Lucali

Lucali's cooks roll the dough with a floured wine bottle in front of the room, and it comes out of a domed brick oven wafer-thin, crunching like a saltine, with a burst of charred air in every puffy bite of rim.3

Why go

Mark Iacono has made pizza and calzones and nothing else at 575 Henry Street since 2006, in the building that was his block's candy store; the operator group's own account is that he opened it to save the local candy store of his Carroll Gardens youth.1 3 Ruth Rogers reads the menu as the argument: They really only focus on pizza and calzones, and they do them incredibly well.2 Thirty seats, no reservation platform, and it is BYOB.3

Order this / avoid

Order: two pies rather than one. Will Hartman's rule is basil only on the first, because the sauce and the crust are the point, then go maximalist on the second; his pick there is hot pepper, shallot and pepperoni.3 Ruth Rogers just orders the margherita.2
Order: the calzone, melted ricotta in a slightly thicker dough, knowing that not everybody rates it above the pie.
Avoid: planning around a booking. Rogers: They don't accept reservations, and people almost always wait a long time, but I think it's absolutely worth it. Morgan Carter found the list kept in a notebook on a table dragged onto the pavement, and the good seatings gone before the door even opened.2 4
Avoid: Tuesdays. The room is closed.4

What locals & experts say

The calzone splits them. Will Hartman: Filled with creamy melted cheese that's just about contained by an ever-so-slightly thicker dough, this calzone is transcendent. The sweetness of the ricotta mixed with the char of the dough gives it more depth than the pizza. Morgan Carter ate it and did not agree: The calzone, which I've heard is the truth, surprisingly fell a bit flat for me. She found the peppers and shallots too sparse to stand up to raw garlic.3 4
Ruth Rogers (The River Café, London), 2026-05: When visiting New York, you must experience the legendary pizza. For me, Lucali is the best.2
Morgan Carter, Time Out New York, 18 September 2025, rated 4 of 5, on whether the queue is worth it for somebody who does not live nearby: would I recommend a friend from Harlem to come down, wait for the chance at a table, only to have to wait around longer for the place to open? I can't say that I would.4
Prince Street Hospitality, the operator group, calls it the best pizza in New York on its own website.1

Good to know

Price: a calzone was $19 small or $29 large in September 2025, with toppings at $3 to $5 each.4
Booking: none taken. The queue forms in the early afternoon, sometimes with paid line-sitters at the front, and the night's seatings are handed out when the book opens.3 4
The table: you get it for about an hour and a quarter.3
Drinks: bring your own.

Verdict

should-visit — Mark Iacono has cooked pizza and calzones and nothing else at 575 Henry Street since 2006, in the building that was his block's candy store. Ruth Rogers, who runs one of London's better Italian kitchens, calls it the best pizza in New York and says the simplicity is the reason. It takes no reservations and the wait is long, which Rogers says is worth it. A large pie with basil was $32 in September 2025 and it is BYOB.

Lucali.