New York Times List of Top 25 Pizza Places in New York City Has Some Surprises

Oct 29 2024

Pizza News

Louie and Ernie's, located in the Bronx, is one of New York City's classic pizza institutions. (Louie and Ernie's)

No American city is more synonymous with pizza than New York City. And no New York City publication is better known than The New York Times. So when The Times decides to name the 25 best pizzerias in the City, it’s worth taking a look at.

The list, released on Tuesday, October 29, contains some surprises. Pizzerias like Una Pizza Napoletana—recently ranked the best pizza restaurant in the world by 50 Top Pizza—and the critically acclaimed Don Antonio, were omitted entirely. There also isn’t much explanation from The Times regarding the methodology they used in creating the list:

“…we set out to do the ‘hard work,’ sampling 50 of the city’s most popular and beloved pizzerias and landing on the 25 best. They offer a variety of styles—Sicilian, Neapolitan, New York and others that haven’t been classified yet—but they’re all well worth the miles of subway (and ferry) travel.”

Despite the above explanation, The Times’ critics seemed to most enjoy New York-style pizza—only a few Neapolitan-style joints made the cut. There is diversity, however, in terms of the blend of “old school” and “new school” pizza places that were included. Classic slice shops like Joe’s Pizza and Louie and Ernie’s made the list, as did up-and-coming hype beasts like Chrissy’s Pizza.

The list was not a ranking, but rather an alphabetical rundown of the 25 best pizza joints. These are the 25 institutions listed by The Times:

Andrew Bellucci’s Pizzeria
Arturo’s Coal Oven Pizza
Chrissy’s Pizza