Pizza war erupts! It’s Joe vs. Joe

A POPULAR Manhattan pizzeria is bringing the heat in a new lawsuit, claiming a Brooklyn slice joint is a copycat that’s cutting into its dough.

Famous Joe’s Pizza on Carmine St. wants a federal judge to force a former employee to change the signage on his pie palace, Famous Joe’s Pizza of the Village in Park Slope.

The Brooklyn eatery is seeking to capitalize on the original Famous Joe’s by using a nearly identical name, signage and display, according to a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

Brooklyn pizzeria owner Victor Zarco spent nearly 20 years honing his skills at the famed Greenwich Village shop owned by Pino (Joe) Pozzuoli.

Pozzuoli’s place is consistently rated among the city’s top pizzerias and has been featured in several movies and TV shows, including “Spiderman 2.”

Zarco left in 2004 to open up his own slice shop with a strikingly similar name. The suit claims Zarco did so to “trade on the goodwill and reputation of his former employer.”

But Pozzuoli sat on his flourdusted hands until last month when Zarco opted to change his signage. The new sign is a near mirror image of the one at Pozzuoli’s place, the suit says.

Reached at his shop Friday, Zarco said was taken aback by the lawsuit. “I’ve been running my place over here for more than 13 years,” he said.

“Now they come out with something like this?”