Joe's Pizza
Joe Pozzuoli opened this in 1975 and still runs it at 75. Four dollars, a paper plate, and a tip that never droops.
Why go
Pozzuoli came from Naples and started selling slices at the corner of Bleecker and Carmine in 1975. The corner lease went, and the shop moved three doors down at 7 Carmine Street,
which is where Jeff's pin sits and where the line forms. There are now five Joe's in New York; this is the one the others came from. The Infatuation is clear-eyed about the product: Sure, the glistening grease is a bit much and the red sauce tastes slightly undercooked. None of that matters.
Order this / avoid
- Order: a plain slice, four dollars, standing. Willa Moore's whole case is structural: "The tip of a Joe's slice never droops. Some people call this tip integrity, which is of course important but not the be-all-end-all of determining pizza merits. When it's 2am at Joe's, though, tip integrity will be only the thing that matters."
- Avoid: the wrong door. Four other Joe's trade in the city and this entry is the Carmine Street original.
What locals & experts say
- The Infatuation (25 April 2024, 7.9):
Joe's doesn't need to make the best pizza in the five boroughs to be great, because they make the best pizza if you're standing right in front of it.
2 - Joe's, on itself:
At 75 years of age, Joe Pozzuoli still owns and operates the restaurant.
1
Good to know
- Timing: all day and late, and the queue at the original is a fixture.
- Booking: counter only. Have four dollars ready.
Jeff's take (his words)
- Note: Pizza institution
Verdict
should-visit — Joe Pozzuoli came from Naples, opened this in 1975 at the Bleecker and Carmine corner, moved three doors down to number 7 when the original lease went, and at 75 still owns and runs it. That is fifty years of one man selling the same slice, which is the whole argument. Willa Moore's review is honest about what it is not: the grease is a bit much, the sauce tastes slightly undercooked, and the tip never droops, which at 2am is the only specification that matters. Her line is the fairest thing anyone has written about a famous slice shop: 'Joe's doesn't need to make the best pizza in the five boroughs to be great, because they make the best pizza if you're standing right in front of it.' Four dollars, a paper plate, no seat. Go to the Carmine Street door, not the other four.