Discover the best pizza in New York

Gennaro Lombardi opened a Little Italy grocery on Spring Street in 1897 and converted it to a full pizzeria in 1905, the first licensed in the United States. Lombardi's coal oven trained the next generation: Totonno Pero in 1924, John Sasso in 1929, Patsy Lancieri in 1933.

New York-Style is a wide, thin, foldable pizza baked on a gas deck oven, cut into eight slices, sold by the slice and eaten standing or walking. The crust is dry and crisp on the bottom, soft enough to fold lengthwise without snapping. Joe's Pizza on Carmine Street is the canonical address.

Manhattan pizza clusters in Greenwich Village, Nolita and Little Italy, the East Village, the Lower East Side, and the Upper West Side. The outer boroughs add Williamsburg, DUMBO, Carroll Gardens, Bushwick, and Coney Island in Brooklyn.

The slice dominates, but the city has every style. Coal-oven Neapolitan-American at the historic houses, wood-fired modern Neapolitan at Una Pizza Napoletana and Roberta's in Brooklyn, plus pockets of Roman, Detroit, and Chicago deep-dish.

Lombardi's at 32 Spring Street, 1905. Every legendary New York coal-oven pizzeria descends from Lombardi's payroll: Totonno Pero left in 1924 to open Totonno's in Coney Island, John Sasso left in 1929 to open John's of Bleecker, Patsy Lancieri left in 1933 to open Patsy's in East Harlem.

A plain slice runs $3 to $5 at a neighborhood shop, $4 to $7 at the famous Greenwich Village counters. A whole pie at a sit-down pizzeria runs $20 to $35 for a Margherita, more at destination Neapolitan rooms. The dollar-slice tier is mostly gone post-pandemic.

Slice shops are walk-in only and the line is the system. Sit-down landmarks (Lombardi's, John's, Totonno's) take no reservations. The Lucali line in Carroll Gardens has formed by mid-afternoon for the 5pm open for two decades. Una Pizza Napoletana is the rare exception that books.

Almost everywhere. The New York-Style slice shop is the city's defining pizza format. Greenwich Village around Bleecker and Carmine Streets, the East Village, and the Upper West Side have the deepest density of well-known slice counters.

Yes. Domenico DeMarco died in March 2022 at 85, and his widow and children, including daughter Margaret Mieles, still operate the Avenue J shop in Midwood. Brooklyn renamed a stretch of Avenue J in his honor. The pizza is still cut and finished tableside.

The four oldest still-operating pizzerias all trace to Lombardi's in 1905. Totonno's in Coney Island opened in 1924 and is still run by the founder's grandchildren. John's of Bleecker Street opened in 1929. Patsy's opened in 1933.