Pizza Poll: Jacksonville readers pick Serafina's as favorite pizza

Walk into Serafina's Pizzeria, located in a strip center across Race Track Road from Durbin Creek Elementary School, and it's easy to see that they take their motto, "A Little Taste of Brooklyn," quite seriously.

"Leaving Brooklyn: Fuhgeddaboutit" and Brooklyn-Queens Expressway signs hang over the counter. The walls are covered with Brooklyn Dodgers pennants, a picture of Henry Winkler and Sylvester Stallone from "The Lords of Flatbush," a publicity shot from "The Honeymooners," the famed photo of New York ironworkers having lunch on a girder and images of great Yankees, Mets and Knicks.

Serafina's New York-style pizza was selected as Jacksonville's favorite in a 16-pizza elimination bracket. Serafina's defeated Moon River Pizza, which has locations in Five Points and Fernandina Beach, in the finals. More than 2,600 votes were cast in the finals.

Serafina's serves pizza by the slice or by the whole 18-inch pie. You can build your own, choosing from 28 toppings, or choose from 19 specialty pies on the menu, which also includes cauliflower-crust options and thick- or thin-crust square-cut pies. The menu also includes appetizers, salads and a few entrees, but pizza is the main focus.

The pies are large and a little out of round and the slices will droop if you don't bend them, like a good New York-style pizza should be. The New Yorker pie, with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses, pomodoro sauce and big leaves of basil, is a top-seller.

It's an order-at-the-counter kind of place and diners can see right into the kitchen. There are half a dozen or so tables inside and a pair on the sidewalk out front. One corner of the room is filled with a stack of pizza boxes waiting to be filled. It does steady business at lunch, with locals stopping by for a couple of slices and others picking up pies to go.

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Serafina’s Pizzeria: 4125 Race Track Road, St. Johns, (904) 217-7310, serafinaspizzeria.com 

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Best pizza in Jacksonville: Serafina's picked as reader favorite