Only one full-fledged pizzeria appears on the New York Times’ new list of the 100 best restaurants in New York City—and it’s owned by PMQ’s April 2024 cover subject, Anthony Mangieri.
Moreover, food critic Pete Wells didn’t put Una Pizza Napoletana just anywhere on the list. He ranked it at No. 12. He even bumped it up three spots from last year’s No. 15 ranking, praising it as one of New York City’s “acknowledged downtown institutions.”
Two other eateries that include pizza on the menu made the list. Barbuto (No. 51) offers three pies, while Mark’s Off Madison (No. 73) plates seven for lunch and eight for dinner. However, the Times officially categorizes Barbuto as a New American/Italian eatery, while Mark’s Off Madison is listed as Italian. Both restaurants offer diverse menus ranging far beyond pizza. Una Pizza Napoletana, on the other hand, is pretty much nothing but pies except for a couple of appetizers and desserts.
In the Times article, Wells noted that Mangieri was struggling to fill seats a couple of years ago in the post-pandemic economy. “Then he did an about-face—or maybe we did,” he wrote.
Wells continued: “Fans buy Una Pizza-branded apparel, extra-virgin olive oil and panettone; they begin lining up half an hour before the doors open; and they’ve made reservations among the city’s most scalpable. The source of this fevered loyalty is the five standard pies and a weekly special, all of them with a fat, tender, char-speckled Hula-Hoop of dough surrounding a low valley of tomatoes or cheese or both. There’s not much else on the menu, but the fire-roasted peppers are worthwhile and the sorbetto can be stunning.”
This is just the latest accolade for Mangieri and Una Pizzeria Napoletana. The prestigious 50 Top Pizza organization named it the best pizzeria in the world in 2022 and the best in the U.S. in 2022 and 2023.
Mangieri has also launched a new line of frozen pizzas, called Genio Della Pizza, as PMQ has reported. The New York Times loved it, too, ranking it at No. 1 in a blind taste test shortly after the brand hit the market. “This pizza, with its lavishly oily and salty crust, smartly avoided the dryness that plagued its competitors,” the article noted. “The proportion of tomato to crust felt right, and the crust had sourdough flavor, something we missed in the other pies.”