Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

1.) Patsy's in East Harlem

You got that right. Period. Beat New York style pizza (coal oven, very thin crust, locally made mozzerella) in New York beyond any doubt. And very inexpensive. I used to live in Astoria and would take the bus across the Triborough and walk to Patsy's for lunch (I was working at home at the time). It was great exercise combined with great pizza

2.) Grimaldis, under the Brooklyn Bridge

A close second, a serious close second. Someone said it had gone downhill; don't know about that since it had been a while since I have been there (getting there takes some effort); I know that the last few times I was there, Patsy was not (he has another place in New Jersey). Still, I can't believe he would let anything happen to the quality

3.) Di Fara, Avenue J in Brooklyn

Didn't particularly care for this pizza

4.) Una Pizza Napolitana, 12th Street, Manhattan

Really really good Napoli style pizza but a better one is a restaurant whose name I can't remember but they are on 20th street between Park and Broadway (near Moore Brother's Wine - great people, great place to get wines, they share my love of reislings - and Silver Swan which has great German beer, free pretzels and pretty good German food; I sometimes go there, have a few or more beers then go for a pizza)

5.) Lombardi's, near Little Italy

Really didn't like them; crust was too thick and just didn't have the right flavor

6.) Nick's, Upper East Side

They were OK, not great but if you live in the neighborhood and don't want to venture out too far (which is ridiculous since NYC is such a great food town), this place is fine

7.) Totonno's, Coney Island

Been there once; very, very, very good. Chuck Shumer's favorite pizza. They also have a location on Second Avenue, around 80th street that is quite good as well

8.) Franny's, Park Slope, Brooklyn
9.) No. 28, The Village, Manhattan
10.) La Villa, Park Slope, Brooklyn

Never been to either of the Park Slope places. No 28 is OK, well better than OK. Napoli style pizza, very acceptable but I would go to 20th street first

But once again Patsy's, Patsy's, Patsy's. Very thin crust, chewey and tasty. The sauce is sweet and the cheese is just perfect. The pizza has this really sweet taste and what's wonderful is that the crust is so thin, you can eat more because the tomato sauce and cheese is healthy

get una pizza napoletana off there. They are lucky to be a top 30 pizza in the city.

He must put them on when cameras come out, because I've seen tons of pictures of him with the hat on. He looks cute with it on. Heh.

What about puttting a screen on the window?
If I had to guess using my restaurant experience, there is a different between an open window where food is stored and prepared, than where its open in a dining area, probably a certain amount of feet from the serving area. That's just a hunch though.

You know, all in all, after all the fussing and fighting I do against DiFara's, that little interview really turned it around for me. The guy is doing what he loves to do and that should say enough. It shouldn't be about what standards I'd like him to hold up too, be it speedier service or a consistant pie. So, I will say it...I am sorry Dom!

Keep on working, and keep on loving what you do! I support you fellow pizzamaker!!