If you were to dig deep below New York City’s streets, past the subway tunnels, you might expect to find thick layers of schist, gneiss and marble. But what you’d actually find is pizza, the cultural and emotional bedrock of a city that can’t even coalesce around a single baseball team. Here, finding a decent slice is as easy as jaywalking. But finding a great slice, one that’s worth eating down to that last bite of crust, is much harder.
So we set out to do the “hard work,” sampling 50 of the city’s most popular and beloved pizzerias and landing on the 25 best. They offer a variety of styles — Sicilian, Neapolitan, New York and others that haven’t even been classified yet — but they’re all well worth the miles of subway (and ferry) travel. NIKITA RICHARDSON
Andrew Bellucci’s Pizzeria
Astoria
Just as there was a gulf of difference between Alfredo’s Pizza Cafe and Pizza by Alfredo on “The Office,” there is a gulf of difference between Bellucci Pizza and Andrew Bellucci’s Pizza. The first was where the chef Andrew Bellucci, who died in 2023 at 59, was able to finally establish his footing in the wide world of New York City pizza. He opened the second spot when things didn’t work out, and that’s where any discerning diner should go for one of the clam pizzas that made Mr. Bellucci famous — fresh clams in a sea of oregano, parsley and garlic and a ring of lemon slices. Just be sure to make a reservation for your clam pie at least 24 hours ahead; they’re made à la minute. NIKITA RICHARDSON
37-08 30th Avenue (37th Street), andrewbelluccispizzeria.com
Arturo’s Coal Oven Pizza
Greenwich Village
Old-school and decidedly New York-y, Arturo’s Coal Oven Pizza is a haven for Italian American cooking and thick-crust pizzas that arrive at your table with spots of char thanks to that coal oven. The arugula- and prosciutto-topped pie is a popular option, but the “Fiesta” pie, with sausage, peppers, onions and dollops of thick tomato sauce on top of the mozzarella, is a filling cross between a bar pie and a New York take on deep dish. Paired with the live jazz, close tables, chalkboards with specials and weathered paintings that line the dining room walls, Arturo’s feels like a restaurant stuck in decades past in the best way. KORSHA WILSON
106 West Houston Street (Thompson Street), arturoscoaloven.com