New York City, New York
When I put the call out on the Bacon is Magic Facebook page for good, cheap places to eat in New York City a lot of people insisted that I have pizza. I hadn’t thought of New York as a pizza destination but people swore it was the best here and so I went off searching for mind-blowing pizza.
I couldn’t find it.
I love pizza and I’ve had it in many countries, some good some bad. For me New York City pizza lies somewhere in the middle.
Lombardi’s Pizza
I had high hopes for this place. It was recommended repeatedly on Facebook and there was a line-up to get in – yes I waited in line even though I don’t believe in waiting in line for food. It looked delicious. But overall I couldn’t recommend it to someone as THE best. It was a great thin crust but the tomato sauce on the famous margherita pizza was bland. For $16.50 I would go somewhere else and I would definitely not get the caesar salad.
Ben’s Pizza
During On Location’s Movie and TV Tour we had a quick break in SOHO could people could get a bite to eat and our guide mentioned that Ben’s Pizza was famous so we went down to grab a slice. Ben’s specializes in Sicilian pizza, which has a thicker crust like focaccia and a lot of cheese. All it reminded me of was the bad pizza I had in Buenos Aires. Definitely not something I would recommend.
Grand Pizza
Frustrated that every time people said a pizzeria was the best we gave up. But one late night we needed something to eat and stopped in at a shop by our hotel in South Grand, next to an amazing pastry place, La Bella Ferrara.
It had a similar thin crust to Lombardi’s but the sauce was more complex with flavour. Content that I finally had a decent slice of pizza I decided I couldn’t take the chance of trying another mediocre place.
So tell me, where is the best pizza in New York? Because I can’t find it.
As a New Yorker, I don’t think we have THE best pizza in the world; we may have the biggest slices but really, to me, pizza’s pizza. I’m not the biggest fan of it. I have to crave it to eat it. However, there are places that do hold true to their raves and reviews. I’m a big fan of Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn (I might have recommended that one on your page), though I don’t ever wait more than 30 mins in line. The pizza in EATALY is also pretty good. If we’re starving, sometimes any pizza joint will work for us. We’re mostly loyal to the pizza shop at the corner where we once grew up. The best pizza I’ve ever had? – In Rio de Janeiro!
You did recommend it and we were hoping to go but just ran out of time. I laugh that the best pizza you have had is in Rio!
Grimaldis is the best pizza in the world. But La Mona here in Mazatlan with a coal fired oven a few blocks from the ocean ranks a close second 🙂
I agree. I was excited for all the pizza-eating opportunities in NYC, but just found it to be soggy and it falls apart when you try to eat it so you end up just stuffing it in your mouth like a greedy goat. I wasn’t impressed…
I just thought I would be able to find amazing slices, especially with the recommendations but nothing I ate was better than anything at home.
Hahaha…I’m loving the visual you get from your reference Vicky! 🙂
Haha I don’t think I’ve had a bad piece of pizza in NYC ever!!! And I really love Lombardi’s Pizza. Shame you didn’t. Good luck with your hunt!
Andi I am shocked! It was okay pizza but definitely not something I would love.
good pizza cannot be found in manhattan. or at least i haven’t found it yet. you have to go out to brooklyn or mount vernon has a place called johnny’s that is legendary and lives up to it’s hype. people that think nyc has good pizza, don’t know pizza. oh yeah and pizza is pizza…ah no!
There are a lot of crappy pizza joints in nyc, but there are some really good spots as well. Next time you are in town try keste in Manhattan or Di Fara in brooklyn for whole pies. For the traditional greasy slice type place, LoDuca in brooklyn is A++ I’m also not a huge lombardi’s fan – the hype is undeserved.
I did hear good things about pizza in Brooklyn but I didn`t get a chance to head over other than on the hop on hop off tour, maybe next time.
Im just not a big pizza fan no matter WHERE I eat it. It never has enough flavour to keep me entertained after the first bite. But I’d never really heard NYC was good for Pizza, but then again, I haven’t been listening to USA news all that much. Glad you finally found a great slice!
I love pizza, and I could eat good pizza almost every day. But not in New York City.
A slice a Rays!
I missed Rays 🙁
And I have heard good things about Eataly too and will be checking it out when I go later this year.
Yes I did too. My family isn`t really into food so we didn`t focus that much on restaurants, just a few iconic ones that people recommended.
I never thought the pizza in NY could ever be as good as Italy until I stumbled upon Numero 28 on Carmine Street. The staff all spoke Italian and they brought us an arugula and prosciutto pizza that I still dream of. Try there!
Oh man…next time!
With those fab pizza shots, you could have said it was the best pizza in the world and i’d believe 😉 (Better luck next time)
Yes sometimes a photo says a thousand words and none of them tell the truth about taste…
I’m convinced that Toronto has far better pizzas (Pizzeria Libretto is my fav) than Chicago or NY. I don’t know why everyone raves about NY pizza so much …
Can you believe I still have not had Libretto, it`s crazy. This is a good reminder to go have it now, since there are no longer lines and two locations.
I’ll be home soon and can’t wait to get a pizza! It’s so so good so you should go as soon as you can. 🙂
Franny’s in Brooklyn, where they make everything from scratch even the cured meats.
There is good pizza in NYC, but you have to weed through a lot of crap to find it.
Lombardi’s is a tourist trap for sure. Never trust a line.
It seems that New York pizza is a fallacy, people should be specific and say Brooklyn pizza.
That. Looks. Orgasmic.
If only it had been…
We really have our differences in terms of the best pizza.
I always love pizza from pizza hut.
So far it’s my favorite pizza store.
Yes we definitely have different tastes in pizza.
So here’s the thing with Pizza in New York…there’s wayyy too much of it. Yes, there’s great pizza here, but there’s also terrible pizza here.
Also, when looking for pizza in NYC you have to consider what kind of pizza you want. Do you want the classic NYC greasy slice, or do you want an out of this world artisanal pizza with a Napoli style crust and an unusual twist to, or organically grown local, ingredients?
I think the classic greasy NYC slice is good, better than lots of pizza I’ve had worldwide, but not mindblowing by any means. But I love me an artisanal Napoli style slice best. For that I stay in Brooklyn. Paulie Gee’s and Roberta’s are my top picks for that. Next time in NYC, hollar!
I think I was lead astray it seems all the locals tell me to go to Brooklyn, I wish I had known that!
How come no one mentioned the famous Joe’s Pizza? I can’t say it’s the best in NYC, but it sure is quite good AND cheap… plus, Heidi Klum may just randomly walk in for a slice 🙂
No one mentioned it at all, where is it?
Ooh now this is interesting! I’m excited about trying pizza when I go to NY next year, and now I know where to avoid at least – that pizza from Ben’s looks revolting.
I was REALLY disappointed by the pizza in Rome. I’ve had MUCH better here in Korea. Now that’s saying something.
I found some great pizza in Rome but it was on back alley ways where no one spoke English. I think that is the key to food in Rome.
For me it’s Grimaldis in Brooklyn and John’z Pizzeria in Greenwich village.
Interesting to hear John`z I`ll check that out next time, now that I have a legit list of pizzerias.
Is gluten free pizza very popular in New York? We are heding there for our honey moon in 2014!
I am not sure but you could ask Jodi from LegalNomads.com I know she is gluten free and spends quite a bit of time in NYC.
Agreed. We tried Lombardi’s because it was the ‘first’ pizzeria. It was great, but def not the best. We have still yet to try Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn, which we hear is ‘really’ the best.
And so expensive for what you get!
Oh my god, those pictures are making me drool. Seriously, I genuinely hate the pizza in Mexico so much. Too much cheese and so unbelievably greasy!!!
If you do end up getting told what the ACTUAL best pizza place in New York is, let me know – I’m heading there next April. 😀
Pizza in all of Latin America is pretty terrible, believe me I tried so much of it.
Wow! I’m shocked to hear you didn’t enjoy the NY pizza experience. In my opinion, it’s some of the best!! Tough break.
where do you recommend going?
I didn’t know you were at NYC.. i wish I could have meet you up and maybe try pizza at Motorino :P.
When are you coming back?
Hmm..I’ve tried Lombardi’s but, regardless of what people say, I found it rather average. I mean the sauce was pretty good but I wasn’t a huge fan. What caught me by surprise was this slice I got at Artichoke Pizza.
Now, I do realize that this is an entirely different category of pizza (traditional vs. specialty) but something about the Alfredo Sauce and Artichoke really did it for me. I’ve always been a big fan of different flavors! 🙂
Yummy! That looks so good. I like to cook my pizzas on a stone to get the crust evenly baked and crispy. That’s what makes the perfect pizza.