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All the United States New York State New York City Manhattan Una Pizza Napoletana
AO Edited Gastro Obscura

Una Pizza Napoletana

One man’s obsessive, 30-plus-year quest is behind the pies at this spot on the Lower East Side.

New York, New York

Added By
Diana Hubbell
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The Margarita here needs no additional adornment.   Courtesy of Una Pizza Napoletana
The Margarita here needs no additional adornment.   Courtesy of Una Pizza Napoletana
Anthony Mangieri is the only one allowed to make the pizza dough here.   Courtesy of Mako
These air bubbles are the product of decades of tweaking and refinement.   Courtesy of Una Pizza Napoletana
  Courtesy of Una Pizza Napoletana
The dough is a little different most days.   Courtesy of Mako
Pies sport the customary puffed cornicione.   Courtesy of Mako
Watch pizzas emerge blistered from the wood-fired oven.   Courtesy of Mako
Don’t sleep on dessert here.   Courtesy of Una Pizza Napoletana
Anthony Mangieri has been making pizza dough for over 30 years.   Courtesy of Mako
  Courtesy of Una Pizza Napoletana
  wherearewedude / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Deciding who makes the best pizza in a city like New York is an inherently impossible task. But if you’re speaking strictly of Neapolitan-style pies—as opposed to Detroit-style squares, New York slices, Roman pizza al taglio, or Chicago’s towering amalgamations of sauce and cheese—you could make a strong case for Anthony Mangieri’s. Certainly, other people think so. The Italian organization 50 Top Pizza has named it the Best in the USA and even the Best in the World.

But regardless of how much stock you put in awards lists, these pies, with their puffy, leopard-spotted corniciones, speak for themselves. The dough varies every day, as Mangieri continues to tinker endlessly with proof times, hydration levels, and flours in the unending pursuit of perfection. A few truths remain consistent: the dough must be naturally leavened with a sourdough starter; the only ingredients are flour, water, salt, and time; and most importantly, every single pie must be made by Mangieri’s hands. If he’s sick, the Una Pizza Napoletana simply doesn’t open that day. 

“More of my life has been spent making pizza than not,” says Anthony Mangieri, who estimates he made his first pie at age 13 in his home state of New Jersey. He spent much of his teenage years eating his way through the New York greats—Totonno’s, Lombardi’s, John’s on Bleeker—followed by the coal-fired classics in New Haven and finally the titans in Italy. “I'm 52 and 37 years of it was spent making pizza.”

While Una Pizza Napoletana is internationally known today, it was born as a ramshackle six-table operation just off of Point Pleasant Beach in the thick of the Jersey Shore. At the time, 25-year-old Mangieri was something of a one-man show. “I'd be making pizza, taking orders on the phone, and bringing people their pizza at the table while I'm still on the phone. It was nutty,” he recalls. Over time, the place built up a small community of regulars, some of whom would pitch in to help with dishes. 

“My friends from the local tattoo shop would come and hang out and drink espressos, and people would be playing quarters in the back, gambling and smoking cigarettes,” he says. There was no website, let alone social media, so the whole operation was word-of-mouth for years. “It was a completely different era than the world now. But it was great.”

The sixth and current iteration of the restaurant is a tad more upscale, but the menu remains deliberately minimalist. There are no real sides or salads; just a handful of olives or roasted peppers for appetizers, plus a rotating gelato and sorbet as palate-cleansers. At any given time, there’s a half-dozen pizzas, each with a handful of ingredients. Diners can now add Calabrian hot peppers, anchovies, pepperoni, or 36-month-aged Parmigiano Reggiano, but the Margherita here requires none of these.

“Everything we add to the menu or take away from the menu is very purposeful,” Mangieri says. “I don't like I don't like clutter. I really love food that when you eat it, you're like, ‘Oh, my God, every ingredient just made sense, and they all enhance the dish, and nothing was left to chance.’”

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Chefs Restaurants Baking Pizza

Know Before You Go

Una Pizza Napoletana is only open three evenings a week, from Thursday to Saturday. Reservations are strongly recommended. If you’re lucky, you may be able to snag a seat near the open kitchen, where you can watch 12-inch pizzas being born.

Community Contributors

Added By

Diana Hubbell

Edited By

wherearewedude

  • wherearewedude

Published

July 31, 2024

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Una Pizza Napoletana
175 Orchard St
New York, New York, 10002
United States
40.721733, -73.988573
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