Pizza Map›Pizza Facts
Did You Know?
NYC Pizza, By the Numbers
The prices, temperatures, dates and dimensions behind New York's greatest food.
1,800–2,000
Pizzerias in NYC
More than any other city in America. Nobody can give you an exact number — it depends entirely on what you're willing to call a pizzeria. Count takeout windows, bakeries selling squares, and the back of a deli and you're at the top of that range. Count only places whose main business is pizza and you're at the bottom.
By Borough
- Manhattan 569
- Brooklyn 515
- Bronx 305
- Queens 291
- Staten Island 113
Facts Worth Knowing
$1
The Dollar Slice
For decades a plain slice in NYC cost $1. Today it's closer to $3–4, but the "dollar slice" is still part of how the city talks about pizza.
A NYC Classic18″
The Standard NYC Pie
A classic New York pie runs about 18 inches across and gets cut into 8 slices, so each one is roughly nine inches from point to crust.
900°F
Coal Oven Temperature
The coal ovens at Lombardi's, Totonno's and John's run somewhere between 800 and 1,000°F. That heat produces the blistered, leopard-spotted crust you can't get out of a home oven. Every coal oven on the map →
1:1
The Pizza Principle
One Slice. One Ride.
A plain slice and a subway ride have cost about the same since the 1960s. Lately the slice has been running a little ahead of the fare, but the two have tracked each other for sixty years.
One RideA New York Pizza Timeline
Three moments that shaped how the city eats a slice.
1905
America's First Pizzeria
Gennaro Lombardi began selling tomato pies by the piece from his Spring Street grocery, and 1905 is the founding date the shop claims — generally accepted as America's first pizzeria. It closed in 1984; his grandson reopened it down the block ten years later, at 32 Spring Street, still coal-fired.
1924
Totonno's Opens
Totonno's in Coney Island has been making coal-fired pies since 1924. One of the oldest continuously operating pizzerias in the country — cash only, whole pies only, no exceptions.
1934
The Oven That Made the Slice
Frank Mastro, a restaurant supplier on the Bowery, adapted a coal oven to run on gas and had Blodgett manufacture it. Gas ovens top out around 500–550°F rather than 900°F, so pies bake longer and drier — which means they keep, and reheat. Slice shops start appearing in the 1940s because of that oven.
The NYC Pizza Styles
Six ways New York cuts, folds and bakes a pie.
Classic Slice
Thin · Foldable
The standard New York slice. Thin and foldable, so you can eat it with one hand — standing, walking or sitting down. Best served on a paper plate.
Neapolitan
Soft · Charred
Brought in from Naples and cooked in a wood or coal oven at extreme heat. Soft, wet center, charred and puffy at the edges. Always served whole, never by the slice, and often eaten with a knife and fork.
Sicilian
Square · Chewy
A thick, rectangular slab with a focaccia-like dough. Crunchy on the bottom, chewy inside. Cut into squares and sold that way, and heavier than anything round — one square is a meal.
Upside Down Square
Square · Sauce On Top
Made famous by L&B Spumoni Gardens in Brooklyn, an Upside Down Square is when the sauce goes on top of the cheese. Many pizzerias copy this today, but L&B is the place to go for the real deal.
Grandma
Thin · Crispy
The home cook's version of Sicilian. Baked in an oiled rectangular pan, thinner than a Sicilian but thicker than a round pie. Crispy crust, sauce often drizzled on top after baking.
Bar Pie
Thin · Cracker-Like
Thin, crispy, cracker-like crust — a personal pie usually meant for one person. Often cooked in an oiled metal pan rather than stretched. Lee's Tavern in Staten Island makes one of the city's best.
Ready to Put the Facts to the Test?
Explore New York's pizzerias, neighborhoods and pizza culture.