NYC IS A SLICE ABOVE
Tops pizzeria list
New York, New York is still top of the mozzarella heap.
A new ranking of the top 50 pizzerias in the nation has confirmed the city as home to the country’s best slices, with nine Manhattan and Brooklyn eateries making the cut, more than in any other city.
“New York City has a long and rich history of pizza making that we take deep pride in, where we use great technique, high-quality products and tradition,” Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, told The Post.
Curated by Italian experts, the 50 Top Pizza USA 2022 list salutes the mostly Italian immigrants who moved to America and brought their love of fine dough, tomatoes and mozzarella with them.
Neopolitan style
Scott Wiener, a pizza aficionado who leads tours of pizza spots in New York City, noted the list favored traditional Italian-style pizza, putting the city at an advantage
“This list is particularly heavy in the Neapolitan category,” said Wiener, head of Scott’s Pizza Tours. “The style took off here before it did so in any other American city.”
Only Portland, Ore., and San Francisco came close to New York, with each landing five eateries on the list. A San Francisco joint, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, scored the No. 2 spot on the top 50 rankings.
Una Pizza Napoletana on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side ranked first.
Owner Anthony Mangieri, a Jersey Shore native whose family originated from Salerno, an Italian province just south of Naples, said part of the secret to his success is a hands-on approach.
“No one makes the dough in the restaurant, 25 years later, except for me,” he said. “Every single pizza that people eat, I still make the dough in the morning myself.”
Rosario Procino, a native of Naples who moved to New York in 1999, runs Ribalta on East 12th Street in the East Village, which ranked third.
“Pizza for Napoli is a religion. Even if we go to Rome, we don’t consider that pizza,” he explained.
Albert Sapere, one of the 50 Top Pizza curators, hailed New York as a pizza town.
“Pizza is in the DNA of New Yorkers. They love, desire and consume it,” he said. “In addition to the classic slices and historical addresses, a new generation of pizza chefs has emerged.”
Other New York pizzerias that made the list were Song’ E Napule, Kestè Fulton, San Matteo and Pasquale Jones in Manhattan, and Brooklyn’s Ops, Roberta’s and Forcella.