By Tara Kyle
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CHELSEA — Chelsea residents may see a bit more of Keith Richards now that the legendary rocker's favorite Manhattan pizza joint is opening up shop in the neighborhood later this week.
Artichoke Basille's, which has been commanding lines of foodies and pizza connoisseurs in front of its East Village location for more than two years thanks to numerous blog raves, is set to open a new full-service restaurant at 457 West 17th Street. Pizza by-the-slice is already available for takeout.
"It's fantastic, people are very excited," said takeout manager John Gristina, as he ladled sauce onto uncooked pies on Monday. "A lot of people are saying they're happy they don't have to walk down to the East Side to get a slice of our pizza."
Skylar Belt, 15, agreed, and exclaimed he was "pretty psyched" that he'll now only need to walk a couple of blocks from his high school to pick up his favorite artichoke slice.
In addition to their signature artichoke pizza, the takeout section offers crab, Sicilian and Margarita slices. When the restaurant itself opens, it will offer seating for nearly 100, plus an expanded menu including artichoke fritters, heroes and pasta.
"It's very easy to make a big menu and not make everything as good as it can be," said Gristina. "We try to have a smaller menu and make things a little bit different, a little bit better."
