any restaurant I’ve been to in Lawrence. Give this place a try!

This place is solid. Our specially-​created pizza was tasty, right on-​time, and the service was top-​notch. The salads were excellent and the breadsticks too. We’ll definitely be back.

This place is terrible!!! Do not waste your money on them! I ordered a slice of thin crust with pineapple, ham, jalapeño and the ham was literally torn pieces of lunch meat. (see photos) they couldn’t even cut it with a knife! The toppings are put on top of cold premade cheese pizza. They didn’t even bother to reheat it so the toppings would be hot!
You are better off going to the grocery store and buying a one dollar jenos pizza than to waste money on this junk they try to pass off as pizza.
Anyone that gave this place over 1 star rating is friends with the owners or the workers. I would give them a zero rating if it was allowed.
If you don’t even have enought pride in your product to cut the freaking ham with a knife instead of tearing it with your fingers then you shouldn’t own a pizza joint.
Sorry excuse for a pizza place. I hope they shut down after people realize they are being ripped off.

I’m with Scott T. I don’t get it either. We ate here about a month after they opened. I have to get straight to it. It was horrible.
We very much wanted to find a new spot near us for some great Pizza. We also love to support a good local business. Unfortunately this is not one we can show love for.
First the pizza took a good 45 min to come to the table. Our beer even took an unusual amount of time to come out. There were maybe 3 – 4 other tables there. Some had already ordered one ordered after us. That’s it. This part is what bothered my husband the most. The employees were more busy chatting it up with another «famous» local who came in than taking orders and delivering food. We also didn’t get our garlic knots in a timely manner because they «forgot» we had ordered them. When they did come out my kids didn’t want to eat them because they were so greasy and over seasoned. The sauce tasted like it came out of a can. They were very chewy as well (probably d/​t grease).
When the pizza finally came out. It was just «ok» My expectations are never high for a good NY pizza in the middle of KS but really this was below expectation. I would say the only thing they can claim to be similar to NY pizza was the size. The crust was too thick. The sausage had an odd taste. They didn’t drown the pizza in sauce which was a plus. Would not waste a pizza night on this one. I’d go to Tad’s or JOHNNY“S of all places for a better pizza. We wish we could have a place like Grimaldi’s pizza in Brooklyn near by!
I know they were just getting started but the service was horrible. Starting with what I said about timeliness above. Hopefully they have gotten this part down.
We had to ask for EVERYTHING. They dropped the pizza down and left. Can we get some plates. Can we get some napkins. How about a fork. Can you fill up our drinks that have been empty for 15 min? Truly bizarre. The owners, it was obvious who they were… were obnoxious. I know that they have been a part of Lawrence for sometime and their son is well known but they were out right rude to us. I honestly felt like they didn’t want our business.
At the end of dinner the owner was standing near us and my husband tried to be polite and ask where they got the idea to start the business. My husband is from New York — born and raised. He was just wondering if they were also from NY. The owner spoke to us like we should have already known of course who they are and the history behind how they started it and how they got the idea from someone they knew who also had a pizza place… etc. We were done with it by then. We politely said thank you paid and left.
We will never give them our business and quite frankly that won’t be hard as their food is horrible. This is not «NY» pizza. Is it edible? Yes. Are their other places in town they provide a better NY pizza and service? Definitely.
Hopefully things have improved.

I came in to town over the holidays and thought I would try out Morningstar’s since I had heard the Morningstar family opened a pizza place in Lawrence. The pizza was great and Roger himself was working there.
As for the authenticity of Morningstar’s pizza as NYC-​style, I take a couple trips to NYC each year and always make a point of getting pizza. I see some other reviewers claim that it’s not truly authentic, and there may be some truth to that, but Morningstar’s pizza is great. I will make a point to go to Morningstar’s pizza next time I am in Lawrence.
Also, an added bonus, they offer vegan dairy-​free, soy cheese. For those who are vegan or have friends and family that are vegan as I do, finding a solid restaurant that has vegan options is not always easy. At Morningstar’s you can enjoy your own meat pie, while your vegan friend or relative can enjoy a vegan pizza.

Don’t get it.
Visited twice. Good enough to fill the belly without offending but the claim of New York style pizza quality? That’s pretend land. Spend several weeks in New York City every year and this doesn’t resemble the great pizza you can get there. Not in the ballpark, not close, missed first base. There’s more to New York pizza than thin crust.
First off, when you pick up a slice in the city the ingredients don’t slide off the bread, which is precisely what happened to us twice. The pizza itself isn’t bad, it just isn’t New York style, and it’s not crafted particularly well. I’d call it we-​grew-​up-​on-​Kansas-​Pizza-​Hut-​and-​think-​this-​is-​what-​New-​York-​Pizza-​is.
Pass.

I really did not expect to like Morningstar’s too much. As a Chicagoan, I’m bred to hate NYC pizza. However, Morningstars NYC pizza… well, it isn’t quite NYC pizza.
First and foremost, they have a menu that consists of pizza, sandwiches, and some other ods and ends. They also offer slices… perhaps all day, in fact. I don’t remember seeing something about slices being lunch-​only, which is the case at many places. The slices, and the pizzas too, are offered Sicilian Style (thicker, about 1″) and Neapolitan Style (thin crisp cracker crust).
For my lunch, Neapolitan slice with sausage, pepperoncini and garlic. The plain cheese slice is $ 2.50, and each ingredient is $ 0.50 extra, so my slice was $ 4.00. It came out fairly quickly. The sausage was the sliced kind and was flavorful enough. The pepperoncini’s were not very spicy, which was a bit of a bummer. The garlic was… uh…applied very liberally. I’ll be tasting it for years to come. But my love of garlic approves of this. Just beware. The crust was crispy and, as previously mentioned, cannot really be folded like NYC pizza. All in all, I would say it’s a cross between NYC pizza and Neapolitan pizza.
The only negative with the custom slices isn’t limited to Morningstar’s — because they’re put on over the cheese, any little angle on the pizza allows some of the topping to slide off. In my case, many a pepperoncini ended up back on my plate. #FirstWorldProblems.
Service was friendly and efficient, and the space is clean and comfortable. It does have an interesting setup in that you feel like it is a mixture of sit down and counter ordering. It can almost feel slightly confusing for the first few seconds you step in. If it says to seat yourself, just grab a spot and they’ll bring you your menu, drink and cutlery. There are a few TVs along the wall. They also do have some bottled beers available (not sure about tap though).
Quick, affordable, tasty. I will return for future lunches as it’s also fairly near my office.

I’m don’t claim to be a NY style pizza connoisseur, but Morningstar’s delivers some no-​nonsense, no-​frills, thin crust Neopolitan (for those of you even more newbie than me, read: Cheese) pizza that sure seemed authentic to me. Super crunchy crust, thin layers of sauce/​cheese, and cut in a large wedge (about 9″ tip to crust), you’ve got to pick this baby up and fold it to ensure proper eating — which I believe is the «correct,» NY-​way (please feel free to correct, true NYers).
The garlic bread oozes with buttery grease, is heavily seasoned, and comes in a large portion (2 slices about 7″ long each). Stay away from it if you’re here on a date — I fortunately was not and therefore was in carb heaven! I dig their marinara… watch it come straight out of a can or something, but that tartness perfectly complemented the garlicky goodness. When I couldn’t finish the other half of my bread, our server gladly brought a to-​go box for me, all ready with an extra cup of marinara in it. Bonus! I’m a sucker for these little details.
On the down side, service is fairly slow and I can’t boast about the quality of the cannoli; the filling isn’t quite ricotta-​y enough and is too heavy on the vanilla. I’m assuming this is what turned the color a displeasing beige instead of the clean, fluffy white I’m used to. The shell didn’t taste that freshly-​baked as advertised (it didn’t crumble the way I’d like it to), but I’m nitpicking at this point.
Morningstar’s is, after all, a pizza joint. Sometimes you just crave simplicity and this stuff sure does it!

Lots of people claim to be «New York» pizza places but this is one of the few that delivers! If you limit yourself to pizza here though you are missing half the fun.
A certain degree of mysticism surrounds what is a New York pizza. Is it the water? The cheese? The size? the oven? The sauce? Yes, it’s all of that and none of that. You just know it when you taste it and you roll your eyes at imitators, just like when a midwesterner asks «Why is it called an egg cream when it has no egg and no cream?» and pronounce «Houston» like the city in Texas.
When Morningstar first opened, I thought it was named after the stock report in what I thought was a clever tribute to Wall Street. Alas, even though I live in Lawrence, I’m not a basketball fan and apparently this place is owned by a famous KU basketball family. I was disappointed in what I thought would be quite the nod to New Yorkers!
That is until I walked by and saw Drake’s cake in the window. Like a moth to a flame I was instantly drawn to the place. I haven’t had a Yodel since grade school. Dad used to always keep them in the freezer and if I was really good I could have one. For those midwesterners out there, Drake’s is kinda like Dolly Madison or Hostess. Except it’s better because it’s from the East Coast. This was a smart move by the owners because unless you put a sign in Times Square, this was the best way to say «Hey, we love New Yorkers»
When I walked in to decide what I’d eat before I ate my coffee cake and Yodel, I saw Wise potato chips. Awwww. That aqua green and yellow bag was part of my lunch box for so many years were about as valuable for trading during school lunches as cigarettes are at Riker’s Island. To top off that New York state of mind, they had Yoo-​Hoo drink. They didn’t try to be a Jewish deli and have Doctor Browns or egg creams (again, use wiki to look it up and stop asking us New Yorkers about it. Get some Fox’s Ubet and experiment). This place has all the trappings of a New York pizza parlour.
Another authentic aspect of this place was a full Italian menu with calzones, lasagna, heroes (subs, grinders depending on where you are from). Everything tasted as I remembered and nothing gourmet. This is all about the basics and doing it right, though they do have gluten-​free and dairy free cheeses. I’d try some of these modern options, but I’d be afraid my New York taxi cab driving father would rise from the grave and tear up my birth certificate.
Although I haven’t tried it yet, I hear the handmade cannoli is awesome. I promise I’ll try it but when they have Darke’s Yodels and Coffee Cakes, I simply can’t make it that far down on the menu. No Italian ices though, which is a shame but makes sense since Marinos would melt coming all the way from Jamaica (and if you think the country not the borough you’ve got some more learning to do). Maybe they can serve ice cream with a wooden spoon here and yellow cups and at least try and emulate that feel.
What’s missing here is the NY attitude, and that’s a good thing. The fact they accommodate a variety of dietary needs is a good sign. No «soup nazi» here. Everyone was friendly and helpful and generally interested in our enjoyment. No paper plates and wax paper. Real live silverware!
Service was a bit slow, but that’s ok because the murals and New York paraphernalia helps pass the time. It’s important to note there is all Yankees memorabilia in this place. The reason is simple: the Mets suck. All true New Yorkers know this fact. Ok, I might be exaggerating since not everyone from the Big Apple has realized it yet. The Mets/​Yankees rivalry makes Mizzou/​KU rivalry look like a playground shouting match and I’m glad this place takes sides.
The irony though is Jerry Seinfeld is a big Mets fan and the bathrooms have pictures of Seinfeld characters. Ed Koch is too. These flaws make them human. Neither would eat in a place that so prominently displayed Yankees memorabilia. That’s their loss because they’ve got dozens to choose from in the five boroughs.
For us, in Lawrence Kansas, Morningstar’s NY pizza is the only true choice for those that can quote and remember the I «heart» New York commercials and had the goofy T-​shirt. Native Lawrencians will really get a piece of the action here.

I tried Morningstar’s on a Saturday night. I’ve had plenty of NY style pizza in my day and I don’t get it quite honestly. The slices were too thick and the ingredients just didn’t do it for me. In reading other reviews, I’ll order thin sliced next time because I thought that was standard fare in a NY style pizza joint. Who knew?
That said it definitely wasn’t bad pizza but it wasn’t great pizza either. The service was very friendly but rather scatter brained and they even messed up our supreme pizza order with one-​side sans mushrooms and olives. The pizza was hot and smelled good but the pizza ingredients actually looked weird as if they didn’t know how to slice veggies.
I want to go back and try one of their pasta dishes which looked and smelled very appetizing on the surrounding tables. Give this place a shot but I wouldn’t expect the best pizza in Lawrence.

NY style pizza you say?
I found the thin crust cheese slice to be as I remembered pizza in NY… which is savory, hot, crunchy, yummy good stuff.
The thick crust combo slice was a different story, it was burnt on one end and slightly warm with a mass of toppings cooked on top of a pepperoni napoleon slice.
The décor is simply NY, a little bit of whatevah!
It’s all about the thin crust pizza here. I’ll be coming here for more.

All true Jayhawks know the Morningstar name, and yes these are those people. If you do not know the Morningstar name, you surely will be run out of town and will be greeted enthusiastically in Columbia, MO.
Really healthy, good pizza. In addition to having whole wheat, thin crust, they have low fat soy cheese, along with lots of fresh produce. If you want something closer to authentic Neapolitan pizza, you’ll have to drive to Kansas City, where two restaurants are doing that rather well. But for healthy, low fat, low refined carb, NY style pizza, Morningstar’s is the best I’ve found in this area.