Johns on Bleeker is still alive...Always a crowd. Go at off times to avoid lines.

In fact they say Grimaldi's in Brooklyn is being evicted.

Is there any other place near the Brooklyn Bridge? Di Fara's seem too far away and it sounds like the lines at Grimaldi's may not be conducive to dropping by.

We ate at John's Times Square this summer, it was ok -nothing special. We found way better pizza just grabbing slices at little hole in the wall places. Maybe it's being a former Native NYer, but I can usually tell which little shop has good pizza by the look of the slices.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/734143

128 replies on where to find the best pizza in NYC.

Yes, but it took over 5 years to get that many responses. I'm shocked there aren't more than come up in the search. This topic is discussed often.

Lombardi's gets my vote most recently. I hadn't tried it back in 2005 when this thread started.

Oh, debitNM, sorry. I just realized you meant the # of replies on Chowhound -- not here.

Menupages.com seems like a useful resource, not just for pizza but any kind of restaurant.

As expected, the more well-known pizza joints have higher prices according to the cost rating system there.

Most, if not all, of the places mentioned above are still thriving.

Not sure about Ray's because as I said, no one who is serious about pizza in NYC would consider the many unaffiliated places that bear the name "Ray's" to serve "great" pizza. No comment on the "original," mentioned above. Many of the legion of Ray's seem to call themselves original..

DiFara has cut back his hours, so check before you make the trek to Brooklyn:

http://www.difara.com/

Fairly new places considered in the top rank include:

Motorino (2 locations; one in Brooklyn)


http://www.motorinopizza.com/


Keste, in the West Village.


http://kestepizzeria.com/




Jim Lahey of sullivan Streeet Bread fame has opened Co(mpany), in Chelsea but I have not been.

http://www.co-pane.com/


Personal favorite, for slices or whole pies, but may not be to everyone's taste and there is almost no seating:

http://www.artichokepizza.com/

Reliable old standby for slices;

http://www.joespizza.it/index.html

Was in Dumbo yesterday afternoon and yet again am astounded that people wait in that line for Grimaldi's!! As much as I've enjoyed their product, there's such good pizza in so many places that waiting in that line is just ridiculous. In fact, someone has capitalized on the Grimaldi's wait by opening a competing place around the corner; a friend who lives on that block says the pizza at the new place is also quite good. (Interestingly, the post from 5 years ago says "wait in line with the locals" -- while that may have been more or less true then, it definitely is not now!)

Another venerable Brooklyn pizza shop is Tontonno's, which has additional locations elsewhere in the city, including on 2nd Ave at about 26th Street.

"Roman" style pizza by the slice is becoming quite popular. A recent discovery and new fave for me is Farinella: their main location is on Broadway and Worth Street (City Hall/Chinatown area). They also have a takeout spot with a few seats on Lexington Ave at 78th Street. farinellabakery.com

Motorino gets my vote.

Lombardi's and Tontonno's are very good

We have had parties and getogethers at Tontonno's on 2nd and they never disappoint.

For a more expensive setting Luzzo's and Pizza Fresca.

Also very good if you are around the East Village is Grupo, sounds like they are only missing Groucho.

The latest trend seems to be burgers. There are tens of independent burger joints opening every where.

We loved John's; their pizza was excellent. There's one on Bleecker in the Village and a neat Times Square location built in an old church. It has that yummy brick oven taste. The original location has been around since the 1920s.

onehttp://www.johnsbrickovenpizza.com/

I got all excited to see a post from Pam...only to see this is from 05 :(

I hate to say this, but I think that saying a pizza is fired in a brick oven is like saying a restaurant is "gourmet."


What you probably mean is that the pizza is fired in a coal-stoked oven.

Really, ek? I don't think any of our local pizza is made in a brick oven. If there are non-coal fired brick ovens, then yes, John's is a coal-stoked oven pizza.

I'd have to agree with ek: in NYC, "brick oven" is almost as common for pizza as "gourmet" is for delis. And yes, there are many ways to fire a brick oven pizza: wood, coal and I believe also just regular gas...

Thanks for clarifying. So is it using the coal that makes it so good? Would using wood yield a different result? Whatever it is, I wish we could get it here.

Yes, and yes :) (and of course the quality of the ingredients!). Wood-fired is quite yummy too, though not so easy to find.

We are happily blessed with many pizza options in this city. Consistently nice weather, not so much! ;)

This is actually a complicated question.

I Coppi, for example, has special dispinsation from NYC for using a wood burning oven.

Lombardi's uses a coal burning oven but Motorino imported its wood burning oven from Italy.

And Di Fara, the highest rated of them all, uses a gas oven!

NYC pizza discussions, like those about Philly cheesesteaks and BBQ almost anywhere, are in my experience notable for their lack of agreement among the participants. ;-)

For NYC pizza when combining product with experience, I like John's and Grimaldi's best, with Nick's not far behind. The pizza at Di Fara is the best I've ever had, but there's a ton of "high maintenance" stuff you have to put up with in getting your food. Am less a fan of Lombardi's or Totonno's, but one can certainly do worse -- like Patsy's (the one in East Harlem), which is supposed to be a NYC pizza must but disappointed badly. My primary gripe with Totonno's was overcooked crust to the point of being burned (no, not the same a crust char, which only Di Fara has gotten right in my experience) -- am thinking a little less burn here would result in a fine pie there.