Brothers 2

Name: Brothers 2 Restaurant
Location: 2901 Watson Blvd., Endwell, NY 13760
Phone: (607) 785-5550
Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
Price: Varies, probably anywhere from $15-30 for two

Review:
Brothers 2 has been an area institution since 1970, founded by Italian brothers Domenico and Luigi Mata. They are well known for their banquet catering, in addition to their restaurant/bar/pizzeria on Watson Blvd. in Endwell. We recently bought a new car and as part of the deal we were given a coupon for a free pizza at Brothers 2. Pretty cool, we thought, since we were planning on going there soon anyway to try out the pizza since we'd heard some good things about it. The coupon provided incentive to stop by.

We'd driven past Brothers 2 a billion times but I really had no idea what to expect it to be like on the inside. As it turns out, the restaurant has a bar in the front, some booth seating to the left of the bar, and a larger dining area toward the back. It's a huge space and an old fashioned looking place that reminded me vaguely of Sharkey's in Binghamton. When we went, it was late on a Tuesday night and the restaurant was mostly dead. We used the coupon to order a half cheese, half pepperoni pizza and had high hopes it would live up to its reputation.


Indeed, it did. Both of us were instant fans of this pizza, with its thin-yet-flavorful crust and sweet sauce winning us over with every bite. It reminded me of a much superior version of the kind of pie you get at Cosmo's in Johnson City, another stalwart area pizza merchant. It's certainly different from our other favorites in the area like Grande's, Rossi's, or Joey's, but we enjoyed it.

It should be noted that pizza is but one of many things that Brothers 2 serves. They have a full menu of Italian dinners, subs and sandwiches, and some seafood options. I can't speculate as to the quality of the rest of their menu, but I'd be interested in trying it out sometime. One item that interests me in particular is their Pork BBQ sandwich, an item they consider a specialty.

Even though our waitress knew we were using a coupon and hence would probably not be spending a lot of money, I was very impressed with the service we received, which added to our enjoyment of the experience. According to the waitress, the best time to come to Brothers 2 is either Friday or Saturday night, because that's when their best pizza chef is on duty. Certainly I am willing to check it out at that time, but for now I was completely satisfied with the pizza we got on this particular cold Tuesday night, and I am glad to add Brothers 2 to our regular pizza rotation.

Grade: B+