New York City's Best Pizza, Slice by Slice

With locations in Williamsburg, the West Village, and Little Italy, L’Industrie turns out thin, crisp slices that balance classics with more inventive combinations. The menu covers margherita and pepperoni alongside fig jam and bacon and the tartufo with braised cremini mushrooms, ricotta, and truffle oil. Its signature burrata slice is finished with cool dollops of burrata over tomato sauce and mozzarella.

Anthony Mangieri’s Lower East Side pizzeria tied for No. 1 in the world in the 2025 50 Top Pizza ranking and was named the best pizzeria in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive year in 2026. Its naturally leavened dough contains no commercial yeast and emerges from the wood-fired oven with a tender center and deeply blistered crust. The tightly edited menu includes a Margherita with DOP buffalo mozzarella and the cheese-free Cosacca with San Marzano tomatoes, Pecorino Romano, and basil.

Getting a table at Lucali takes planning. The Carroll Gardens pizzeria is cash-only, BYOB, and does not accept reservations. Staff begin taking names for the same-day waitlist at 4 p.m., though hopeful diners often line up hours earlier. The food menu revolves around two main choices: a large, basil-topped pie customized with optional toppings and calzones available in two sizes. One bite, and you may find yourself planning to do it all again.

Known for thick, airy square slices, Mama’s Too has locations on the Upper West Side and in the West Village. The Angry Nonna combines hot soppressata, aged mozzarella, Calabrian chile oil, and hot honey, while the pepperoni square is covered with pepperoni cups that crisp around the edges. Beyond pizza, the chicken alla vodka sandwich layers a breaded cutlet with vodka sauce, burrata, and pesto on sesame-seeded semolina bread.

A Brooklyn institution since 1939, L&B Spumoni Gardens now serves its signature Sicilian pizza at the original Bensonhurst restaurant and a second location in Dumbo. The thick square slices are crisp underneath and pillowy inside, with mozzarella layered beneath the tomato sauce. Save room for the namesake spumoni, the frozen dessert that gave the pizzeria the second half of its name.

Chris Hansell started Chrissy’s Pizza as a pandemic-era operation in his Bushwick apartment before opening a permanent Greenpoint shop in 2024. The pizzeria serves whole 16-inch pies rather than slices, built on dough that cold-ferments for more than 50 hours and bakes into a thin, deeply browned crust. Start with the saucy plain pie or pepperoni, then check the frequently changing special.

Founded in 1929, John’s of Bleecker Street remains a whole-pie-only institution in the West Village. Its coal-fired brick ovens produce thin, crisp pizzas with blistered patches of mozzarella and char around the edges. Start with John’s Original, topped simply with tomato sauce and mozzarella, or customize it with pepperoni, sausage, ricotta, roasted tomatoes, cherry peppers, and other additions.

Founded by Sean Feeney, a co-owner of Misi and Lilia, Fini serves slices and whole pies at three Brooklyn locations. Alongside New York-style cheese and pepperoni, look for the tomato slice finished with Calabrian chile oil and garlic-toasted breadcrumbs. The ricotta-rich white slice comes with a lemon wedge to squeeze over the top.

Since opening Scarr’s Pizza on the Lower East Side in 2016, Scarr Pimentel has paired an old-school slice-shop atmosphere with a meticulous approach to ingredients. The pizzas are made with organic stone-milled flour and cheese from Pennsylvania’s Caputo Brothers Creamery. Try the Hotboi, topped with beef pepperoni, jalapeños, and extra-hot honey, with a beer or glass of skin-contact wine.

Owner Emmett Burke gives Chicago’s lesser-known pizza tradition the spotlight at this Midwest-inspired West Village supper club. While the original Emmett’s is best known for deep-dish pizza, Emmett’s on Grove specializes in cracker-thin tavern-style pies cut into shareable squares. Try the Hot Papi with pepperoni, jalapeño, red onion, and paprika ranch, or the Peggy O’ with Grana Padano, Parmesan, Pecorino Romano, and fresh basil.

Former Eleven Madison Park chefs Jake Serebnick and Julian Geldmacher bring fine-dining precision to the thin, naturally leavened pies at this Nolita pizzeria. The cheese pie combines San Marzano tomato sauce, mozzarella, scamorza, Parmigiano Reggiano, and Tuscan olive oil. For something bolder, the ’nduja pie is topped with burrata and nine-year-aged balsamic vinegar.