Pizza is the quintessential Brooklyn fast food. In Brooklyn, people have opinions about pizza, to be defended almost as ardently as a favorite baseball team, and discussed as endlessly as the latest mayoral foibles. Is Grimaldi's worth waiting in line for? Who makes the best thin crust pizza? Which sauce is freshest, which mozzarella most succulent? Is pizza cooked in a coal fired over better than pizza cooked in a brick oven? And, whose opinion matters?
1. De Fara (Midwood)
This hole-in-the-wall has gotten so much press that you'd think it was the home of a pizza Houdini. Do not bother to wear designer clothes here, it's an old Brooklyn shop where the ancient rite of pizza making is religiously followed. The extraordinary reviews are well deserved. (What happens here with pizza is the exact opposite of mass-produced pizzas such as Sbarros, also born in Brooklyn.)
- 1424 Avenue
- (718) 258-1367
2. Roberta's (Bushwick)
Legendary. 261 Moore Street. 718) 417-1118More »3. Anella (Greenpoint)
More »4. Frannys (between Prospect Heights & Park Slope)
5. Grimaldi's (DUMBO)
More »6. Brooklyn Flea— Pizza Motto (Fort Greene & Williamsburg)
7. Carmine's Pizzeria (Williamsburg)
Before there were hipsters in Williamsburg, there was a robust Italian community. Some say Carmine's Pizzeria serves up the best pizza in the neighborhood. And if you're looking for authentic Italian Brooklyn ambiance, well, you couldn't get much more authentic.
- 346 Graham Avenue
- (718) 782-9659
- Daily 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
8. Lucali (Carroll Gardens)
- 575 Henry St
- (718) 858-4086
9. L&B Spumoni Gardens (Bensonhurst)
2725 86th St
(718) 449-1230
You want authentic Brooklyn pizza? Come to L&B. It's been in business since 1939.