Brooklyn pizza is the most argued-about food in America. Every block has a partisan, every partisan has a generation they swear by, and the line outside the place you grew up loving is now shorter than the line outside a shop that opened during the pandemic. That is the whole story of pizza in Brooklyn, compressed.
The argument splits cleanly into three eras. Before World War II, Neapolitan immigrants lit coal ovens in Coney Island and what is now DUMBO. In the 2000s, two cult shops in Midwood and Carroll Gardens turned a single pizzaiolo working alone into the format people would wait three hours for. Then a new generation, working out of converted garages and small storefronts, took the New York slice and put burrata, hot honey, and Detroit-style edges on it.
What makes Brooklyn pizza its own thing?
New York pizza traces its legend to Lombardi's on Spring Street in Manhattan, which dates its start to 1905. Antonio "Totonno" Pero worked there, then went out to Coney Island in 1924 and opened Totonno's. Patsy Grimaldi learned coal-oven pizza at his uncle's Patsy's in East Harlem before opening under the Brooklyn Bridge in 1990. The DNA is Manhattan, the practice is Brooklyn: coal-fired, leopard-spotted, charred on the bottom, no two pies the same.
The modern era runs on a different engine. Wood ovens, Caputo flour from Naples, and pizzaioli who trained in Italy or did a stage at Roberta's before opening their own pizzerias. The slice shops of the 2020s are not selling the dollar slice that defined the 1990s. They are selling slow-fermented dough, San Marzano tomatoes, and a fior di latte that costs more than the rent on a Bensonhurst pie in 1985.
| Puesto | Pizzería | Estilo | Por qué |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Totonno's Pizzeria Napolitana | New York | Coney Island; Opened 1924 by Antonio Pero, still burning coal, bakes until the dough runs out |
| 2 | Di Fara Pizza | New York | Midwood; Dom DeMarco's pizzeria from 1965 to 2022, now run by his family, square slice still worth the wait |
| 3 | Lucali | New York | Carroll Gardens; Cash only, BYOB, waitlist opens at 4 p.m., thin dough, restrained cheese |
| 4 | Grimaldi's | New York | DUMBO; Coal oven at 1 Front St, next door to the 1990 original, pies in minutes |
| 5 | Juliana's | New York | DUMBO; Patsy Grimaldi's 2012 return to his original space at 19 Old Fulton St |
| 6 | Roberta's | Napolitana | Bushwick; Opened 2008 in a garage, the Bee Sting (tomato, mozzarella, soppressata, chili honey) reshaped Brooklyn |
| 7 | Emmy Squared | Detroit | Williamsburg; Detroit-style pan pies since 2016: cheese-lacquered edges, sauce in stripes |
| 8 | Speedy Romeo | Napolitana | Clinton Hill; Wood oven in an old auto-body shop since 2012, the St. Louie with Provel works in Brooklyn |
| 9 | L'Industrie Pizzeria (Williamsburg) | New York | Williamsburg; Massimo Laveglia's burrata slice, open since 2017, now with a West Village shop |
The pre-war coal-oven generation
Totonno's opened in 1924 on Neptune Avenue and has made its pies the same way since, through a 2009 fire and Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Antonio "Totonno" Pero learned the craft at Lombardi's, then went solo. The house rule still holds: as long as there is dough, they bake, so go early and check the hours before you ride out. The crust is thin, blistered, and tastes faintly of smoke. The mozzarella is dropped in clumps, not spread.
Totonno's Pizzeria Napolitana
€€€€ · 1,813 reseñas
Properly proofed dough, 800° F coal oven, and true pizza taste. Service can be a miss, and it's cash only.
Grimaldi's under the Brooklyn Bridge is the one with the famous line. Patsy Grimaldi opened it at 19 Old Fulton Street in 1990 and sold the name in 1998 to Frank Ciolli, whose company runs the chain you see across the country. In 2011 this Grimaldi's moved next door, into a former bank at 1 Front Street. The oven is coal and the pies come out fast. Order it plain. Walk it to the Promenade.
Grimaldi's
€€€€ · 14,376 reseñas
Coal-fired thin crust with perfect char, fresh mozzarella, and bright tomato sauce. The Brooklyn Bridge pizza is a standout, though some found the ricotta not to their liking. Expect a long wait.
In 2012, Patsy Grimaldi came out of retirement at 80 and opened Juliana's back in his original space at 19 Old Fulton Street, next door to the Grimaldi's he had sold. He named it after his mother, Maria "Juliana" Lancieri Grimaldi. The oven is coal and the recipe is his. Juliana's has beaten Grimaldi's on most serious lists for a decade. The line next door is still longer.
Juliana's
€€€€ · 10,093 reseñas
Thin, blistered crust, fresh mozzarella, and flavorful guacamole. More sauce would be nice.
The 2000s cult-slice generation
Dom DeMarco, who came from the province of Caserta in 1959, opened Di Fara in Midwood in 1965 and stood at the oven himself for 57 years, snipping fresh basil over every pie with kitchen shears. He died in March 2022. His daughter Maggie DeMarco Mieles and her siblings run the shop now and the format has not changed: one pizzaiolo, one oven, slow hand-finishing, a square slice that costs more than any slice in New York and is worth it. The line is shorter than it was in 2015. That is its own kind of recommendation.
Di Fara Pizza
€€€€ · 8,829 reseñas
The sauce is incredible, basil and cheese ratio is perfect, and the crust is crisp. The Sicilian slice is delicious but heavy.
Lucali opened in 2006 in a Carroll Gardens storefront that used to be a candy shop. Mark Iacono built the place himself. The oven burns wood, the menu is pizza and calzone, the wine is whatever you brought, and the payment is cash. No reservations: the waitlist opens in person at 4 p.m. The dough is thinner than Di Fara's, the cheese is more restrained, the basil is whole leaves.
Lucali
€€€€ · 5,565 reseñas
A hand-rolled, thin-crust pie with charred edges and a rich tomato base. It's BYOB and cash-only, with no reservations, so expect a wait.
The modern micro-pizzeria generation
Roberta's opened in January 2008 in a converted Bushwick garage when Bushwick was still mostly garages. Brandon Hoy, Chris Parachini and chef Carlo Mirarchi put a wood oven in the back and started doing 12-inch Neapolitan-leaning pies with strange toppings. The Bee Sting, tomato and mozzarella with soppressata, chili and honey, became the gateway pie that ended up on a hundred copycat menus from Austin to Amsterdam. The original Moore Street spot is still there, still loud, still right.
Roberta's
€€€€ · 3,607 reseñas
Delicious pizza, good daiquiris, and cool vibe. Service can be slow and some dishes aren't great.
Emmy Squared in Williamsburg is the Detroit-style answer. Emily and Matt Hyland opened Emily, a wood-fired pizzeria, in Clinton Hill in 2014, and followed it in 2016 with Emmy Squared, built around Detroit-style pan pizza. The edges are lacquered with cheese baked against the pan, the crumb is open, and the sauce goes on after the bake in three thick stripes.
Emmy Squared
€€€€ · 470 reseñas
Perfectly spicy VIP pizza with a buttery, crunchy crust. Some find the ricotta-heavy pizzas too rich.
Speedy Romeo in Clinton Hill is the wood-fired wildcard. Justin Bazdarich and Todd Feldman opened it in 2012 in an old auto-body shop on Classon Avenue. Bazdarich grew up in St. Louis, so the menu has the St. Louie, a square-cut pie with Provel cheese (the processed cheddar, Swiss and provolone blend from St. Louis). It should not work in Brooklyn. It does.
Speedy Romeo
€€€€ · 1,584 reseñas
Perfect crust, delicious pizzas like the King Salami and Burrata, and a great casual atmosphere. Pasta was a bit greasy.
And then there is L'Industrie. Massimo Laveglia, a Tuscan-born baker, opened the Williamsburg shop on South 2nd Street in 2017 doing slices and round pies. The house calls itself the home of the burrata slice: a fresh ball of burrata torn over a hot slice straight from the oven. The line got long enough for a second shop on Carmine Street in the West Village.
L'Industrie Pizzeria (Williamsburg)
€€€€ · 1,923 reseñas
Fig and bacon slice, burrata slice, and crust are great. Waits can be long, and it's standing room only.
How we ranked this
We ranked by the pie, not by the queue. Star averages on big review sites punish the shops that turn out the most pizzas (more customers, more chances to draw a one-star review about parking), and they reward the longest line over the strongest crust. We weighted the opinions of people who walked in for the pizza and walked out talking about the pizza, across all three generations. The order on this page is editorial, not algorithmic.