Original Rays, John's, Patsy's or... Name the top 5 NYC pizza places?

Question

Delivery optional, but I live in Midtown NYC and have had Imperial and Pronto...just so-so

Answer 1

Best Slice -- Joe's Carmine Street,

Arturo's -- Houston St

John's   Bleeker St.

Bella Napoli Madison near 30th

Pizza 33 Thirty Third and Third

Venezia -- 31st and Lex

Much better than Imperial or Pronto.

Forget Ray's

Answer 2

I like the Original Rays...........12th street and Ave of the Americas..........across from the New School.....................even a great re heat.......

Answer 3

Midtown - John's, Naples 45, Two Boots

UES - Totonno's, Nicks, Al Forno

Downtown: Lombardi's and John's

Brooklyn - Grimaldi's and Totonno's

Answer 4

Lombardi's without a doubt, but Waldy's on 6th Ave bet 27th and 28th Streets is quite delicious too!

Answer 5

I have sampled all the places considered "best pizza" in NYC.

I would have to say my favorites are:

1. John's of Bleecker St - Greenwich Village (278 Bleecker St btw Jones and Morton) The classic NY Style thin crust. crust is near perfect, and the cheese isn't too salty, and the sauce is a little sweet. I would recommend getting no toppings to let the ingredients shine.

2. Lombardi's - Little Italy/Nolita - 32 Spring St @ Mott - Similar to John's, but topped with fresh mozz and basil.

3. DiFara - Midwood Brooklyn - Rivals john's, but it might be quite a treck for you since it's pretty far out in brooklyn

4. Artichoke basille's pizza on 14th St - This place has been taking the east village by storm since it opened about 6 months ago.  It doesn't keep normal hours (it is often closed at primetime hours due to the owners living in staten island and being lazy)  Their regular slices are above average, but the star is definately their artichoke slice, which is a huge white pizza slice, with alot of spinach, cheese and artichokes!!! It may sound weird, but must be tried at least once.

5. Fornino - I'm biased, since this is in my neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn - Named best pizza in NYC by Citysearch in 07 (so i'm not totally off base) Good crust, and interesting toppings ( i had a pizza called the Al Roker which had a bunch of great toppings on it, that surprisingly went well)  Conveniently located off the Bedford L stop, they have a spacious outdoor patio in the back.

Overrated places -

1. Grimaldi's - Right over the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn Heights/Dumbo - Tourists line up and wait for an hour to sample this tastless, salty thin crust pizza.

2. Patsy's - all overrated, and i've been sick at more than one.  The entrees are decent, but kind of expensive for what you get.

3. Totonno's - could be great - but the crust is often burnt.  To be fair, I only sampled the one on the UES, and not the original in Coney Island.

4.  Ray's - most people who say "ray's" is the best just say that because they heard it mentoined somewhere, and aren't even aware where the original is located (it's on Prince St people)  If you're in that neck of the woods, might as well go to Lombardi's (see above)

Answer 6

Angelo's is great pizza.  They have a location on W. 57th Street (across from Shelley's) and a location next to David Letterman.

Answer 7

Patsy's has better entrees than pizzas...They have very few locations - the only one I've been to is on University and 12th...

Ray's is most prevelant, but each one is different...They are all of different owners and managers...If you look closely, one is called "Rays", the next one "Rays Original", the next one "Rays Famous", the next one "Famous Ray's Original"...And so on...You get it...

John's has good all around choices, and is known for table service dining first, and a pizzaria second..."John's, No Slices"...There is a John's on 44th between 7th and 8th...

Most places in NYC are decent...With the rents so high, if they don't do serve good food, they'll quickly go out of business...

Happy dining...

Answer 8

I would have to agree with you on Imperial pizza. Its by far the best out there..located at 517 Third Avenue.  Maybe I have seen you around.