San Diego is home to some of California's top pizza joints, but it is more renowned for its artisan beer and wine scene. The city has many restaurants, but as far as New York pizza goes, Little Italy is where you should go if you want a properly cooked, cheesy pizza or delicious pies.
You will discover pizzas with traditional Italian toppings, California-inspired creations with creative toppings, and delicious emulation of other regional favorites, including New York and Chicago-style pies.
Below are the best pizza places in Little Italy that will please even the pickiest pizza enthusiast. Whether you are looking for a pizza place in New York City for a special occasion, a dinner experience, or a tasty pizza slice to enjoy at home, there is a pizza place in Little Italy that will fit your bill. Dive in!
1. Little Italy Pizza
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $11.49 - $20.49)
Address: 154 Church St, New York, NY 10007
Phone: 212-227-7077
Little Italy Pizza is open Monday through Friday for takeaway and delivery from 9 am to 6 pm. Online orders allow you to skip the wait and can be made for full pies or pieces.
Gourmet pizzas are also available in a wide variety, and all of them are created with fresh dough mixed daily in-house. The exception to the eight-slice rule is Grandma's Pizza. If you order one of these pies, you will receive nine slices.
Calzones, pieces of bread, hot heroes, and salads are also offered.
2. Enzo Bruni Le Pizza Gourmet
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $18 - $36)
Address: 1827 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10128
Phone: +1 917-675-6867
Enzo Bruni Le Pizza Gourmet is another top choice when looking for the best pizza in Little Italy. It has you covered whether you're in the mood for your traditional favorites or something new.
Although it's an overlooked pizza place inside Canal Street Market, it serves classic dishes and cutting-edge creations. For instance, their pepperoni pizza is so stuffed with meaty goodness that you'd think it contained more than just the traditional topping.
Also, any pizza lover should try their La Monella pizza even though it is made with various unusual ingredients, like pecorino Sardo, buffalo ricotta, and everything in between.
3. Paesano
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $10.95 - $19.95)
Address: 136 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 965-1188
At Paesano, traditional Italian cuisine is what to expect. This eatery tucked away on Little Italy's busy Mulberry Street has quickly become a locals' top choice for Italian-style pizza. In addition to the pizza, the restaurant serves delectable seafood appetizers, various varieties of pasta, and organic salad selections, all of which contribute to a sumptuous lunch befitting a Mediterranean nation.
However, if pizza is all you're interested in, their traditional flavors and creative variations selection will elevate your taste buds on a real adventure! Of course, cheese pizza is a huge favorite. You can, however, create your own pizza if you're feeling adventurous.
4. Nolita Pizza
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $3 for a pizza slice - $29.99)
Address: 68 Kenmare St, New York, NY 10012
Phone: +1 646-895-9131
This pizza restaurant on Kenmare Street remains open nearly all the time, or at least until 4:30 in the morning. Any time during the day, you can order a freshly cut piece or an entire pie to be delivered straight to your house.
One of Nolita's biggest selling points is that their delicious marinara sauce is fresh every morning. Consequently, even if you place an order in the dead of night, you will still receive great pizza!
5. Emporio
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $18 to $21)
Address: 231 Mott St a, New York, NY 10012, Marekani
Phone: +1 212-966-1234
Pizza from Emporio may end up becoming your favorite New York snack to have at home! When eaten while it's still hot, their wood-fired pizza can surpass all the city's other brick-oven-backed pies.
Although you face the danger of burning your tongue, the mouth-watering swirl of melted cheese, thick marinara sauce, and morsels of meat and vegetables are well worth the discomfort.
You won't get these flavors anywhere else in Little Italy since Emporio uses unique ingredients from buffalo mozzarella to Corbezzollo bitter honey.
6. Amici
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $20 - $24)
Address: 165 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10013
Phone: +1 212-203-2766
While walking around Mulberry street, you will not miss the smell of the homemade-style pizza being made at Amici pizza place. This restaurant is as authentically Italian as it gets. Their pizza makers make their pizzas in a Neapolitan style, with a light and crispy crust that resembles those cooked by an Italian grandmother in Naples.
Add to that the extensive menu of Italian cuisine they provide in addition to pizza, pasta, risotto, seafood salads, and more. Lastly, traditional Italian favorite toppings like pepperoni, Margherita, and occasionally even Quattro Stagioni are served to guarantee your culinary enjoyment.
7. Saluggi’s
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $15 - $24)
Address: 325 Church St, New York, NY 10013
Phone: 212-226-7900
Every day except Sunday, Saluggi's gives you the choice of eating in, picking up, or delivering food, and it's open from 11 am to 8 pm for the rest of the week.
The house specialty is pizza, prepared in a brick oven that melts everything together perfectly to give you a fantastic pizza. In addition, there is a fantastic selection of specials, including plenty of options for vegetarians and meat lovers.
Additionally, you can choose from various toppings to make your own pizza.
8. Prince Street Pizza
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $22 - $33)
Address: 27 Prince Street, New York, 10012
Phone: 212-966-4100
Prince Street Pizzeria serves delicious meals for takeout or delivery, and it's open seven days a week, staying open late on Friday and Saturday nights until three in the morning.
Pizzas are available in either Soho squares or Neapolitan circular pies. Laugh at names like the Fancy Prince, Buzzy Broome Vodka, and Broadway Breadcrumb before indulging in and savoring the delectable flavors.
Additionally, several pizzas can be made vegan and sides with vodka, house marinara, and hot sauces. You will also enjoy the crust, sauce, and cheese in the right proportions, and the service is lightning-fast.
9. 99 Cent Fresh Pizza
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $8.00 - $13.00)
Address: 383 Canal Street, New York, 10013
Phone: 212-966-1110
99 Cent Fresh Pizza strongly emphasizes low prices, as the name implies. This doesn't suggest that you will compromise on quality. Here, the pizza is great and fresh, and the service is prompt and attentive. You have three options for dining, eating at the stand-up counter, picking up your takeout, or having your pizza delivered.
There is a wide variety of pizza slices, and you can customize any of them with extra toppings. You can even purchase an entire 18-inch pie if you need to feed a large group. The rates are affordable, but you can also get soft drinks and bundles of pizza slices, ensuring you enjoy the tasty pizzas on the menu.
10. Rubirosa
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $17.00 - $28.00)
Address: 235 Mulberry St, New York, NY 10012
Phone: (212) 965-0500
Rubirosa has been a favorite pizza destination for most families and large groups. However, because of the large groups of visitors who are constantly here, you should arrive early or secure a table to avoid missing a table.
Some praised dishes include steamed artichoke or the sweet, creamy vodka pizza. There are also gluten-free options, and it's one of the best pizza places with a super thin crust in New York City.
11. Manero’s Pizza
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $22 - $26)
Address: 113 Mulberry St, New York, 10013
Phone: (212) 961-6183
Despite being just three years old, Manero's has already earned a reputation for some of the greatest brick-oven pizzas in the area, with a puffy and well-browned crust. It is named after the protagonist of Saturday Night Fever, Tony Manero (John Travolta).
It is also among the few pizzerias that offer pizza slices of its famous pies, making it possible to try many at once. Other popular dishes on the menu include "stuffies," baked clams stuffed with seasoned breadcrumbs, eggplant lasagna, fried artichokes, caesar salad, and "stuffed" artichokes.
12. Gelso & Grand
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $17.00 - $23.00)
Address: 186 Grand Street, NY, NY 10013 Little Italy NYC
Phone: 212-226-1600
Gelso & Grand is a Little Italy pizza joint with a traditional exterior worth visiting. So it's no wonder the trendy, red-brick restaurant at Grand and Mulberry Streets is frequently full.
To begin with, their selection of brick-oven pizzas changes periodically and features a range of tastes, many of which are unique.
Moreover, their special "capizza," a calzone and pizza hybrid, is a delicacy worth trying. It retains the satisfying flavors of the latter while having the ease of the former.
Finally, the roomy location is a perfect hangout for a group dinner, and you should try it.
13. Lombardi’s
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $3.99 - $5.99)
Address: 32 Spring Street, New York, NY 10012
Phone: 212-941-7994
Lombardi's is where the modern pizza we know today came from, and Gennaro Lombardi opened it in 1905. Lombardi's is the best pizza if you want to eat in the center of New York pizza history. The man who introduced pizza from Italian American kitchens to New York streets is its founder.
Pizza is still baked at Lombardi's today in a coal-fired oven with freshly produced tomato sauce and creamy mozzarella. Also, it's a tourist destination nowadays, explaining why the price is high.
One of Lombardi's most popular dishes is the Clam pie, and the menu also includes pasta dishes, calzones, salads, and Stromboli. For desserts, you can enjoy the delicious cannoli or cheesecake.
14. Monello
Price: Menu (Prices are from $12)
Address: 750 Fir St, San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: (619) 501-0030
The same team that runs Bencotto has worked very hard to improve the pizza dough at this crowded Italian restaurant. A brick-lined gas oven is used for baking it after it has been stretched, topped, and fermented for four days using imported Italian yeast and flour.
The Monello pizza has cheese sauce, spinach, roasted bell peppers, and sausage and is a must-try. For indoor dining, bookings can be made online. Walk-ins are welcomed if there is seating available.
15. Isola Pizza Bar
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $12- $16)
Address: 1526 India Street, San Diego, CA
Phone: +1 619-255-4230
Italian businessman Massimo Tenino owns and runs Isola Pizza Bars in Little Italy and La Jolla, where he serves wood-fired pizza cooked with genuine Italian ingredients in the Neapolitan style.
You can even purchase wine from his brother's family winery to elevate your pizza-eating experience.
16. Mona Lisa Italian Foods
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $21.95 - $29.95)
Address: 2061 India Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: +1 619-234-4893
The Brunetto family established Mona Lisa Italian Foods in 1956. It provides a chance to try classic Italian cooking at a family-run restaurant. Stefano Brunetto, who oversees Mona Lisa, is a third-generation member of the Brunetto family.
The family follows an old-fashioned method of making pizza by utilizing whole wheat flour and active yeast. As a result, pizza that is incredibly fresh and delicious is produced without the use of preservatives.
17. Ernesto’s Pizza
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $14.75 - $32.99)
Address: 69 Salem St, Boston, MA 02113
Phone: 617-523-1373
Ernesto’s is known throughout Little Italy, Boston, for its super-sized 18-inch pies, which are often argued to be one of the best in Boston. This casual, counter-service spot has garnered a legion of loyal fans for its authenticity and selection.
Choose from Italian classics like the Caprese and Bianco or Americanized classics like barbecue chicken, Hawaiian, and cheeseburger.
18. Galleria Umberto
Price: Menu (Price ranges between $1.55- $4.75)
Address: 289 Hanover St., Boston, MA 02113
Phone: +1 617-227-5709
Some of the best pizza in Boston's North End is served at this mom-and-pop pizzeria that exclusively serves lunch. A cheese-covered Sicilian-style pizza costs less than $2 per slice, and plump calzones cost about $5. These prices are from another era.
Galleria Umberto received one of the 2018 American Classics Awards from the James Beard Foundation, which recognizes local eateries that are beloved by their communities.
Conclusion on the Best Pizza in Little Italy
Without some food and wine, a trip to Little Italy isn't complete. So you are prepared to take advantage of San Diego's Italian food scene now that you have to know the favorite pizza places in Little Italy.
It is not surprising that New York pizza has a huge selection of pizza places made with high-quality ingredients, and we hope we have helped you narrow your search.
