Located on the upperside of Little Italy, Lombardi’s Pizzeria is the first registered pizzeria in the US. It started as a grocery store in 1897, and became a full fledged pizzeria in 1905. Lombardi’s is heralded as the place where NY style pizza began. There was no way we’d miss this on our trip.
The atmosphere is casual and quite down to earth. The menu is simple, allowing diners to choose their own traditional toppings including Italian sausage, pepperoni, red peppers, and homemade meatballs. The prices are also very reasonable, from about $15 for a large. Being that they are a landmark pizzeria, they could have charged a lot more.
The mozzarella is always made from fresh buffalo milk, and this shows in the bright colors of the melted cheese on the pizza. Service was also suprisingly quick, pumping out our pizza from the coal oven in a jiffy.
On our first trip we ordered a large with Italian sausage and garlic (no charge). On our second trip, we ordered a large with half meatballs and red peppers, and half pancetta and mushrooms. The pizzas were simply dazzling. The crust was perfectly thin and just slightly crunchy. The toppings were all fresh and abundant, complementing the fresh mozzarella. The sauce also has a slight sweetness.
I’m glad I finally tried the original NY style pizzeria. There are many rivals out there in Manhattan and Brooklyn, but Lombardi’s was the first. This doesn’t always mean the best, but it’s nice to finally taste the heart of the pizza in the US.