A brewing dispute in another NYC thread over the quality of various pizzerias makes me wonder if there's really that much difference between our full-pie vendors. Is Lombardi's really that much better than Grimaldi's? Keste over Motorino? No. 28 over John's?

Will we truly trek out to Di Fara's?

And what of lesser-praised outlets, still serving perfectly respectable pies such as Angelo's, Nino's Bellissima Pizza, and Naples 45? How about the take-out only Amish Market?

Was Zagat's onto something when it reminded the proprietors of Una Pizza Napoletana (which was at the site of the present East Village Motorino) that, "It's only pizza guys."

While I've never been to Di Fara's and so cannot comment on its alleged superiority, I do think the first six pizzerias I listed all serve excellent pizza. One might prefer the crust at one, the tomatoes at another, the toppings at a third but in the end, remembering that it's only pizza, I doubt you'll be disappointed in any of them.

Exactly my point!

I could start the fire going by saying Star tavern in Newark ot the Reservior tavern in boonton N.J. (serving pies since the forties) is best but I have to agree that any one of them serves a fine pizza that you are not going to find once you leave the east coast.

Yes it is just pizza, and the world is filled it is just "fill in the blank." If you are going to do something, you might as well as enjoy as much as you can.

It is just reading, so I might as well buy the first book I see when when I enter B & N. After all, it is just words.

I said there is little difference between these excellent pizzas. Pizzas not being books, I stand by that statement.

But I would invite to you to describe why you favor one particular pizza over another.

But I would invite to you to describe why you favor one particular pizza over another.
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I will be more than happy to oblige. Motorino has their own olive made, brings in the tomatoes from Italy, has hand made cheese and the wood burning oven was brought from Italy because of the heat it creates.

Every ingredient is fresh and the crust is perfectly prepared. In fact, I had lunch there yesterday and the meatballs, were a fabulous a combiantion of veal and pork. The crust was particulatly good the outside slightly burnt and tne inside mosit and airy.

Thanks for asking.

wish I had one right now

Thank you. How would you compare the Motorino veal and pork meatballs from the celebrated meatballs (also a veal and pork blend, if I remember correctly) to be found at Lombardi's?

How can all you people be so misinformed? Everyone knows that Pizza Hut is the BEST!!!!!

Friends who moved from the NY area to Chicago more than 30 years ago recently visited me in NYC. They wanted NY-style pizza.Their requirements: a slice of pizza with the sausage cut in strips that curled from the heat and, when you lift the slice, orange oil drips off and puddles on the paper plate.

Best pizza is definitely subjective.

My sister lived in Chicago for forty years and they would order in Lou Malnati’s. For years I did know it was a person's name but I thought it had to do with illumination. If you did not eat it fast, it could be used for grouting the tub.

I can't claim to have eaten pizza everywhere in New York, but the best I've ever experienced in this city were the two slices I had from Di Fara. Unfortunately, there are also a lot of challenging "high maintenance" issues one has to deal with: dumpy and dirty digs with no air conditioning and almost no seating and occasional smokiness from the pizza oven, free-form lines of customers who can get pushy, hours that deviate on the owner's whim (often shorter than what's listed at their website or on their door), high prices ($5.00 per slice of plain pizza, $1.00 extra for each topping), and a cash-only policy. See my food report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...xperiences.cfm

Whether one finds it worth the high maintenance stuff to eat here is a personal decision.

Here's how I'd rank the NYC ones I've been to other than Di Fara:

Grimaldi's
John's (Times Square)
Nick's (Upper East Side)
Lombardi's
Totonno's (Upper East Side)
Patsy's (Spanish Harlem)

Others have differing opinions.

Please note that Tontonno's on the Upper East Side and in the East 20's are both closed. The replacement restaurant uptown has a very accomodating staff and the ingredients were fresh but the crust was not that good.

"$5.00 per slice of plain pizza"

I guess it's just me but I wouldn't pay $10 for 2 slices of plain pizza, particularly in Brooklyn. I see there plain pizza pie is $32.

That $7.99 pie at Domino's is looking better and better. I haven't tried it but wondering if anyone (gourmets fess up! ) has and what the opinions are.

There are very few chain pizza places in NYC away from the tourist areas and the terminals because those college kids and working stiff gourmets are very fussy. But if none are convenient there is an Olive Garden on 6th Ave and 22 Street and another near Times Square.

Just be glad you NYers have all these wonderful choices, you could be stuck in Orlando where it is a veritable pizza wasteland. There are places that make decent pizza, but I have yet to find a place that makes great pizza.

I am dying to try Lombardi's going by just what I have seen on TV. It looks like what I consider to be perfect pizza, fresh homemade dough, fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato sauce (not too much), splash of olive oil, Thin crust cooked just to the edge of burnt in a super hot brick oven. Mmmmm, One of these days!

Aduchamp1, thanks for the update on the Manhattan Totonno's outposts. My experience at the former uptown outpost mirrored yours, with good toppings and service but crust that was burned on the bottom. As I said on this thread:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...xperiences.cfm

cook the crust right and this could have been a really good pizza experience. I'm glad to hear the Coney Island original location has reopened after their fire a couple years ago -- if I'm out that way I'll give them a try.

The price may be right when you get pizza at a spot like Domino's or Pizza Hut, but my experience suggests you get what you pay for. It's kind of like going to La Famiglia Giorgio in Boston's North End -- the good news is that you get a ton of food at a relatively cheap price, but the bad news is that you've then got to eat the stuff.

And gmoney's got a good point, it's easy to be super-fussy in NYC with its wealth of great pizza places. Plunk down Lombardi's (which I rated on the lower end of my list) in Orlando, and it may well become the destination pizza spot in the state. I'm not saying Lombardi's is terrible or anything, just not as comparatively high on my personal list of NYC pizzerias.