5. Lombardi’s was Arguably New York’s First Pizza Spot

Lombardi's

Gennaro Lombardi founded his pizzeria Lombardi’s in 1905 in what would become Nolita, though the area was not the cultural destination it is today. The blocks surrounding Lombardi’s were full of thieves, murderers, and eventually, pizza makers. Of the two million Italians who arrived in the United States from 1900 to 1910, thousands packed themselves into tenement buildings in nearby Five Points. Lombardi’s, 118 years later, is the first pizzeria in the country according to the Pizza Hall of Fame. Lombardi’s closed for about 10 years in 1984, therefore Papa’s Tomato Pies in Trenton is the oldest continually run pizzeria in the country, opened in 1912.

Some debate that Lombardi’s had a predecessor; pizza researcher Peter Regas claims that Filippo Milone established grocery stores that later became pizzerias, and some believe Lombardi adopted one of Milone’s grocery stores. The restaurant has stayed within the family’s ownership since 1905, and Lombardi’s grandson found a location at the corner of Spring St. and Mott St. where the family could reopen Lombardi’s. Lombardi’s uses the same margherita pizza recipe that they gained fame for over a century ago.