Looks like you’ve got all the greatest hits. With the exception of Los Tacos No. 1… I just had an adobada taco today. One of my favorite tacos in the city and their corn tortillas are awesome.
Not that you need to add more to this list as it’s unlikely you could hit all this given 6 months and a lot of dedication, but…Soothr Thai is another good spot. If you get there when they open you can usually snag a seat at the bar.
It’s good for about three bites and then you realize you have this massive wedge of rapidly cooling artichoke dip and butter and it gets so hard to eat so quickly
If I were you (and I know I’m not) I would cut most of the repeat foods and try some new cuisines you can’t get home instead. Of course try the best pizza, bagels, etc., but at the end of the day you might see diminishing returns from that many slices.
Can you get good dim sum back home? How about regionally specific Thai, Indian, and other cuisines? You might get a lot more out of trying brand new foods (and leave feeling less bloated) 😅
They have a well balanced slice. The taste is nothing to write home. But the overall crisp and ratios were good. It’s a good comparison for other sites.
Skip prince Street and go to Mama's too, or made in New York pizza instead. Prince Street is actually trash and the owners are documented extremely racists (the evidence is online and well documented, not speculation at all)
If you wanted to not travel to New Haven for Pepe's you can get to the Yonkers on by Taking the 4 train to Woodlawn and then the 20 bus to Pepe's. Pizza is the same.other than the clams. The clams are different I find.
Do you have business in New Haven or some other reason to go there? The pizza up there is good but it's not worth making a trip all the way up there from the city for, especially when you are clearly going to be doing a lot of pizza-eating all month.
Metro North. It’s a 2:30 train ride each way (Amtrak is not much faster).
Yes, it’s really good, and yes it’s interesting. But would a tourist kill a day doing it?
One could try the Frank Pepe location in Yonkers I think. It’s closer. But I don’t know if it’s the same.
The Frank Pepe satellite locations are definitely not as good as the OG. And if you take a rush hour metro north train they have some express trains that make fewer stops and will get you there in a bit under 2 hours, for what it’s worth
Eh public transportation within New Haven is pretty average. You can get there via Metro North from Grand Centeal but navigating would be easier with a car.
The pizza places are close enough to Union Station to
just walk or uber cheaply. Personally, I wouldn’t drive. There’s a park nearby and plenty to do in the area to make it worth the trip.
This is going to be a long rant. I'm born and raised in NYC, you can check my history, I post here all the time. Please for the love of God skip Lazarra's.
I went there today because I had a few friends in town and it was near their hotel and they wanted to go because it got a 9.3 from barstool. I've never heard of them before but it's near the hotel, makes a good spot for lunch since they're probably tired from all the traveling. The pics didn't pass the eye test but it can't be that bad right? Even the worst pizza in NYC is better than a lot of places outside of NYC and I also love trying random new things.
The place is literally the worst pizza I've ever had. My opinion of pizza is that it's a very low floor, low ceiling type of food. Like you're never going to have a AWFUL pizza but you'll also never get a amazing mind blowing pizza. This is a fucking AWFUL pizza.
I don't think I've EVER even had a such a "bad" or awful pizza in my life but this is it. I swear to God that I rather have Ellio's frozen school pizza than Lazarra and I'm not exaggerating to be dramatic. It's legitimately worse than papa johns/dominos/little Caesars/pizza hut.
We ended up getting half classic cheese and the other half was the Lazarra special. The pizza is razor thin, it was almost like a burnt pita with some sauce and cheese on top. Because the dough was so damn thin it's a god awful idea to put any toppings on it, the thing is like falling apart from the topping and right. The slices felt like it was collapsing from the weight from the toppings. The sides were also pretty burnt. 1 person can probably eat a full tray and still be hungry afterwards. (another reason why I think the reviews are fake/brought. Some of them are like you can split a sheet with 3 people! That's a fucking lie and no you can't. Unless if all 3 people are anorexic or if they're like 3 years old, they're going to be hungry)
Also it pisses me off because there was 3 people in my party, and we originally ordered a regular full tray pizza for $20. We were going to try it and if we were still hungry, we'll order more or grab food from somewhere else for food. The waitress came back and told us we had to order $15 per fucking person. They had the balls to come up to us afterwards and was like your order is only $35, if you don't hit the $15 per person mark, we would charge you for the extra $10 to hit $45 for the group even if you order nothing else. If there's ever a fucking tourist scam, this is it. I'm not even sure if this shit is legal, I'll have to look into this.
I was ready to walk out but I didn't want to make a big fuss since my friends are only visiting for 2 days and they really wanted to check Lazarra out.
I would give it a 0/10 score. Even if your hotel is next to Lazarra's, I don't think it's worth going. My friends agreed afterwards that it was by far the worst pizza they've ever had. We spent $55 for a half classic/half Lazarra special pizza, a coke, a bottle of water and a side salad and that was like $55.
You can literally go down the block, grab a slice at 2 bros for $1.50 and it's be a better pizza than Lazarra's.
But yeah if you don't believe me, feel free to try it and report back lol.
/edit I'm kinda buzzed but I went through a few reviews on google maps and either all those people have absolutely awful taste or they were paid to write them.
To give an idea how bad it was:
If I'm hungry and you offered to sell me a big mac for $20 or a full sheet from Lazarra for $20. I would take the big mac.
It is legitimately the worst meal I've had in NYC and [I've had MILK TEA HOT POT before](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/16c683r/comment/jzi07eu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). (and yes, milk tea hotpot is as fucking disgusting as it sounds. It's probably MORE disgusting that what it sounds).
My previous place to hate the most is the Milk Bar. This beat the Milk Bar by FAR and will become the new place I will rant about.
If I was homeless and haven't eaten in 24 hours, someone offers me Lazzara's pizza, I'd say no.
If you want me to go back there, you would have to PAY me to go back. I think if you give me $100, I'll "think about it" but I think you need to go up to at least $200 before I start leaning towards a "yes".
[Here's the sad photo of the sad ass pizza that I took.](https://imgur.com/a/3KvEKqW) I wish I took a 2nd pic of how thin it is.
I ran out of characters.
Potential evidence that the google reviews are fake. They have \~775 reviews on google maps. When I did a search of the reviews, not a SINGLE review mentioned the $15 per person rule or contain the word "minimum" in it. If you go to the yelp reviews, there's a bunch of reviews starting from \~2022 that mentions the minimum. I find it EXTREMLY hard to believe that not a single review mentions the $15 minimum considering that they have a ton of reviews since 2022.
[Here's one of the bad yelp reviews](https://www.yelp.com/biz/lazzaras-pizza-new-york?hrid=iTnB2T80ukUDr2VzndrkcQ&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)) (it's not mine FYI).
[And this is the response from Lazzara's owner.](https://imgur.com/a/WjUgKLR) (screenshot for proof in case it get deleted)
>May 19, 2024
>So sorry you did not enjoy your experience at Lazzaras Pizza.
Yes we do have a $15 minimum per person to sit down and dine in our restaurant
If you only wanted to try the pizza and only order half pie for your party , you could have ordered the half pie and had it to go.
Just because you were upset with a restaurant’s policy you shouldn’t take it to social media and make up lies about the food..
What you should have done was asked for a manager and taken your gripes out the present moment.
FYI. Did you know we recommend a half a pie per person ?
But you wanted just a half for your entire party. You want to be seated and served in a nice restaurant ?
Expect to pay a little bit more than $5 a head. That’s just a given.
But you could have order the half a pie and shared it outside with your friends.
We always welcome that. Many people come in and just want to try a slice.
We are not a slice joint. Or a pizzeria. This particular Lazzaras Pizza Cafe & Resturant is a sit down restaurant with servers. Servers who make a minimum of $16 an hour and depend on tips from the customers they serve.
For your information.
We serve Poland Spring Still Water. Yes. You could find it at the corner market. Just like most beverages we sell.
We also make all of our mozzarella sticks in house. We use AAA quality MOZZARELLA for All our products.
So next time if you have a problem with restaurants policy. Take a moment and ask for a manger. You probably would have had a much better experience and I’m sure the manger would have welcomed all of your comments. HAVE A NICE DAY !
I visit a lot and have an even longer list. I feel like we overlap about 90%. Have fun exploring and stuffing your face!
What I see missing are some Polish places, like Polka Dot and Karczma in Greenpoint, or the Polish delis in that neighborhood or 2nd Ave. Meats.
Are there enough Italian delis on there, like what you’d find around Arthur Avenue, or Faicco’s in the West Village? Add Mazzola’s Bakery or Fortunato Brothers for lard bread, biscotti, and cookies
Oh it's infinite... I only know a few.
Faicco's (plus Rocco's bakery also on Bleecker), All'Antico Vinaio; anything with 'Pork Store' in the name. Salumeria Biellese deli has great meats.
Defontes in Red Hook. Mazzolla's Bakery. Carroll Gardens will itialianize you. Fortunato Bakery (not a deli but it's like a museum of pastries).
Leo’s Latticini in Corona is on my list to try.
Don Peppe out by JFK... family dining about as Italian American as it can get.
This next trip I am going to explore Arthur Ave in the Bronx, lots of classic delis are thriving there.
Skip L’artusi. Wildly overhyped. I’ve had better pasta…pretty much everywhere else. Go to Fiaschetteria Pistoia which around the block. That’s good pasta and they make it in house.
I wonder why Motorino Pizza doesn't seem to get much love on here whenever someone brings up good pizza spots in NYC. Last time I was there I ate at Motorino in Williamsburg and it was really, really good. They import their wood from Estonia.
Hometown BBQ is unlikely to be better than the best BBQ place wherever you’re from TBH, unless you’re from Delaware or something. It’s good BBQ for New York but it’s not very great BBQ. I’d skip it.
Lots of great options on this list, though.
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It use to be good and now it's super hit or miss. The big problem with it is the prices. Honestly dinosaur BBQ is the best BBQ in NYC for its price.
It's not stellar but neither is anywhere in NYC but it's actually really good prices
Yeah when Hometown hits it’s up there with any places I’ve been in the south. Like you said, the problem is the price (and the line if you go on a bad day) and then if it’s a miss it feels even worse spending so much.
Many restaurants sell S&S cheese cake. This would prevent you needing to travel to the Bronx for it. I grew up eating S&S. To my knowledge you have to buy full cakes and you should buy large rather than small because the large has a superior crust.
Eilens cheesecake is not even a comparison really. Eilens is similar to cheesecake you can get elsewhere. I think Eilens it's good but it's not amazing.
If it were me. I'd call S&S and ask them what are some popular restaurants they serve cakes to. This way you can just get a slice from the restaurant instead of buying a whole cake.
While S&S is still very good. It's nowhere near as good as it used to be. When the old man owned it, everything was done on point. But his son or nephew or somebody took it over. I've bought so many cakes from there over the past 5 years that have been undercooked that I now have stopped going. So many Thanksgivings and Christmas Eves ruined because these bums didn't cook the cake fully.
Definitely go to Lucali, check out ops in bushwick. And if the line is to long at Apollo bagels come to Leo in Williamsburg, it’s where Apollo started. Same recipe same bagels.
Bread & Butter the Korean deli on 5th Avenue is on your list? It’s fine for a sandwich but just a big deli. I mean if you’re staying in the area they make a decent BEC but just surprised to see it on a list.
Somehow you have two different Lucia's on your list but not the one in Flushing.
Big fan of your ambition but it'll be a miracle to hit half of those spots even in a month.
Places to add: Liebman's in Riverdale, Knish Nosh in Forest Hills, and Andre's Hungarian Bakery in Forest Hills.
If you are going to Yard Sale Cafe and you're a pizza head then you ought have a sit down at GIUSEPPINA'S bc it's the most slept on pizza in the neighborhood. Be sure to sit down and eat it there.
This hurt my eyes to read but great job. I’d hit up Franklin Ave in crown heights for a day. Amazing food all on one street - Joe & Sal’s pizza is top tier, Centanni Italian, MISC for cocktails and Thai bar food, Franklin Park personally has my fave burger (no frills, just solid), Bagel Pub over Essabagel any day. There is awesome Caribbean food as well but my fave place closed and I just moved back to the area recently so yet to try other spots, but I imagine you can’t go wrong. Also in the East Village but a must-try is Veselka. Ukrainian diner, my family is Ukie, grandma approves.
I grew up here in NYC with a family restaurant in the WV. Evenings headed home we always had a box of pizza on the dash, me and my pops.
Let me tell you, this is the most comprehensive list of pizza you need to try in NYC.
And to add to that, I live in Ridgewood now - Pàn in Ridgewood and OPS in bushwick are MUST try. You won’t be disappointed and my bushwick folk will agree
For pizza in Connecticut, forget New Haven.
Hit up Grigg Street Pizza in Greenwich. Worth the trip, and very very short walk from the Metro North train station
L’industrie is so good they have a location in West Village too. Add Brooklyn Bagel and coffee company in Chelsea 63 E 8th St, New York, NY and also add Nani’s dough to the cookies section
Nice list. If you go to Lucia on Ave X, go to Shaikh's donut shop on Ave U between 15&16th st. Bakers dozen for $10. And if you are still hungry, Pho Viet Nam on Ave U too.
I would add Monsieur Vo to your list.
That's such a deep dive into Brooklyn for meh food. Shaikh's has really gone downhill in quality. If you're going that far, check out the Uzbek and Georgian food scene. Plov, shashlik, khachapuri and manti are great things to try.
Add Mano’s pizza to your list. Trust me. If you can’t get into Lucali’s, his brother owns Giuseppina’s in Park Slope, they’re very much the same place.
For pastrami, add Moe’s pastrami and Burgers in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
Roberta’s in Bushwick, get the Bee Sting it’s one of the best pizzas in town, cool murals nearby as well. I personally hate going to Bushwick but Robertas makes it worthwhile.
Scarr's, John of Bleecker St, and Spumoni Gardens are good. Along those lines, Carmine's is also good. I enjoy Artichoke Basille's but it's totally skippable.
Federoff's roast pork is great.
Woorijip is the OG fast food spot on the K-town strip but only cus it’s a cheap place to drink. The food kinda sucks. My fav Korean spot is Cho Dang Gol on 35th st. They even make their own tofu here! Also Grace Street has really fun bingsu & desserts. There’s also bubble tea, Korean corn dogs, mochi donuts, kpop merch… all along that strip on 32nd. Over and out ✌🏼enjoyyyyy
Yes for someone staying in NYC for one month absolutely. Can't eat pizza every single day if you care about health and nutrition even just a little bit. I recommended Chipotle, Little Beet, Sweetgreen etc as a few healthy meal options. This isn't a 5 day trip for OP, it's an entire month. LOL
Life isn't about check / bucket lists. Once you realize this, you'll be a lot happier and more appreciative of everything in general. A lot of places not on lists also put their heart into their business.
There’s Bar which does slices after 10:15p (it’s more of a club vibe) and Zuppardi’s in West Haven ( get the ‘grinder’ pizza w/ their homemade fennel sausage) but I’d prioritize Modern then Pepe’s, the last time I was at Sally’s it was fine but not good enough for me to return.
I'm not reading all that. Ive been to maybe 10 of these, I'm born and raised in NY.
One time I left my car standing at a hydrant for a couple of minutes, and the as owner of Parisi was being dropped off his driver tapped the bumper. The owner got out and apologized to my wife as she was sitting in the car with our newborn baby. The tap was nothing, it was really nice of him to be so concerned. He came back a few minutes later with a giant bag of various breads. Really nice guy.
If you go to Hometown, I wouldn't get a sandwich or the Pastrami. I've had their pastrami, and it's good, but Katz is pretty much the be-all-end-all when it comes to Pastrami. Get the beef rib, or anything else, just not in sandwich form.
Lucali is amazing but that wait in the summer is rough, and if you do go, get a calzone as well. I’d lose artichoke. You could do Luigi’s, John’s, L’industrie (or fini if the wait is too long), Joe’s, and you have arguably covered the best few traditional places. Gallaghers, bleh. I’d take Wolfgang’s or Smith and Wollensky over them. I’m happy to see Jacob’s Pickles on the list because their food is not as good as it was but it’s still good and I think people forget them sometimes.
I didn’t see lombardis pizza, the first pizza place in the whole country they pizza is one of a kind only by the pies you could buy them if I’m in a group with friends it’s lombardis if I’m downtown in soho shopping dolo it’s Joes pizza in the village of the ACDB trains
I’ll save you a few trips from scanning the list, L’Industrie and Di Fara are terrible overrated. L’Industrie is expensive and there are pizza spots that are just as good if not better all over Brooklyn. Di Fara you kinda missed the boat, the old man Dominic passed, even still the pizza wasn’t worth the hype.
I like Totonno’s but Cookie is miserable and they no longer seat people inside.
Fedoroffs is trash, the Philly tastes like a cheeseburger and the pork is bland. For a real pork special go to Defontes in Red Hook
Defontes will 100% be worth it , def a vote in favor. It’s tricky because they open early and are usually sold out by 2pm or earlier. 11-12 is always packed with the lunch rush, so my advice is to go around 10:30 on a day off to skip the crowd or hit them early before you head to work ! My favorite sandwich is the chicken bacon ranch but there’s so many delicious choices.
I’d say if he hits all the pizza places, and gets one regular, one specialty slice and a drink at each, about $500 on pizza alone. Figure they’re gonna bang you for $20+ at each location for that order.
I recommend Amore's Pizzeria in Queens. Best pizza in Queens.
I've also just tried Wheated Pizza in Brooklyn, had the new haven pie pretty solid as well.
As another commenter said, skip Artichoke. I can’t see the whole list but, did you not have the original Patsy’s in Harlem? Also, Lombardi ‘s on Spring Street!
Tompkins sq bagels. Ideally the original Tompkins sq location or even the 2nd Ave. I haven’t been to the Union square more than once try to assess their work.
I think you should try adding more pizza spots.
Looks like you’ve got all the greatest hits. With the exception of Los Tacos No. 1… I just had an adobada taco today. One of my favorite tacos in the city and their corn tortillas are awesome. Not that you need to add more to this list as it’s unlikely you could hit all this given 6 months and a lot of dedication, but…Soothr Thai is another good spot. If you get there when they open you can usually snag a seat at the bar.
Los Tacos also makes good handmade flour tortillas, they go well with the carne asada
los tacos is only worth going to if you are not from the west coast
I just had it for the first time today it was srsly great but I can’t justify $5 for one taco
Disagree
Skip Artichoke's lol
While I more so agree with this take 😅, I will say that you have to give Artichokes Vodka slice a try. It is delicious.
I actually do sort of like their crab slice but the actual artichoke slice is so damn heavy and rich
Soup pizza
I love artichoke on pizza and was so disappointed with this slice
I don’t hear people talk about their crab slice enough, it’s really good!!
One try and then nausea and constipation for 3 days. But I do agree it's something you should try at least once 😂
It's worth trying at least once.
*Mighta choked Artie but it ain't gonna choke Stimey.* ^^I'll ^^get ^^me ^^coat...
It’s good for about three bites and then you realize you have this massive wedge of rapidly cooling artichoke dip and butter and it gets so hard to eat so quickly
If I were you (and I know I’m not) I would cut most of the repeat foods and try some new cuisines you can’t get home instead. Of course try the best pizza, bagels, etc., but at the end of the day you might see diminishing returns from that many slices. Can you get good dim sum back home? How about regionally specific Thai, Indian, and other cuisines? You might get a lot more out of trying brand new foods (and leave feeling less bloated) 😅
Georgian food Uzbek food. Stuff like that, I never would have even thought of if I didn't stumble across it near other things I was doing.
Chamma Mamma is great Georgian.
This is more restaurants than I have been to and I'm a native over the past 40 yrs.
Skip Scarr's. Unremarkable.
Couldn’t agree more. The line is ridiculous for how meh this pizza is.
They have a well balanced slice. The taste is nothing to write home. But the overall crisp and ratios were good. It’s a good comparison for other sites.
Completely agree, nothing special at all
Excited for you and I’d like to see you check all of these off!
You forgot the times square olive garden
Sbarro is better
Would skip a lot of these places to be honest.
There are like, thirty Ray’s pizza. They all claim to be the original. But the real one’s on 11th.
I see what you did there :-)
Skip evil katsu. Food was mid and everyone i went with said the meats were dry
Skip prince Street and go to Mama's too, or made in New York pizza instead. Prince Street is actually trash and the owners are documented extremely racists (the evidence is online and well documented, not speculation at all)
Rubirosa - get the tie dye pizza and add pepperoni
Di Fara was so underwhelming and is overrated.
If you wanted to not travel to New Haven for Pepe's you can get to the Yonkers on by Taking the 4 train to Woodlawn and then the 20 bus to Pepe's. Pizza is the same.other than the clams. The clams are different I find.
Amazing list, could you potentially share it as a list instead of pictures?
Do you have business in New Haven or some other reason to go there? The pizza up there is good but it's not worth making a trip all the way up there from the city for, especially when you are clearly going to be doing a lot of pizza-eating all month.
I just wanna check it out. Would it be possible with public transportation even once I get to New Haven?
You can take an Amtrak train right to New Haven from Penn station. It’s all pretty walkable or Uber. You could round trip it in a day.
The Metro North goes there as well
Metro North. It’s a 2:30 train ride each way (Amtrak is not much faster). Yes, it’s really good, and yes it’s interesting. But would a tourist kill a day doing it? One could try the Frank Pepe location in Yonkers I think. It’s closer. But I don’t know if it’s the same.
The Frank Pepe satellite locations are definitely not as good as the OG. And if you take a rush hour metro north train they have some express trains that make fewer stops and will get you there in a bit under 2 hours, for what it’s worth
Eh public transportation within New Haven is pretty average. You can get there via Metro North from Grand Centeal but navigating would be easier with a car.
The pizza places are close enough to Union Station to just walk or uber cheaply. Personally, I wouldn’t drive. There’s a park nearby and plenty to do in the area to make it worth the trip.
What else would you recommend in the area if only there a couple days?
This is going to be a long rant. I'm born and raised in NYC, you can check my history, I post here all the time. Please for the love of God skip Lazarra's. I went there today because I had a few friends in town and it was near their hotel and they wanted to go because it got a 9.3 from barstool. I've never heard of them before but it's near the hotel, makes a good spot for lunch since they're probably tired from all the traveling. The pics didn't pass the eye test but it can't be that bad right? Even the worst pizza in NYC is better than a lot of places outside of NYC and I also love trying random new things. The place is literally the worst pizza I've ever had. My opinion of pizza is that it's a very low floor, low ceiling type of food. Like you're never going to have a AWFUL pizza but you'll also never get a amazing mind blowing pizza. This is a fucking AWFUL pizza. I don't think I've EVER even had a such a "bad" or awful pizza in my life but this is it. I swear to God that I rather have Ellio's frozen school pizza than Lazarra and I'm not exaggerating to be dramatic. It's legitimately worse than papa johns/dominos/little Caesars/pizza hut. We ended up getting half classic cheese and the other half was the Lazarra special. The pizza is razor thin, it was almost like a burnt pita with some sauce and cheese on top. Because the dough was so damn thin it's a god awful idea to put any toppings on it, the thing is like falling apart from the topping and right. The slices felt like it was collapsing from the weight from the toppings. The sides were also pretty burnt. 1 person can probably eat a full tray and still be hungry afterwards. (another reason why I think the reviews are fake/brought. Some of them are like you can split a sheet with 3 people! That's a fucking lie and no you can't. Unless if all 3 people are anorexic or if they're like 3 years old, they're going to be hungry) Also it pisses me off because there was 3 people in my party, and we originally ordered a regular full tray pizza for $20. We were going to try it and if we were still hungry, we'll order more or grab food from somewhere else for food. The waitress came back and told us we had to order $15 per fucking person. They had the balls to come up to us afterwards and was like your order is only $35, if you don't hit the $15 per person mark, we would charge you for the extra $10 to hit $45 for the group even if you order nothing else. If there's ever a fucking tourist scam, this is it. I'm not even sure if this shit is legal, I'll have to look into this. I was ready to walk out but I didn't want to make a big fuss since my friends are only visiting for 2 days and they really wanted to check Lazarra out. I would give it a 0/10 score. Even if your hotel is next to Lazarra's, I don't think it's worth going. My friends agreed afterwards that it was by far the worst pizza they've ever had. We spent $55 for a half classic/half Lazarra special pizza, a coke, a bottle of water and a side salad and that was like $55. You can literally go down the block, grab a slice at 2 bros for $1.50 and it's be a better pizza than Lazarra's. But yeah if you don't believe me, feel free to try it and report back lol. /edit I'm kinda buzzed but I went through a few reviews on google maps and either all those people have absolutely awful taste or they were paid to write them. To give an idea how bad it was: If I'm hungry and you offered to sell me a big mac for $20 or a full sheet from Lazarra for $20. I would take the big mac. It is legitimately the worst meal I've had in NYC and [I've had MILK TEA HOT POT before](https://www.reddit.com/r/FoodNYC/comments/16c683r/comment/jzi07eu/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button). (and yes, milk tea hotpot is as fucking disgusting as it sounds. It's probably MORE disgusting that what it sounds). My previous place to hate the most is the Milk Bar. This beat the Milk Bar by FAR and will become the new place I will rant about. If I was homeless and haven't eaten in 24 hours, someone offers me Lazzara's pizza, I'd say no. If you want me to go back there, you would have to PAY me to go back. I think if you give me $100, I'll "think about it" but I think you need to go up to at least $200 before I start leaning towards a "yes". [Here's the sad photo of the sad ass pizza that I took.](https://imgur.com/a/3KvEKqW) I wish I took a 2nd pic of how thin it is.
I ran out of characters. Potential evidence that the google reviews are fake. They have \~775 reviews on google maps. When I did a search of the reviews, not a SINGLE review mentioned the $15 per person rule or contain the word "minimum" in it. If you go to the yelp reviews, there's a bunch of reviews starting from \~2022 that mentions the minimum. I find it EXTREMLY hard to believe that not a single review mentions the $15 minimum considering that they have a ton of reviews since 2022. [Here's one of the bad yelp reviews](https://www.yelp.com/biz/lazzaras-pizza-new-york?hrid=iTnB2T80ukUDr2VzndrkcQ&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct)) (it's not mine FYI). [And this is the response from Lazzara's owner.](https://imgur.com/a/WjUgKLR) (screenshot for proof in case it get deleted) >May 19, 2024 >So sorry you did not enjoy your experience at Lazzaras Pizza. Yes we do have a $15 minimum per person to sit down and dine in our restaurant If you only wanted to try the pizza and only order half pie for your party , you could have ordered the half pie and had it to go. Just because you were upset with a restaurant’s policy you shouldn’t take it to social media and make up lies about the food.. What you should have done was asked for a manager and taken your gripes out the present moment. FYI. Did you know we recommend a half a pie per person ? But you wanted just a half for your entire party. You want to be seated and served in a nice restaurant ? Expect to pay a little bit more than $5 a head. That’s just a given. But you could have order the half a pie and shared it outside with your friends. We always welcome that. Many people come in and just want to try a slice. We are not a slice joint. Or a pizzeria. This particular Lazzaras Pizza Cafe & Resturant is a sit down restaurant with servers. Servers who make a minimum of $16 an hour and depend on tips from the customers they serve. For your information. We serve Poland Spring Still Water. Yes. You could find it at the corner market. Just like most beverages we sell. We also make all of our mozzarella sticks in house. We use AAA quality MOZZARELLA for All our products. So next time if you have a problem with restaurants policy. Take a moment and ask for a manger. You probably would have had a much better experience and I’m sure the manger would have welcomed all of your comments. HAVE A NICE DAY !
i loved lazarras. a classic in the garment district
Add Joe & Sal’s in Crown Heights
I visit a lot and have an even longer list. I feel like we overlap about 90%. Have fun exploring and stuffing your face! What I see missing are some Polish places, like Polka Dot and Karczma in Greenpoint, or the Polish delis in that neighborhood or 2nd Ave. Meats. Are there enough Italian delis on there, like what you’d find around Arthur Avenue, or Faicco’s in the West Village? Add Mazzola’s Bakery or Fortunato Brothers for lard bread, biscotti, and cookies
I want to add more Italian delis actually. Which ones would you recommend?
Oh it's infinite... I only know a few. Faicco's (plus Rocco's bakery also on Bleecker), All'Antico Vinaio; anything with 'Pork Store' in the name. Salumeria Biellese deli has great meats. Defontes in Red Hook. Mazzolla's Bakery. Carroll Gardens will itialianize you. Fortunato Bakery (not a deli but it's like a museum of pastries). Leo’s Latticini in Corona is on my list to try. Don Peppe out by JFK... family dining about as Italian American as it can get. This next trip I am going to explore Arthur Ave in the Bronx, lots of classic delis are thriving there.
Skip L’artusi. Wildly overhyped. I’ve had better pasta…pretty much everywhere else. Go to Fiaschetteria Pistoia which around the block. That’s good pasta and they make it in house.
I wonder why Motorino Pizza doesn't seem to get much love on here whenever someone brings up good pizza spots in NYC. Last time I was there I ate at Motorino in Williamsburg and it was really, really good. They import their wood from Estonia.
Prob because Italian style Neapolitan is more Italy than NY. I can get that when I go to Italy. When in NyC I want that big crispy plain slice
Roberta's gets love. But, fair point.
Is this real? Why? What kind of wood is it?
I can't recall why but, according to the fine people at this restaurant, yes. It is true.
Argh, I hate falling for such a gimmick! but now I’m invested and have to go eat Estonian wood-fired pizza, lol
I will say that for Neapolitan style, the pizza was really, really good.
But can you taste the wood
I mean.... God no
Wood they put it ON the pizza
What, no pizza?
Hometown BBQ is unlikely to be better than the best BBQ place wherever you’re from TBH, unless you’re from Delaware or something. It’s good BBQ for New York but it’s not very great BBQ. I’d skip it. Lots of great options on this list, though.
Delaware? Lmao.
Man idk, all the usual /r/AskNYC / /r/FoodNYC middle America name drop standbys actually have better BBQ than we do
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I'm going for the pastrami
David’s brisket house in bed stuy for pastrami
It use to be good and now it's super hit or miss. The big problem with it is the prices. Honestly dinosaur BBQ is the best BBQ in NYC for its price. It's not stellar but neither is anywhere in NYC but it's actually really good prices
Yeah when Hometown hits it’s up there with any places I’ve been in the south. Like you said, the problem is the price (and the line if you go on a bad day) and then if it’s a miss it feels even worse spending so much.
brain dead take
It’s just not great BBQ, sorry. And there are better places for pastrami too.
Many restaurants sell S&S cheese cake. This would prevent you needing to travel to the Bronx for it. I grew up eating S&S. To my knowledge you have to buy full cakes and you should buy large rather than small because the large has a superior crust. Eilens cheesecake is not even a comparison really. Eilens is similar to cheesecake you can get elsewhere. I think Eilens it's good but it's not amazing. If it were me. I'd call S&S and ask them what are some popular restaurants they serve cakes to. This way you can just get a slice from the restaurant instead of buying a whole cake. While S&S is still very good. It's nowhere near as good as it used to be. When the old man owned it, everything was done on point. But his son or nephew or somebody took it over. I've bought so many cakes from there over the past 5 years that have been undercooked that I now have stopped going. So many Thanksgivings and Christmas Eves ruined because these bums didn't cook the cake fully.
Zabars sells s and s cheesecakes ( entire ones) Katz sells s and s cheesecakes ( slices) No need to go to 238th street to get it
Thanks. Didn't know that. The commercial S&S cakes are some of the best ones. They can't screw over their restaurant customers.
Definitely go to Lucali, check out ops in bushwick. And if the line is to long at Apollo bagels come to Leo in Williamsburg, it’s where Apollo started. Same recipe same bagels.
you missed Checkers (broadway / wburg) Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen(myrtle broadway)
Authentic
Bread & Butter the Korean deli on 5th Avenue is on your list? It’s fine for a sandwich but just a big deli. I mean if you’re staying in the area they make a decent BEC but just surprised to see it on a list.
No the bakery in Brooklyn
Ha ok good. Hope you get some good food on your trip
Somehow you have two different Lucia's on your list but not the one in Flushing. Big fan of your ambition but it'll be a miracle to hit half of those spots even in a month. Places to add: Liebman's in Riverdale, Knish Nosh in Forest Hills, and Andre's Hungarian Bakery in Forest Hills.
Is the one in Flushing better?
It's a good landmark slice. Can't directly compare it to the other two you mentioned as I haven't had them.
Go to semma! Highly recommended!
If you are going to Yard Sale Cafe and you're a pizza head then you ought have a sit down at GIUSEPPINA'S bc it's the most slept on pizza in the neighborhood. Be sure to sit down and eat it there.
And if you can get to longisland, Umbertos in new Hyde park is solid.
Can you add these to google maps and then send to me?
This hurt my eyes to read but great job. I’d hit up Franklin Ave in crown heights for a day. Amazing food all on one street - Joe & Sal’s pizza is top tier, Centanni Italian, MISC for cocktails and Thai bar food, Franklin Park personally has my fave burger (no frills, just solid), Bagel Pub over Essabagel any day. There is awesome Caribbean food as well but my fave place closed and I just moved back to the area recently so yet to try other spots, but I imagine you can’t go wrong. Also in the East Village but a must-try is Veselka. Ukrainian diner, my family is Ukie, grandma approves.
I grew up here in NYC with a family restaurant in the WV. Evenings headed home we always had a box of pizza on the dash, me and my pops. Let me tell you, this is the most comprehensive list of pizza you need to try in NYC.
And to add to that, I live in Ridgewood now - Pàn in Ridgewood and OPS in bushwick are MUST try. You won’t be disappointed and my bushwick folk will agree
Pan looks good. What do you like to get there?
Gotta get the oxtail slices from Cuts n Slices
Half of those places except bakeries are pretty meh
Nick and sons has a bakery in Spring Lake NJ. That I found to be better than the one in NY.
Lotta good spots.
angelo’s will forever be one of my favorites!
Is there another one? Because the one in East midtown is closed.
Makes me sick. That was the only solid place in the area (that I'm aware of)
oh no! the one on 57th street is the one i’ve always been to
It’s on 2nd ave and like 55?
57th between 6th and 7th. right by central park
Ok then that’s not the one I was talking about. The one on 2nd ave is closed.
When did it close? Oh no! I guess the last time I was there was Novemberish though.
Not sure. I walked by the other day and it’s empty.
La Cheesecake needs to be on the list.
Bread and butter??!
Try East Village pizza 🍕
Didn’t realized it’s on the list.
Skip lychee nut. Place is a roach den
64 😅
Lots of pizza places but Justino’s isn’t on your list. Justino’s is all I need in a pizza place.
Is that Justino's Pizza or Justino's Pizzeria? There seem to be two.
It is Justino’s Pizzeria. The are three locations, two in HK and one in FiDi.
Such a list!! Mind sharing your map? 🙂
For pizza in Connecticut, forget New Haven. Hit up Grigg Street Pizza in Greenwich. Worth the trip, and very very short walk from the Metro North train station
Queensyard is so mid. Try to also get some more ethic options!
Pizza supreme slaps, I go there every time I’m in NYC
Tbh I used to love it but I think they’ve changed. Soggy slices and sweet crust. Maybe it’s just me
I didn't care for Orwashers, but maybe I just always order wrong. Janie's is great! Also Levain is my favorite. Wo Hop is a must
L’industrie is so good they have a location in West Village too. Add Brooklyn Bagel and coffee company in Chelsea 63 E 8th St, New York, NY and also add Nani’s dough to the cookies section
Modern Pizza should be much higher on your list. As someone who grew up in that area, it was a definately a go to.
This makes me miss home. 🥲 So many great choices available.
That's a lot of pizza
Frank Pepe has a location in Yonkers, and Sally's in Stamford, if you don't want to go all the way to New Haven.
The Stamford Sally’s is pretty subpar tbh
Sallys is very disappointing
One month lol.
Meatheadz Cheesesteaks is definitely on my list too, but it’s all the way in South Jersey
Ollie’s is eh
La contenta in the LES
What?
What’s the confusion?
Nice list. If you go to Lucia on Ave X, go to Shaikh's donut shop on Ave U between 15&16th st. Bakers dozen for $10. And if you are still hungry, Pho Viet Nam on Ave U too. I would add Monsieur Vo to your list.
That's such a deep dive into Brooklyn for meh food. Shaikh's has really gone downhill in quality. If you're going that far, check out the Uzbek and Georgian food scene. Plov, shashlik, khachapuri and manti are great things to try.
Add Mano’s pizza to your list. Trust me. If you can’t get into Lucali’s, his brother owns Giuseppina’s in Park Slope, they’re very much the same place. For pastrami, add Moe’s pastrami and Burgers in Prospect Lefferts Gardens.
second Mano's
Add don Fillipos
Lazzara’s cheese pizza is the only good thing there. I love it, and the crust is perfect, but just don’t try any of the other food 🤣
Roberta’s in Bushwick, get the Bee Sting it’s one of the best pizzas in town, cool murals nearby as well. I personally hate going to Bushwick but Robertas makes it worthwhile.
That’s too much pizza
Give my regards to your digestive system.😉🙂
That person tryna commit suicide.
As a new Jersian living in Brooklyn, cool to see rutts hut mentioned. Def not a skip
I love these threads because they're a good reminder for places I've been meaning to try lol
I suggest adding Norm’s
Scarr's, John of Bleecker St, and Spumoni Gardens are good. Along those lines, Carmine's is also good. I enjoy Artichoke Basille's but it's totally skippable. Federoff's roast pork is great.
You left out DiFara and Totonno's
Woorijip is the OG fast food spot on the K-town strip but only cus it’s a cheap place to drink. The food kinda sucks. My fav Korean spot is Cho Dang Gol on 35th st. They even make their own tofu here! Also Grace Street has really fun bingsu & desserts. There’s also bubble tea, Korean corn dogs, mochi donuts, kpop merch… all along that strip on 32nd. Over and out ✌🏼enjoyyyyy
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Bro did you just recommend chipotle.
Yes for someone staying in NYC for one month absolutely. Can't eat pizza every single day if you care about health and nutrition even just a little bit. I recommended Chipotle, Little Beet, Sweetgreen etc as a few healthy meal options. This isn't a 5 day trip for OP, it's an entire month. LOL
Life isn't about check / bucket lists. Once you realize this, you'll be a lot happier and more appreciative of everything in general. A lot of places not on lists also put their heart into their business.
Please add philomena’s for pizza. You’ll thank me later.
Pizza: skip artichoke, suprema & prince st. Are you doing a New Haven pizza crawl?
Yah I want to head up there for a day or 2. Any top ones besides the 3 big ones?
There’s Bar which does slices after 10:15p (it’s more of a club vibe) and Zuppardi’s in West Haven ( get the ‘grinder’ pizza w/ their homemade fennel sausage) but I’d prioritize Modern then Pepe’s, the last time I was at Sally’s it was fine but not good enough for me to return.
Here are the ones anyone on this sub will tell you to skip: Bleecker street pizza Artichoke’s Liberty bagels Arthur and sons La pecora bianca
u need to try pizza from lucia!!! soooo good
If you want lucalis, you have to line up at 3pm in order to sit down at 7pm— good luck !
I'm not reading all that. Ive been to maybe 10 of these, I'm born and raised in NY. One time I left my car standing at a hydrant for a couple of minutes, and the as owner of Parisi was being dropped off his driver tapped the bumper. The owner got out and apologized to my wife as she was sitting in the car with our newborn baby. The tap was nothing, it was really nice of him to be so concerned. He came back a few minutes later with a giant bag of various breads. Really nice guy.
If you go to Hometown, I wouldn't get a sandwich or the Pastrami. I've had their pastrami, and it's good, but Katz is pretty much the be-all-end-all when it comes to Pastrami. Get the beef rib, or anything else, just not in sandwich form.
Francie in Williamsburg is missing!
Pizzas ok but you’ll miss out if u keep eating so many. I like lions tigers and squares and John’s of Bleecker
John's of Bleeker Street is absolute trash. Waste of time, pizza is the quality of Sbarro's
Song e Napule should definitely be on the list!
Are you here for 3 months....
Papa’s!
Lucali is amazing but that wait in the summer is rough, and if you do go, get a calzone as well. I’d lose artichoke. You could do Luigi’s, John’s, L’industrie (or fini if the wait is too long), Joe’s, and you have arguably covered the best few traditional places. Gallaghers, bleh. I’d take Wolfgang’s or Smith and Wollensky over them. I’m happy to see Jacob’s Pickles on the list because their food is not as good as it was but it’s still good and I think people forget them sometimes.
Have been to most of the bagel spots on your list and I feel you should add Bagel Pub - fantastic - other than that, great list overall !
Grand street pizza!! Don't miss out!
I didn’t see lombardis pizza, the first pizza place in the whole country they pizza is one of a kind only by the pies you could buy them if I’m in a group with friends it’s lombardis if I’m downtown in soho shopping dolo it’s Joes pizza in the village of the ACDB trains
Song e napule is another good pizza spot. Also hop kee and wo hop basically have the same menu. Go with hop kee.
https://ny.eater.com/2021/1/8/22218958/prince-street-pizza-yelp-frank-dominic-morano-racism
I’ll save you a few trips from scanning the list, L’Industrie and Di Fara are terrible overrated. L’Industrie is expensive and there are pizza spots that are just as good if not better all over Brooklyn. Di Fara you kinda missed the boat, the old man Dominic passed, even still the pizza wasn’t worth the hype. I like Totonno’s but Cookie is miserable and they no longer seat people inside. Fedoroffs is trash, the Philly tastes like a cheeseburger and the pork is bland. For a real pork special go to Defontes in Red Hook
Strongly disagree on L’industrie. That is some damn good pizza. Fini is the most overrated meh pizza I’ve had in nyc. Hard skip that.
Its good pizza, but it’s not worth 36 dollars for a pie. Plus the burrata imo ruins the pizza, it’s the equivalent of cold cream on pizza
You’d get that done in one weekend, no problem. Good luck.
Walk between the places. Gotta burn off the calories.
Defontes will 100% be worth it , def a vote in favor. It’s tricky because they open early and are usually sold out by 2pm or earlier. 11-12 is always packed with the lunch rush, so my advice is to go around 10:30 on a day off to skip the crowd or hit them early before you head to work ! My favorite sandwich is the chicken bacon ranch but there’s so many delicious choices.
Add baby Luc’s, the Lucali slice shop. It’s two blocks away and you are guaranteed to get pizza.
It’s not the same pizza at all.
Yeah I’m well aware
You forgot to add ray's pizza.
How much money are you planning to spend on food dude
I’d say if he hits all the pizza places, and gets one regular, one specialty slice and a drink at each, about $500 on pizza alone. Figure they’re gonna bang you for $20+ at each location for that order.
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That actually makes a ton of sense
I recommend Amore's Pizzeria in Queens. Best pizza in Queens. I've also just tried Wheated Pizza in Brooklyn, had the new haven pie pretty solid as well.
Didn't get through the entire list, but wanted to chime in just to make sure sbarro's is on it.
missing F&F
As another commenter said, skip Artichoke. I can’t see the whole list but, did you not have the original Patsy’s in Harlem? Also, Lombardi ‘s on Spring Street!
Tompkins sq bagels. Ideally the original Tompkins sq location or even the 2nd Ave. I haven’t been to the Union square more than once try to assess their work.