Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

@jedfielding: Thanks for commenting; I'm a fan of Spacca as well. Incidentally, when posting about Spacca, you should probably disclose that you are friends with the owners and that your photographs (which">http://www.jedfielding.com/city-of-secrets.html">which are great) adorn the walls.

I agree with you. was there two night ago and had the margherita. Very good crust. poor toppings, by which I mean not enough of all and too much oil.

Sorry, when I made my post about Luzzo's I was under the impression that he was going to three pizzerias, not just one.

If you're going to just one of those three I don't think it is a question, Motorino is the best. Only question is Manhattan/Williamsburg location, idk, has there been any consensus on which is better or are they pretty much the same?

Di Fara is definitely worth the trip but he already said he doesn't have time for that. Although if he did that would be the place to go.

I'd have to agree with Sean. The DiFara experience is worth the trip. DiFara's probably isn't my favorite pizza (here I go - not succumbing to 'groupthink'), but Dom is probably my favorite pizzaiolo.

And when you tell people you had pizza in New York and someone raises the eyebrow and asks, "but did you go to DiFara?" your response can be a Gary-Cooperish "yup."

@ serious pizza
i know ha ha the guy from the voice must be confused by this.
but he need not be cuz it was awesome.
yes you're right, keste makes it to look much different.
it tastes very much the same. of course the ingredients are better in italy cuz they are grown there and brought to your table asap as opposed to being imported. and of course zucchine flowers are not only hard to come by but extremely expensive here in the u.s.
but keste does a great job with it. even if roberto isn't making the pizzas. there's other great pizzaioli there who make fantastic pizza.

Go to Di Fara. The way you phrased your question it seems like Di Fara is your #1 choice.

Co., Motorino, and Lombardi's are all likely to be there when you return but I wish I could say the same for Di Fara. Make it work. Go at an off-peak time (late lunch before they close to prepare for dinner). It's 40 minutes from Times Sq by subway. Otherwise you'll come and likely enjoy any number of great pizzerias but you won't have been to Di Fara. If you have time for a second choice, then consider those others, but if I were you, I'd pay a visit to Dom.

Hope you like NY!

btw - just re-read my post. might have come off more critical than i thought - no flame intended (but this pun? for sure!). sorry bro.

anyhow - i thought i'd branch out from his list to give him more options.

i've always had the exact opposite sentiment with adam's luzzo-motorino comparison - even did a same-afternoon comparison on my birthday, and the general consensus definitely prefered luzzo overall. i can't exactly pinpoint why i do; i like its thinner crust style better.

as for the new york coal-oven - lombardi's? really? i'd happily take the original patsy's or possibly even one of the chain locations of patsy's or angelo's over it. I'd take grimaldi's over it, even if their inconsistent pies and tourist trap line get worse every year. i guess it works as a good tourist location due to its proximity to the brooklyn bridge. I'd take nick's and totonno's UES locations over it. ever since i first went to lombardi's in '02, i've always been underwhelmed by its hype--although i've always appreciated its history.

artichoke basille's may be overrated, but i believe their proximity to union square helps those that want to see what di fara's is like. "wha?!", you say? well, my fave di fara offering is his square slice, and i think the basille boys' square slice at least gives a hint to the uninitiated what dom's work may taste like without having to make a three hour minimum trip. it's not the same, but the cost/benefit ratio can be helpful to a tourist with a tight schedule. just don't bother with the artichoke slice.

I dunno. If I were doing Naples-style and had to choose between Luzzo's and Motorino Manhattan (which is literally just around the corner), I would HANDS DOWN go to Motorino. Luzzo's, every time I've been (and I've gone many times at the insistence of people who write to tell me it's great), has had an absolutely flavorless crust. There is just no way that Luzzo's is in the same league as Motorino.

And, to get things back to apples-to-apples, comparing a Lombardi's pie (Neapolitan-American) to a Naples-style pie is apples to oranges. If you wanted a traditional Neapolitan pizza, then, no, you wouldn't go to Lombardi's.

But part of what Josh was asking was "Any suggestions out of those three that would best sum up New York pizza?"

Like I said, if pressed, I would have to say that, of the options Josh lists, Lombardi's best "sums up New York pizza." The traditional Naples-style pies are a relatively recent development in NYC pizza, with perhaps the first incursion of the genre coming in 1987 with Mezzogiorno in SoHo. But, according to pizza maven Ed Levine, La Pizza Fresca (opened in 1996) really pioneered the Neapolitan-pizza movement here in the city. All these types of pizza best represent Naples.

And, of course, you're going to get a lot of people who say that the coal-oven places like Lombardi's (or Totonno's, Patsy's, John's, Arturo's, or Grimaldi's) aren't truly representative of New York pizza since what most people eat day to day are slices from run-of-the-mill neighborhood pizzerias.

To sum up, given Josh's choices above, I would say ...

Motorino: If you want THE BEST TASTING pizza, prefer trad Neapolitan-style, and don't necessarily care about NYC pizza history.*

Lombardi's: If you want to get a taste of the whole NYC coal-oven thing. (Be sure to ask to see the oven, and see if they'll reel off some of the specifics of how it works.)

Co. Company: If for some reason you're near it and don't have time for the others.

*In the interest of historical accuracy, I have to point out that the current Lombardi's is not in the original location and has not been operating continuously since 1905, which is when Gennaro Lombardi first applied for his pizzeria license. The original, at 53 Spring Street, closed in 1984. The current one opened in 1994 at 32 Spring Street, with a Lombardi grandson (also named Gennaro) as co-owner. Eric Asimov has more on the history of the current Lombardi's founding in this 1996 article from the New York Times.

Great post nextgospel ! Can't wait to read more of your trip reviews.
What's with the Pizza a Baccala' on the sandwich board outside?
Funny,but that Pizza del Papa bears zero resemblance to the ones served at Keste IMO? Walnut cream on Pizza?
Where's that guy from the Village Voice .........

I've been to Co. once. I'll probably give it a second shot although after the initial visit it struck me as a place good enough to eat at if you happen to be nearby but not worth a special trip.

I could eat Motorino every night.

Paulie - You are becoming a little more egalitarian in you old age. How's the place coming? Having fun yet?