Grimaldi's Pizzeria
Grimaldi's opened in Dumbo in 1990, then sold, franchised out to more than forty doors and moved a few storefronts into an old bank building. Willa Moore scored it 7.3 for The Infatuation in March 2025 and ended on the crust:
History might just taste a little underdone on the bottom.1
Why go
Moore finds stretchy expanses of mozzarella and pools of oregano-heavy fresh tomato sauce on top, and a base that comes out pale underneath.1 She is plain about what the franchising did to the place: merch for sale up front, calorie counts on the menu, and a pie that just never seems to quite achieve that signature char that drew Lucali-rivaling lines when it opened.
1 If you want the coal char that built the reputation, The Infatuation rates Juliana's at 7.7 a few storefronts along, and Juliana's is the work of Grimaldi's original owner.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a traditional pie. There are no slices here, so this is a two-people trip at least.1
- Avoid: the weekend. Moore says the line fills with tourists and points you at a weekday lunch, when there is none.1
What locals & experts say
- Willa Moore, The Infatuation, 6 March 2025, 7.3:
If you want a taste of history, by all means go try the pie that made Dumbo a pizza town. Preferably at lunch on a weekday, when there's no line.
1 - The same review, on the room: Grimaldi's is now
a chain restaurant with over 40 locations nationwide,
and Moore says even the bank buildingfeel[s] a little corporate.
1
Good to know
- The door: this page is 1 Front Street in Dumbo. The name trades at more than forty addresses.
- Format: whole pies only.
Verdict
could-visit — The man who started Grimaldi's opened Juliana's a few storefronts along, and The Infatuation rates that 7.7 against this room's 7.3. So the Dumbo detour is worth making and the door is the other one. Go on a weekday, order a whole pie, and expect a franchise.