Lombardi’s NY Pizza

You cannot go to New York and not have pizza. It would be a trajedy. And what would you tell your friends when they asked about eating NY style pizza?

“Uh, I didn’t get any.”

Exactly. You gotta get some.

I sort of put my foot down about getting some pizza.  And I maybe suggested it the entire time I was there.

But I can’t remember the minor details.

We ended up getting pizza for lunch on Sunday and it couldn’t have come at a better time.  We were fresh out of our conference, hungry, and looking for some action.  We found it all.

Lombardi’s boasts itself as the first pizzeria in America.  Is this true?  I have no idea, but that is quite the claim!

Six of us were eating pizza that day and we decided to split two pies between us.

First up was Lombardi’s white pizza with an array of cheeses.  We added mushrooms (I picked my share off though) and sauteed spinach.

Along with a classic Margarita pizza.

Both pizzas are cooked in a wood-fired brick oven, which lucky for me, is my favorite cooking method.  I was happy to finally see some triangle slices because no matter how long I live here, I cannot get used to Ohio’s crazy pizza style.

The crust seemed like it was hand tossed.  It was super chewy which I liked a great deal.  And it was the perfect thickness.  Not too thin and not too heavy.

Of the two, my favorite was the white pizza.  It had better flavor and had a little bit more umph than the margarita style.  I didn’t quite care for the sauce on the margarita pizza, it was a little too sweet and not garlicky enough for this Polish girl.  That said, both pizzas were a great introduction to NY style pies.  And if you like sweeter tomato sauce, then this is the pizza for you!

It just happened to be San Gennaro the weekend we were in town. Lots of people out and about checking out all the booths and Little Italy.  It was interesting to see and the smells were fantastic.

Some of the ladies got gelato and other sweet treats. I was still very full from lunch so I hung back and took pictures of everything as best as I could.

What’s your favorite place to get NY style pizza? If you don’t live in NY, have you been able to find comparable pizza where you live?

8 thoughts on “Lombardi’s NY Pizza

  1. Diana’s comment makes me laugh! I agree that true NY-style (the big floppy slices) are super greasy and super salty, but Lombardi’s makes an awesome pie. I also can’t get over the weird Ohio-style pizza, and Zach and I are always trying to find something.

    Have you been to Brooklyn Pizza up in Powell? It’s right next door to Windy City BBQ. It’s quite a hike, but Janine A. and I just went there and really enjoyed it! The closest to NY-style I can find here. :)

    Glad you had a great trip!

    • Jess, I haven’t been up there yet! I have heard great things about it though. I think only Ohio natives tend to enjoy the Ohio style pizza. I just can’t get on board.

  2. The New York pizza crust can only come from NY city though. They’re water is really soft, and it makes great pizza dough, bagels and pretzels. They’ve done studies on this.

    And Jess is right big floppy pieces you fold over, greasy and salty.

    My husband comes from Wintersville – and there is this pizza place there that makes these big bricks that they call pizza. Heavy really thick crust – they cook and then put on sauce and cheese and pepperoni after. Only one style of pizza and it’s awful, but they love it. So maybe it’s imprinted during childhood.

    • This was in NYC, right in the middle of Little Italy. And it was big enough to fold over to eat, everyone (except me) ate their pizza that way. Perhaps it just doesn’t come across that way in the picture. But rest assured, this is NYC pizza.

      Are you talking about Sicilian style pizza? I love those!

  3. Jim Polichak says:

    I live on Long Island {just east of NYC} and maybe 10% of the Pizza Parlors here have a decent Pizza so I don’t know how you can expect to find a real New York Pie in Ohio or Chicago.
    Thirty five years ago I was stationed in Orlando and I found a good {not great} NYC style Pie. How did they make it? The owner-cook and his family were from Brooklyn, had three generations of experience in his family, and had most of his ingredients {including 5 gallon jugs of water} driven down from The City by his brother-in-law in a van twice a week. The problem was he the county wouldn’t let him put in a brick oven that could get hot enough.

Leave a Reply to Diana Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.