The best historic pizza restaurants in New York
21.07.2023 - 08:09
/ roughguides.com
Spend more than five minutes in New York and you’ll start to understand how much the locals love pizza. There are more pizza joints on a typical block than garbage cans, mailboxes and parking spaces. So as you’d expect, this is one town where pizza genealogy is taken very seriously, and title of best pizza restaurant in New York hotly contended.
These days quality pizza is having a renaissance in the Big Apple: relative newcomers Artichoke, Kesté Pizza & Vino, Motorino, Paulie Gee’s and the crazy good fried-pizza of Forcella are all excellent, but this is not about them. This is about the old school. If you manage to visit all these pizza joints (preferably over a few days, unless you have a heart the size of a Grand National winner), congratulations – you’ll be able to claim an advanced diploma in NYC pizza lore. (Quoted prices are for large pizzas, unless otherwise noted).
32 Spring St, Nolita (Manhattan); www.firstpizza.com
New York’s pizza odyssey begins with Neapolitan immigrant Gennaro Lombardi, who sold the first pizza (or at least received the city’s first ever pizzeria licence) in Little Italy in 1905 (his original store opened in 1897, down the street from the current location) – he also helped train a whole generation of pizzaioli at his brick-walled coal oven. Today, despite the tourists, the pizzas still deliver – the white clam version is a thin-crust delight (small only; US$28), though beginners should stick with the original, made with fresh mozzarella and a San Marzano tomato sauce (US$20.50). Cash only, no slices.
1524 Neptune Ave, Coney Island (Brooklyn). No website.
Lombardi’s employee (and fellow Neapolitan) Antonio Totonno Pero perfected the pizza recipe, and in 1924 he opened his own place. Totonno’s is still owned by the same family, though temporarily closed by Hurricane Sandy. It uses tomatoes imported from Italy, handmade mozzarella cheese and dough made daily on the premises – but the crust is puffy and thick, rather than the usual wafer thin (from US$19.95).Totonno’s should reopen in the next couple of months. Cash only, no slices.
278 Bleecker St, West Village (Manhattan); www.johnsbrickovenpizza.com
OK, this is another tourist bottle-neck, but the worn-wooden booths, bright neon-red sign and ramshackle floors are dripping with atmosphere. Lombardi’s graduate John Sasso opened up here in 1929 – his coal-fired brick oven is still knocking out superb pies. Expect real old-school super-thin crust, sweet tomato sauce and blistered, gooey cheese (US$16.50). Cash only, no slices.
4: Patsy’s Pizzeria
2287 First Ave, East Harlem (Manhattan); www.thepatsyspizza.com
The final Lombardi’s alum, Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri opened this lauded East Harlem joint in 1933, later a haunt for Frank