Grub Guides

12 New Places to Try for Your Next Great Pizza Experience

A grandma pie from Pizza Moto.
A grandma pie from Pizza Moto. Photo: Bobby Doherty/New York Magazine

New York has always been a city full of world-class pizza options, and the best news is that that isn’t about to change anytime soon. In fact, 2014 has already seen a lot of new, outstanding options that could, in time, offer all-time favorites like Roberta’s or Franny’s some healthy competition. Chef Nick Anderer’s kitchen is already turning out near-perfect thin-crust pies at Marta, Emily has quickly become a Clinton Hill mainstay, and places like GG’s are going old-school with grandma-style varieties. Here are a dozen relative newcomers that are turning out seriously great options.

B-Side
Chef Jason Neroni recently opened this Neapolitan pizzeria, which serves up an “Oscar the Grouch” pie with spinach, black kale, garlic, mozzarella, and fonduta ($15). And you can’t go wrong with the rich carbonara pizza: smoked mozzarella, pancetta, and a soft egg ($17).

Ogliastro Pizza Bar
The team behind Bar Toto introduced Ogliastro in Crown Heights. Order the “Agnello” with housemade lamb sausage, fior di latte, radishes, pistachios, feta, yogurt, and, yes, spicy honey ($20).

Marta
Danny Meyer’s brand-new restaurant is already turning out exceptional pizzas: Two standouts include the potato-guanciale-pecorino pie ($15) and the super-seasonal “Mercato,” with ricotta, cherry tomatoes, corn, okra, and sweet peppers ($14).

Marta
Danny Meyer’s brand-new restaurant is already turning out exceptional pizzas: Two standouts include the potato-guanciale-pecorino pie ($15) and the super-seasonal “Mercato,” with ricotta, cherry tomatoes, corn, okra, and sweet peppers ($14).

Marta’s Fiori di Zucca: mozzarella, zucchini flowers, anchovy.Photo: Melissa Hom


Il Buco Alimentari
This spring, the beloved Italian restaurant introduced Roman-style pizza al taglio at the to-go part of this Great Jones Street restaurant. The varieties change daily, but you can often find a $5 Margherita slice, and recently, a pie with grilled onion, king-trumpet mushrooms, and prosciutto.

GG’s
At this Goat Town reboot, chef Bobby Hellen serves a square grandma-style pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, and oregano ($18), as well as the “1986” — an ode to Hellen’s love of the Mets, which includes spicy sopressata, fennel agrodolce, pickled peppers, and anise hyssop ($15).

Photo: Melissa Hom


Il Buco Alimentari
This spring, the beloved Italian restaurant introduced Roman-style pizza al taglio at the to-go part of this Great Jones Street restaurant. The varieties change daily, but you can often find a $5 Margherita slice, and recently, a pie with grilled onion, king-trumpet mushrooms, and prosciutto.

GG’s
At this Goat Town reboot, chef Bobby Hellen serves a square grandma-style pizza with tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, and oregano ($18), as well as the “1986” — an ode to Hellen’s love of the Mets, which includes spicy sopressata, fennel agrodolce, pickled peppers, and anise hyssop ($15).

The square grandma-style pizza at GG’s.Photo: Melissa Hom


Annabel
The team behind Thalia and Mark Burger opened a wood-fire pizzeria in Hell’s Kitchen this summer. Nontraditional pies include ricotta, duck prosciutto, and blueberry chutney ($17), and eggplant, tomato sauce, pesto, capers, chili flakes, and pecorino ($14).

Emily
This Clinton Hill restaurant has quickly become a neighborhood favorite: Go for the vodka pie (vodka sauce, Surryano ham, mozzarella, parsley, for $17), and stay for the s’mores calzone.

Trakia
At this Astoria restaurant, the dough is made from 100 percent organic flour from Chaplain Valley Mills and baked in a wood-fired brick oven. Varieties include BBQ chicken (with gouda cheese, for $16) and even a smoked-salmon pie ($17).

Gato
Don’t forget that there are two Roman-style pizzas on Bobby Flay’s menu: one with goat cheese, tomato, olives, and capers ($16); and another with lamb sausage, tomato jam, mozzarella, and mint ($17).

Gato
Don’t forget that there are two Roman-style pizzas on Bobby Flay’s menu: one with goat cheese, tomato, olives, and capers ($16); and another with lamb sausage, tomato jam, mozzarella, and mint ($17).

Gato’s pizza with lamb sausage.Photo: Melissa Hom

Louie and Chan
New chef Kevin Chu has revamped the menu to include pies like “Lombardina” — zucchini puree, squash blossoms, chrysanthemum, Taleggio, and Sicilian oregano ($19) — and a classic “Vongole”: clams in the shell, pecorino, olive oil, fresh parsley, roasted garlic, and lemon zest ($19).

Heartwood
Head over to Chelsea for quirky wood-fired pies like “Duck Ham Pizza,” with house-cured duck ham, pickled peaches, arugula, walnuts, and Gruyère ($22), or the aptly named “When Peter Luger Goes Out for Pizza,” with braised short rib, creamed spinach, and horseradish ($22).

Pizza Moto at Berg’n
The new Crown Heights food court includes the pizza made famous at Smorgasburg — and flavors include a four-cheese artichoke pie, and a three-mushroom pizza with fontina, garlic, and smoked mozzarella. They all cost $10 for a small, and $18 for a large.

12 New Places to Try for Your Next Great Pizza Experience