NYC's 29 best pizza places (2024)

Yes, you may have to wait for more than an hour to try this Midwood institution,but a trip to the original standard-settingshop founded by the lateDomenico DeMarco in 1965 is essential for pizza lovers and dabblers everywhere. Slices and whole pies are both available.

Although it's been open since 2006, Lucali's wait times are as long asever. Its frequent appearances on local and national best pizza lists keep the interest high, so get there right at 5pm and prepare to build up an appetite in the area for several hours. It's BYOB, so you can take a stroll and pick up beer form Bonafide Deli's huge, carefully curated walk-in selection, or a couple of bottles of wine from the cavernousEvergreen liquor store a short walk away. Lucali also technically takes reservations, but it's a little like playing the lottery. (You can do that at Bonafide, too.)

Table service and a lengthy menu are available at L&B, but the classic, fan favorite experience is to grab a $4 grandma slice at the to-go window, nab a table in the courtyard and enjoy your squareal fresco. Follow it with the titulartricolor ice cream.

Unique to New York (save forone location in Michigan), this is the slice people think of when they think of a New York slice. Large, foldable andcinematically cheesy, it's a huge part of the local pizza tapestry.

Scarr's has a wood paneled, neon sign-ed, throwback fashion that everybody loves to snap, butpies the product ofScarr Pimentel's house-milled grains are more satisfying than a thousand views. That extra in-house step helps to create light slices and squares with the classic toppings. Scarr's flour and dough are also available for purchase.

Now with four locations in New York City and State, Zero Otto Nove’s first restaurant opened in the Bronx in 2008, but its charming interior has more of an "old country by way of a community theater" aesthetic. Its long list of pizza includes all the hits, and pasta, meat and fish mains are also on the menu.

Formerly an impossible to get into hipster haven, Roberta's pizza is now sold frozen in your grocer's freezer. Makes you think. Have a taste of the original, like the oft-mentioned Bee Sting (tomato, mozzarella, soppressata, basil, chili, honey), inside or out, where it all began.

Family owned and operated Totonno's has occupied the same space since 1924, with the present day checkerboard tiles and olde-timey famed photos and newspaper clippings to prove that vintage. It'shours have reportedly been sporadic since reopening in recent months after a long pandemic pause, so confirm that it's open before visiting.

Although more elaborate options exist, even Mama'sbasic house pie, withaged mozarella, fresh tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano-Reggiano and basil is evidence of Mama's expertise and attention to detail. There's also no phone, no advance orders, and, perhaps just like at your own mama's, "all menu items come as is, unfortunately no half/half options, slices, or changes to the pizzas on the menu."

What was once a tiny takeout and delivery spot on Smith Street is now a tiny takeout and delivery spot with a smattering of tables outside, thanks to NYC Open Restaurants. Pizzas named for pop-culture puns like the Beef Me Up Scotty, Silence of the Ham and Poultrygeist are sold as whole pies and select slices are available, too.

Where the original Paulie Gee's leaves a little mystery, this one's conceit is right in the name: slices! Nab a cheese, pepperoni or popular Freddy Prince (fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, Pecorino-Romano and a sesame seed bottom), and nab a stool in the 1970s-style shop.

This Staten Island favorite had beenpreparing pies since 1960. It's equally adept at tossing traditional toppings and spinning specialties, and a lengthy menu will please any unexpected non-pizza eaters in your party.

Brilliantly titled Best has enjoyed a bit of a media spotlight over the years across a smattering of television appearances, but locals really appreciate its reliable thin-crust slices and late-ish night hours. Heros, salads and sides like meatballs are also available.

Louie and Ernie's homey facade is as iconic as any pizza shop in town; a truehearthfor slice lovers and pie devotees. Snack on the former while you wait for the latter, and grab a frozen pepperoni for a rainy day.

Terrific vegan pieslike aseitansausage varietyarealternatives to the typicalfrom the team behind meat-free Champs Diner. And there's no need to shout; “screamers”refer to mushrooms, for the unsettlingsound they make in the oven.