John's of Bleecker Street
Bryan Kim's review opens by telling you that the people who call this the best pizza in New York are wrong, and then it sends you anyway. John's has been on Bleecker since 1929, it sells whole pies and never slices, and the char comes off a century-old coal oven.
Why go
The oven is the argument. Kim says the seasoning on it provides a deep, charred flavor that lingers on the palate like a vintage Bordeaux.
1 He calls it one of the city's crispiest pies and the crust exceptionally chewy.1 He is just as direct about the rest: the pizza is generic, with heavy-handed toppings and Polly-O cheese.
1 Kim measures John's against L'Industrie and Mama's Too and says it is not as quality-obsessed as either, then adds that it is no Lucali, no Katz's, no L&B and no Keens.1 The room is scuffed checkered floors and walls of celebrity photographs. You carve your name into your wooden booth and the Four Tops play.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: The Sasso. Kim calls it
a plain pie with the subtle addition of black pepper,
which is the right way to meet an oven this old.1 - Order: the Chubby Vesce for a second pie, piled with sausage, garlic and onions. Eat it fast,
before it gets soggy enough to qualify as a soup.
1 - Avoid: the pasta and the chicken parm. Kim on the parm:
What? Why? Are you OK? Don't get anything that isn't pizza at John's.
1
What locals & experts say
- Bryan Kim, The Infatuation, 30 May 2024, 7.5:
Unlike many of the city's oldest restaurants, this place isn't a must-visit. But if you've already hit the top pizza spots or need to placate a friend who receives all their intel from a 20-year-old copy of the Fodor's guide to NYC, go forth and enjoy a crunchy pie.
1 - The same review, on where it sits: Kim files it as
a (second-tier) NYC classic
whose appeal runs onone very old oven and a heap of nostalgia.
1
Good to know
- Format: whole pies only. There are no slices, so bring somebody.
- Timing: lunch is the quiet service. The line builds outside later.
Verdict
could-visit — You come here for the char and the booth. The toppings are ordinary and Bryan Kim says so, and he still sends readers in at lunch, when the line outside has gone. When the pizza itself is the point, Lucali is the trip to make.