Grimaldi's It's located right under the Brooklyn Bridge at 1 Front Street. Zagat named it the #1 pizzeria in New York and the Food Network named it one of the five best in the United States. But here's what you might not know about the legendary pizzeria. Grimaldi's serves Neapolitan style pizza which originated in, you guessed it, Naples, Italy. How can you tell a Neapolitan style pizza? It's round, has a thin crust, tomatoes, mozzarella and a raised border. And, of course, it can have toppings as well. Grimaldi's was opened in 1990 by Patsy Grimaldi who learned to make pizza in 1941, when he was 12 years old, at his Uncle Patsy's restaurant in Harlem called Patsy's. Uncle Patsy was a pizzaiolo at Lombardi's in Manhattan, the very first licensed pizzeria in the country. Patsy Grimaldi worked for his Uncle Patsy in Manhattan and in 1990 branched out on his own to the DUMBO section of Brooklyn under the Brooklyn Bridge. In 1998, Grimaldi retired and sold the Grimaldi's brand name and franchise to Frank Ciolli. Several years later, Ciolli moved Grimaldi's Pizzeria to a larger building next door. In 2011, Grimaldi announced he was coming out of retirement at the age of 80, but was unable to open a restaurant in his own name due to selling his brand rights. In 2012, he opened Juliana's, named after his mother Maria "Juliana" Lancieri Grimaldi, in Grimaldi's former location where his original coal-fired oven was still intact, starting a rivalry between the two. The white building that it currently sits in has columns on the inside, is made out of cast iron and has bars on the windows. That's because it was originally built in 1869 and was the bank that helped fund the building of the Brooklyn Bridge above it! By the way, don't show up at Grimaldi's expecting to buy a slice or two. They don't sell slices, only whole pies. And don't try and use a credit card to pay either. They only take cash! ***What makes the pizza so amazing at Grimaldi's is their coal-fired, brick oven which creates a unique flavor and crisp crust that is impossible to get any other way. The coal, know as "anthracite", comes from Pennsylvania and allows the oven to reach up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature it only take about 4 minutes to cook a pie to perfection*** The line to get in can be so long that you will often see people lining up down the block. It's that good!

It's no wonder why this is one of the top pizzerias in NY. I first heard about it on the Food channel during pizza wars. I've only had the classic Marguerite and Brooklyn bridge with ricotta cheese and Italian sausage. I loved both. If you can't wait in line, either stop by next door to Juliana's or order a pie. Grimaldi's serves their pie in a box, so it won't get as cold as fast as pizzas from their neighbor. Service is fast, friendly, and helpful. It takes about 10-15 minutes for a pie with half of it customized for the same price as next door. They have two restrooms for each binary gender, which is a plus compared to the one next door. Parking is ample either in nearby lots unless you find some free spots under the bridge or on the street. Some just wait or eat on the streets, which is tough unless you have a large group because they only sell by the pier, not slice.

Very enjoyable lunch stop after walking across the Brooklyn Bridge. Pizza is thin and crispy and if you have room, get the homemade cheesecake it was delicious and probably the best one we had by far while visiting New York. Servers and staff are friendly and attentive. Eating area upstairs was very open, airy and bright. It was warm, but they had fans running to help cool things down, but of course this summer was the hottest ever during our visit.

We were seated right away and the pizza came out quickly. Friendly service. Tasty pie but there are better pizza spots in Brooklyn in my opinion.

Some of the best pizza the city has to offer by far!! The garlic slices are the absolute best! Definitely have a picnic if you can and get their pies to-go!

Grimaldi's is a familiar name for many but having tasted other locations across the US, this one is much better than the others with an old school oven and traditional interior feel. My friends and I visited during a Friday evening and there was no line as reported by many others in the reviews. We were quickly seated and the service was very quick to get us our food. At these traditional pizza places, I believe it is important to keep it simple, traditional pies without a lot of toppings, which is the route we took. We ordered one traditional red sauce pie and one pesto pie. Both pies had a great crunch and great flavor but the crust was the standout. One of the best qualities of this type of pizza is the char on the crust, with the slight char and incredible crisp, it is unlike anything else. While there are no doubt some other great spots in NYC, this location of Grimaldi's stands along side some of the better ones. Definitely worth a visit if you are in DUMBO and want a quality pie.

Quick service. Decent pizza. A meet up with family and friends. 6 18" pies The traditional is good. The arugula And prosciutto with loads of garlic was delicious.

Good food. The bruschetta trio was fresh and light. The white with garlic pizza had a thin crust, generous garlic flavor, and paired well with red pepper flakes. They're very busy, I went at 5:00 pm and waited 45 minutes for a table for 3.