Unearth The Voyage
New York City and pizza go together like cheese and tomato sauce. For over a century, the city’s pizzerias have been perfecting the art of the perfect slice and pie, creating traditions that spread across America and the world. These twelve legendary spots have stood the test of time, still serving the same coal-fired crusts, foldable slices, and neighborhood charm that made them famous decades ago.
1. Lombardi’s Pizza – America’s First Pizzeria Still Firing Coal Ovens
Walking into Lombardi’s feels like stepping back over a hundred years. Licensed in 1905, this Little Italy landmark claims the title of America’s very first pizzeria. The coal oven still roars at 32 Spring Street, turning out pies with blistered, charred crusts that taste like history itself.
Every bite connects you to generations of New Yorkers who lined up for the same experience. The brick-walled dining room keeps things simple, letting the pizza do all the talking. Tourists and locals alike treat this place like a pilgrimage site, and for good reason.
Lombardi’s proves that some traditions never need updating. The whole-pie service and coal-fired method remain unchanged, making it a living museum where you can actually eat the exhibits. When people say New York invented pizza in America, this is where that story begins.
2. John’s of Bleecker Street – No Slices, Just Old-School Coal-Oven Pies
Since 1929, John’s has followed one unbreakable rule: no slices, only whole pies. That policy might seem old-fashioned, but it preserves the original rhythm of pizza dining in New York. At 278 Bleecker Street, the same coal oven that moved from Sullivan Street decades ago continues its work, baking thin crusts with perfectly blistered edges.
The restaurant atmosphere feels refreshingly stubborn in the best way possible. While most pizza spots adapted to grab-and-go culture, John’s stuck with sit-down service and never looked back. Nearly a century of operation has turned this place into a benchmark for what coal-oven pizza should taste like.
Families squeeze into booths while the oven glows in the background, creating scenes that could be from any decade. The pies arrive steaming hot, cut into wedges, demanding your full attention and appetite.
3. Joe’s Pizza (Greenwich Village Original) – The Quintessential New York Slice
Open since 1975, Joe’s Pizza on Carmine Street serves the slice that lives in everyone’s imagination. When movie directors need to show authentic New York pizza, they film here. When tourists want to understand what the fuss is about, locals send them to Joe’s. The formula is deceptively simple: perfectly foldable crust, generous cheese, tangy sauce, and grease that drips just right.
The original storefront keeps cranking out slices day and night, feeding late-night crowds, lunch rushes, and everyone in between. Additional locations have spread the gospel across the city, but Carmine Street remains the mothership. Standing at the counter with your paper plate feels like joining a club that’s been meeting for decades.
Joe’s never tries to reinvent anything or add fancy toppings. Sometimes perfection means knowing exactly what you do best and doing it every single day.
4. Patsy’s Pizzeria (East Harlem Original) – Nearly a Century of Coal-Fired Tradition
Founded in 1933, Patsy’s in East Harlem represents one of the city’s earliest pizza institutions. The flagship location at 2287 First Avenue and 117th Street still operates with the same coal-oven tradition that made it famous. Ultra-thin crusts emerge from that ancient oven with crispy edges and just enough char to remind you this is serious business.
Patsy’s history connects to multiple pizza legends across the city, including the famous Patsy Grimaldi. The family tree of New York pizza runs directly through this East Harlem corner, making it essential to understanding how the whole culture developed. Even as the name expanded to other locations, the original shop maintains its reputation for doing things the old way.
Neighborhood regulars still pack the place, treating it like their personal dining room. The pizza tastes like it did when their grandparents first discovered it decades ago.
5. Di Fara Pizza – Midwood’s Legendary Labor-of-Love Pies
Di Fara Pizza in Midwood has operated since the 1960s as a temple to slow-food philosophy before that term even existed. The late Domenico DeMarco spent decades making each pie by hand, scissoring fresh basil over every pizza and drizzling olive oil with the precision of an artist. Though Dom has passed, the shop at 1424 Avenue J continues his tradition, still crafting pies the painstaking way he taught.
Waiting for your order here requires patience, but nobody complains. The process is part of the experience, watching skilled hands assemble each pizza like it’s the only one that matters. Both round pies and square slices have achieved legendary status among serious pizza fans who make pilgrimages from across the city.
Even with countless new artisanal pizzerias opening, Di Fara remains the standard everyone measures themselves against.
6. L&B Spumoni Gardens – Sicilian Squares and Spumoni in Brooklyn
What started as a spumoni stand in 1939 evolved into one of Brooklyn’s most beloved pizza destinations. L&B Spumoni Gardens in Gravesend serves a Sicilian square that flips convention upside down, literally placing cheese underneath the sauce. That distinctive style creates a completely different eating experience, with the sauce staying bright and fresh on top while the cheese melts into the thick, fluffy crust below.
The 86th Street location operates as both pizzeria and ice cream parlor, honoring its frozen dessert roots. Families gather at picnic tables in the outdoor area, tackling hefty squares and finishing with the tri-color spumoni that made the place famous. Online ordering brings the experience to more people, but eating here in person captures the full Brooklyn summer vibe.
Few places manage to be tourist attractions and neighborhood hangouts simultaneously, but L&B pulls it off effortlessly.
7. Denino’s Pizzeria & Tavern – Staten Island’s Blue-Collar Classic
Staten Island’s pizza scene deserves more attention, and Denino’s proves why. Operating since the 1930s and becoming a full pizza tavern in the 1950s, this Port Richmond landmark combines two great New York traditions: bar culture and pizza. Thin-crust pies arrive at tables alongside pints, creating the kind of neighborhood atmosphere that defines working-class New York.
The tavern setting makes Denino’s different from Manhattan slice joints or Brooklyn coal-oven spots. This is where regulars gather for the game, where families celebrate birthdays in the dining room, and where the pizza tastes better because of the company and the cold beer. Multiple generations have kept this place packed, even as additional locations opened to meet demand.
The bar-pie style represents an important thread in New York’s pizza tapestry that often gets overlooked when people focus only on coal ovens and street slices.
8. New Park Pizza – Queens’ Charred-Edge Slice Institution
Since the mid-1950s, New Park Pizza in Howard Beach has been perfecting the art of the well-done slice. The salted oven floor and high-heat cooking create those signature charred edges and slightly smoky flavor that fans crave. This isn’t accidental burning but a deliberate technique that sets New Park apart from every other slice shop in the city.
Family ownership has kept the operation consistent for nearly seven decades. The Howard Beach location serves neighborhood regulars and JFK travelers alike, many of whom plan their airport trips around a New Park stop. The smell of that charred crust hits you the moment you walk through the door, promising exactly what you came for.
Some pizza lovers prefer their slices lighter and softer, but New Park’s devoted following proves there’s a huge audience for pizza with darker, crispier edges and that distinctive smoky bite that comes from serious oven heat.
9. Louie & Ernie’s Pizza – Bronx Hidden Gem Since the 1940s
Tracing back to 1947 in Harlem before relocating to Pelham Bay in 1959, Louie & Ernie’s operates as one of the Bronx’s best-kept secrets. The cash-only counter serves a tiny menu, but what they make, they make exceptionally well. The sausage pie has achieved cult status among those in the know, with perfectly seasoned meat and a crust that strikes the ideal balance between crispy and chewy.
This hole-in-the-wall spot proves that New York’s most important pizza doesn’t always come from famous Manhattan addresses or trendy Brooklyn neighborhoods. Sometimes the best pies hide in residential corners where only locals and dedicated pizza hunters venture. The no-frills approach extends to everything: simple decor, straightforward service, and pizza that speaks for itself.
Finding Louie & Ernie’s requires effort, but that journey becomes part of the story you tell afterward.
10. Sam’s Restaurant – Time-Capsule Red-Sauce Joint in Cobble Hill
Sam’s Restaurant opened on Court Street in 1930 and apparently nobody told them that decades have passed since then. The wood paneling, checkered tablecloths, and vintage dining room create a Brooklyn time capsule that transports diners straight back to mid-century Italian-American dining culture. The brick-oven pizza shares menu space with classic red-sauce dishes, all served in an atmosphere thick with personality and history.
Long-time owner Louis Migliaccio has become a local character himself, adding human warmth to the old-school surroundings. This isn’t just a restaurant but a piece of living history where Cobble Hill families have celebrated occasions for generations. The pizza emerges from the brick oven with a crust that shows its age-old technique, topped simply and served with genuine Brooklyn attitude.
Eating here feels like visiting your Italian grandmother’s house, if she happened to run a restaurant for 95 years.
11. Arturo’s Coal Oven Pizza – Jazz, Coal, and Classic Pies on Houston
Since the 1950s, Arturo’s on West Houston Street has been serving coal-oven pizza with a soundtrack. Live jazz fills the dining room while the coal oven pumps out pies with charred crusts and modest toppings. Worn leather booths and a bustling bar create an atmosphere that feels authentically old New York, where the music matters as much as the food.
The combination of live music and traditional pizza-making is increasingly rare in a city that’s always changing. Arturo’s holds onto both with impressive determination, creating an experience that engages multiple senses simultaneously. The pizza itself follows classic principles: thin crust, quality ingredients, high heat, and no unnecessary complications or trendy additions.
Couples on dates, jazz enthusiasts, and pizza purists all find reasons to squeeze into this Houston Street institution where tradition and atmosphere triumph over modern restaurant trends.
12. Juliana’s Pizza – New-School Date, Old-School Coal-Oven DNA
Opened in 2012, Juliana’s might seem too young for this list, but its DNA runs deep through New York pizza history. Patsy Grimaldi founded it in the original Fulton Street space under the Brooklyn Bridge, using coal-oven techniques he’s practiced since the mid-20th century. The 800-degree coal oven produces pies with dramatically blistered crusts and simple toppings that honor traditional methods rather than chasing food trends.
Juliana’s demonstrates how old-school traditions can thrive in modern restaurants when the commitment to craft remains genuine. The DUMBO location attracts crowds who recognize that great pizza transcends the age of the establishment. Food critics consistently rank it among the city’s best pizzerias, proving the coal-oven lineage continues shaping contemporary pizza conversations.
Sometimes carrying forward a tradition matters more than how long your particular restaurant has stood in one spot.
