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Pizza History
The New York Pizza Family Tree
Spring Street, New York City, 1905. This was where Lombardi's, America's first pizzeria, opened its doors at the turn of the century. Workers at Lombardi's went on to open other New York institutions — Patsy Lancieri opening Patsy's in East Harlem, and Antonio Pero making his way to Coney Island to open Totonno's on Neptune Avenue.
Years later, the line kept going. Patsy Lancieri's nephew, Patsy Grimaldi, who worked at Patsy's in East Harlem as a kid, took what he learned from his uncle and opened Grimaldi's in Brooklyn in 1990 — where a lawsuit, a sale and an eviction eventually left two pizzerias two doors apart, only one of them still run by the family. All five pizzerias in this story are still open.
Two Doors Apart
In DUMBO, Grimaldi's and Juliana's sit on the same block, just two doors apart. Different times, same family, and a shared slice of New York pizza history.
Juliana's
When Grimaldi's was evicted from 19 Old Fulton Street and moved two doors to 1 Front Street, Grimaldi came out of retirement at eighty and reopened the original room — coal oven still intact — as Juliana's, named for his mother, Juliana Lancieri Grimaldi, Patsy Lancieri's sister. The two sit two doors apart and are constantly mistaken for each other.
Grimaldi's
Patsy Grimaldi went to work at his uncle's East Harlem oven at thirteen, and in 1990 opened his own room on Old Fulton Street — as Patsy's. In 1995 Frank Brija, who had bought the East Harlem Patsy's, sued over the name; Grimaldi lost it, put his legal bill above $150,000, and the shop became Grimaldi's. He and his wife Carol sold it to Frank Ciolli in 1998.
The Five Still Standing
Lombardi's
1905 · Little Italy
Gennaro Lombardi · 32 Spring St
A grocery at 53½ Spring Street that took out a licence to sell pizza in 1905 — long credited as the first pizzeria in America. Research since has muddied the founding: some accounts put pizza at that address in the 1890s, and one has Lombardi buying the shop for $200 rather than starting it. What is not in dispute is who came out of its coal oven. It closed in 1984 and reopened in 1994 at 32 Spring Street, where it still runs one.
Patsy's, East Harlem
1933 · East Harlem
Pasquale “Patsy” Lancieri · 2287 1st Ave
After his time at Lombardi's, Lancieri went uptown to East Harlem, where he already had a pastry shop on First Avenue; in 1933 he and his wife Carmella turned the shop next door into a restaurant. The Lancieri family sold its interest in the mid-1990s, which is what set the trademark fight below in motion. Unusually for a coal-oven room, it sells by the slice.
Grimaldi's
1990 · DUMBO
Patsy Grimaldi, Lancieri's nephew · 1 Front St
Grimaldi went to work at his uncle's East Harlem oven at thirteen, and in 1990 opened his own room on Old Fulton Street — as Patsy's. In 1995 Frank Brija, who had bought the East Harlem Patsy's, sued over the name; Grimaldi lost it, put his legal bill above $150,000, and the shop became Grimaldi's. He and his wife Carol sold it to Frank Ciolli in 1998.
Juliana's
2012 · DUMBO
Patsy Grimaldi again · 19 Old Fulton St
When Grimaldi's was evicted from 19 Old Fulton Street and moved two doors to 1 Front Street, Grimaldi came out of retirement at eighty and reopened the original room — coal oven still intact — as Juliana's — named for his mother, Juliana Lancieri Grimaldi, Patsy Lancieri's sister. Its hand-built coal oven was the first commissioned in New York in more than fifty years. The two sit two doors apart and are constantly mistaken for each other.
Follow the Full Story
Explore how these five pizzerias fit into the larger story of New York pizza — from immigration to innovation to a citywide obsession.