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BEST OF NYC

The Best Slice in NYC, Argued Block by Block

By Mr. Gotham (John Elia) · November 1, 2026 · 8 min read
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By Mr. Gotham (John Elia) · Checked November 1, 2026

In this city, pizza is close to a religion, and New Yorkers argue about it the way other people argue about scripture. Call it Gospel in Gotham. Nobody wins the argument. You just make your case, block by block, and let the crust do the rest.

So here’s the case. This list holds 14 pizzerias in all five boroughs. Every address, founding year and order below was checked against the shop’s own website, recent reporting or a current listing on November 1, 2026. If I couldn’t confirm a place was open, it didn’t make the list. Where a famous “first” is contested, I say so.

One rule before we start. Some of these are SLICE shops: you walk up, you point, you eat standing. Others are PIE houses that only sell whole pies, and asking for a slice there marks you as a tourist. A few do BOTH. Each pick is labeled.

Manhattan

Joe’s Pizza — 7 Carmine St, Greenwich Village · SLICE · since 1975
Pino “Joe” Pozzuoli, who came here from Naples, opened at the corner of Bleecker and Carmine and later moved three doors down. There are several Joe’s shops now, but Carmine Street is the original. Order: a plain cheese slice. It’s the city’s default slice, and it earned the job.

Scarr’s Pizza — 35 Orchard St, Lower East Side · BOTH · since 2016
Scarr Pimentel learned the trade at Lombardi’s, then opened his own shop. In June 2023 he moved across the street from 22 Orchard to the bigger 35. It’s the newest shop on this list, and it already makes slices like an old one. Order: a slice at the counter. With friends, take a table in the back and get a whole pie.

Prince Street Pizza — 27 Prince St, Nolita · SLICE · since 2012
This is the square on everyone’s phone. The Spicy Spring is a thick square with fra diavolo sauce, fresh mozzarella, Pecorino and cup-and-char pepperoni. In fairness, the owners stepped down in 2021 after racially offensive online comments they had posted years earlier resurfaced. Since then the brand has expanded well past Nolita. Order: the Spicy Spring.

John’s of Bleecker Street — 278 Bleecker St, West Village · PIE · founding year contested
John’s bakes whole pies in a coal-fired brick oven and doesn’t sell slices. The restaurant dates itself to 1929 under John Sasso. Records cited on Wikipedia say a Filippo Milone opened it in 1915, with Sasso taking over later. Remember that name. Order: a whole pie, plain or with one topping.

Patsy’s Pizzeria (the original) — 2287 First Ave at E. 117th St, East Harlem · BOTH · since 1933
Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri opened it in what was then Italian Harlem. The family sold it in 1991, after his death. The coal oven is still running, and the brand opened a Flatiron flagship in March 2026. Patsy’s claims it was first to sell pizza by the slice, and nobody has settled that one. Order: the plain slice from the counter.

NY Pizza Suprema — 413 Eighth Ave (30th–31st Sts), across from Penn Station · SLICE · since 1964
Sal Riggio, who came from Sicily as a boy, opened this shop. His son Joe runs it now. By the family’s account, the name is a mistake: Sal told the sign maker “Supreme” and the sign maker heard “Suprema.” It’s the best reason to arrive early for a train. Order: the upside-down Sicilian, or the classic slice with its heavy dose of Pecorino.

Mama’s TOO! — 2750 Broadway (105th–106th Sts), Upper West Side · SLICE · since 2017
Frank Tuttolomondo spun this shop off from the longtime neighborhood pizzeria Mama’s in late 2017. Its squares have climbed every list since, and Time Out’s February 2026 ranking of the world’s best pizzas put it at No. 1. Order: the cacio e pepe square, listed at $7.75 (West Side Rag, Feb. 2, 2026).

Brooklyn

Di Fara Pizza — 1424 Avenue J at E. 15th St, Midwood · BOTH · since 1965
Domenico “Dom” DeMarco (1936–2022) made pies here by hand for decades. The corner was co-named Domenico “Dom” DeMarco Way in September 2024, and his family runs the shop now. New York State seized it over back taxes in 2019, and it reopened. Order: a regular slice, then a second one, because you’ll want it anyway.

L&B Spumoni Gardens — 2725 86th St, Gravesend · SLICE · since 1939
Ludovico Barbati traded a horse-drawn spumoni cart for a permanent spot on 86th Street. The business opened a second location in DUMBO in December 2024, but 86th Street is still the one people mean. Order: the Sicilian square, with spumoni after.

Lucali — 575 Henry St, Carroll Gardens · PIE · since 2006
Mark Iacono opened Lucali in 2006 in a former candy store he went to as a kid. Here are the rules, from Lucali’s own site: cash only, no reservations, and the waitlist opens at 4 p.m. It’s open 5 to 11 p.m. and closed Tuesdays. The menu is whole pies and calzones, with a large pie with basil listed at $32 (lucali.com, checked Nov. 1, 2026). Order: a plain pie with basil and a calzone.

A note on Totonno’s (1524 Neptune Ave, Coney Island, since 1924). Anthony “Totonno” Pero learned at Lombardi’s and opened in 1924, which makes it one of the oldest pizzerias in America. It’s not on this list because I can’t confirm the storefront is serving today: the family has been looking for a buyer since May 2024, Brooklyn Magazine reported in January 2026 that they were still choosing carefully, and Brooklyn Paper reported a pivot to frozen pies with no set plan to reopen the shop. If that changes, it goes straight back in.

Queens

Rizzo’s Fine Pizza — 30-13 Steinway St, Astoria · BOTH · since 1959
The Rizzo brothers opened it with their brother-in-law, Hugo Lupi. The family still sells what its website calls “The Original Thin Crust Square.” Order: the thin square. It’s a different animal from a thick Sicilian, and that’s the point.

New Park Pizza — 156-71 Cross Bay Blvd, Howard Beach · SLICE · since 1956
It sits on Cross Bay Boulevard on the way to the Rockaways. Its website says it has served “the same great brick oven pizza since 1956.” The Infatuation’s April 23, 2026, review listed the plain slice at $3.75. Order: a plain slice. If you like more crunch, ask for it well-done.

The Bronx

Louie & Ernie’s Pizza — 1300 Crosby Ave, east Bronx · BOTH · since 1947 (Bronx since 1959)
It opened in Harlem in 1947 and moved in 1959 to the garden level of a single-family house on Crosby Avenue. John and Cosimo have run it since 1987. Food Republic named it the best hole-in-the-wall restaurant in New York in 2025. Order: the sausage pie (fennel sausage from a neighborhood butcher), plus a plain slice. Bring cash.

Staten Island

Joe & Pat’s — 1758 Victory Blvd, Castleton Corners · BOTH · since 1960
This family business makes thin, crisp pies. A counter up front sells slices to go, and the dining rooms serve whole pies. The family later opened an East Village shop at 168 First Ave. Joe’s son AJ Pappalardo opened Rubirosa on Mulberry Street in 2009. Order: the vodka pie, after a plain one for calibration.

Sidebar: The 1905 Question

Lombardi’s — Spring Street at Mott, Little Italy (its website lists 30 Spring St) · PIE · claims 1905

Lombardi’s calls itself “America’s First Pizzeria,” and has trademarked the phrase. The story says Gennaro Lombardi got a pizzeria license in 1905. Here’s what the record supports:

  • Verified: Lombardi’s sold coal-oven pies on Spring Street for most of the 20th century. The original closed in 1984 and reopened about a decade later, a block away.
  • Verified: Three of the pizzaioli on this list have ties to Lombardi’s: Totonno Pero, Patsy Lancieri (by most accounts) and Scarr Pimentel.
  • Contested: Nobody has produced the 1905 license. A ship’s manifest shows Gennaro Lombardi arriving in November 1904, age 17, listed as a laborer. That makes him an employee in 1905 at best.
  • Contested: Pizza historian Peter Regas found that a Filippo Milone probably opened the Spring Street pizzeria. Regas also found Manhattan pizzerias that predate 1905. Milone is the same man records credit with opening John’s of Bleecker in 1915.

The fair verdict: Lombardi’s is an essential stop for history. Whether it was “first” isn’t settled.

Slice Etiquette (the parts that are actually true)

  • Know the format before you go. John’s posts a “No Slices” sign. Lucali sells whole pies only. Ask for a slice at either and you’ll get a look.
  • “A plain” means cheese. It’s the standard order and the fairest test of any shop.
  • Bring cash. Lucali is cash only, by its own site. Louie & Ernie’s takes only cash, according to the New York Times’ 2025 pizza list. The Infatuation’s 2022 review reported Di Fara as cash only, so carry some just in case.
  • Ask for it well-done. At most counters the slice goes back in the oven for a reheat. If you want more crunch, say so. The Infatuation recommends exactly that at New Park.
  • The Pizza Principle is dead. In June 1980, patent attorney Eric Bram told the Times that the price of a slice had tracked the subway fare since the early 1960s. It held for decades. Business Insider has since reported that a cheese slice now costs well above a fare.

Sources

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