Lombardi's

Long known for being the best pizza in town, Lombardi's has had a great run. While the location is perfect in SoHo, the place has seen better days. We worked up an appetite after being led through 3 rooms only to be seated at a table that resembled all the other empty ones we passed. We had house wine and sausage pizza which were both not very memorable. The scene wasn't very exciting as each table had at least one person on their blackberry, clearly not so taken with their meal. And of course, as typical NY'ers we were bummed about the no credit card rule.Overall a disappointing night- hoping the recipe gets better as it has such potential.

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Well, being a native New Yorker, along with my friend, we finally went to Lombardi's last night for the first time. We usually go to ARTURO'S ON HOUSTON STREET!! Pizza crust thin and flimsy, sauce not the greatest taste, nothing special at all. we were both very disappointed, and will never return.. So now we are looking forward to going to ARTURO'S in a week or so, the very best there!!!!!!

Just go there when you're in town. You won't regret it.

This place makes one of the best pizzas in New York City...although Brooklyn is by far the best boro that makes pizza...Lombardi's is the best in Manhattan!

I'm a pizza nut', if you get a chance to get to New york, you have to go to Lombardi's Pizza. The Flavor is spectacular! I could eat their pizza seven days a week.

Short of traveling to Italy, you won't find better pizza. Atmosphere pleasant, fun. Service was excellent. Will certainly return next time I'm in NYC.

Good orginal brick oven pizza. The taste is to die for. Located steps away from all the shops in Little Italy. Staff is wonderful also.

Good service, and really really good clam pizza. I've lived in NYC for years, and just went for the first time a few weeks ago, and went back the next night.

By far the best pizza anywhere. When in NY I want to eat there everyday. Their Original is a marguerita (sp?) pizza that is STOOPID GOOD. You will like it. The wait can be long but worth it.

When I lived in the neighborhood, they delivered and I would sometimes eat the whole pie (it was that good). Favorite topping: meatballs.

I have been going to Lombardi's for a few years....and it's absolutely, hands down the best brick oven pizza I have ever had!! I have noticed that the newcomers don't always know what to order...so if you're a meat lover then order the following: Double meatballs, pepperoni, sausage, onions, fresh garlic!!!! Make it a large pie and take the rest home if there's any left!! I do miss, the baked clams they once had! They were also the best, but sad they took it off the menu!! I love it and will continue to visit often!! :)

I absolutely love pizza. So, naturally, when I was going to Manhattan for the very first time I wanted to try the NYC style pizza. Everyone that has ever been to NYC has always told me about this place. And let me tell you, it lived up to the hype and then some. The pizza was awesome. I am going back to NYC this December and already I cannot wait to go back to Lombardi's! Only two months away! Hahaha. BEST. PIZZA. EVER. PERIOD.

i remember lombardi's when it was small and quaint. now it's huge. the waitresses wear madonna-like microphones, and while escorting you to your table repeat a thousand times "watch your step!" because they expanded into an adjoining building and the floors don't align from the new area to the original area. the food took a long time to come out. our clam pizza still tasted good but it was lukewarm - not hot. all of the waitresses had light brown hair and all looked like they came from ireland, nothing italian about that! when it's time to leave, they start screaming again "this way out!", treating you like a baby. guess they don't want to say watch your step again, so they found a shortcut outta dere. A CIRCUS ATMOSPHERE OF THE BAD KIND. go to lazzara in the garment center. yummmmm.

went there 8/1/2009 . the pizza was okay and the staff was not friendly no hello's no nothing... its a good tourist spot not for locals and the pizzza is not worth the money!

Came to know of Lombardi's from the Travel Channels. Arrived at Lombardi's at 3:00 p.m. on 7/26/2009. At the door there was a gentleman or a greater that not even did he did not said good afternoon welcome to Lombardis all that was saided how many are you and the waiting time was less than fifteen minutes. After five minutes the gentleman keeps calling Garcia party of five for about four times noticing the waiter taken care of us. when thru the kitchen then a stair in which is an air condiction balcony facing apartments and backyard i was not fund of. The waiter was pretty nice all the not very familiar with Lombardi's menu. Waitress did not even introduced herself all she said welcome to Lombardi's may I take your ordered. Lombardi's was ok even the we ate a 18" and 14" pie overall pizza was great. The only problem is that Lombardi's do not have a baby changing table nor they take credit card I found that very inconvenience. I would love to come back to Lombardi's with a couple ... Read more

This is the best Pizza in NYC and possibly, anywhere. If you love pizza you have to go here.

From JFK to Lombardi's everytime Im in NY, twice a year. Order a pie, eat at the park, give the rest to someone sitting there. Love it. Best Pizza Ever!! Order it with Ricott and Meatball, can't beat it anywhere, period.

I don't know why this place gets so many stars. It's nothing short of a standard pizza. So it has a little bit of history being the first pizzeria in NYC. great. But guess what, this isn't even the original location. It was originally a few shops down. Anyway, i digress. The pizza here is what i'm suppose to discuss. Its dry. dry dry dry. I also question the quality of the dough. I think i;ve had better pre-made frozen pizza from whole foods on Houston St.

A couple months prior to visiting New York from Cleveland, my girlfriend and I decided that checking out an authentic pizza parlor was on our "to do" list. After seeing this place on the Food Network -we decided to check out Lombardi's. We did not want to read or receive any reviews so we would not be disappointed if it came back negative. This place lived up to the hype. We arrived on the first day of our trip... it was a rainy Thursday night. We couldn't see much of the neighborhood because of the torrential downpour -but Little Italy was much smaller than I thought. When we walked in, the restaurant was packed, but it gave you the feel of a true New York pizza joint. The bar was really crowed and we were told we would have to wait 30 minutes -but it was much closer to 10. We sat down and was immediately asked and served our bottle of wine. They don't have a crazy selection, but perfect for this type of place. The salads came out quickly and were delicious. I was shock... Read more

By far the best pizza anywhere!! The Sangria was great too! Worth the short subway ride from Times Sqaure. Wish we were a little bit closer than Baltimore but definitely going to become a tradition everytime we visit the big city. Lombardi's is by far the best authentic italian pizza!

I first heard about Lombardi's when they opened in Philadelphia. Went there one night and saw the line and decided it was not worth it. I wa...

As out of towners, we make a point of coming here whenever we're in NYC. They have expanded the restaurant and the expanded area is very ni...

I have not been here in a little over a year and I am not sure what happened since. The space has expanded since the original but the food has definitely changed. The pizza was dry and the dough almost tasted not fresh. The crust used to be thick and doughy like a loaf of freshly cooked brick oven bread, now by the time you get to the crust it is hard as a rock. The sauce and cheese used-to ooze off the pizza and now you can actually count the number of round slices of mozzarella on an entire pie. It was actually hard to get a knife through the pizza. I looked around at the other tables and everyone?s pizza looked exactly a-like so I couldn?t even say they over cooked my pie. Pizza is my favorite food and this place used to be my #1. This place is good for tourists but I would not recommend this place for some one who wants to experience good New York pizza -Stick to patsy?s under the Bklyn Bridge or a regular $2 slice somewhere else. I was extremely disappointed and probably would nev... Read more

I took my family to NYC for the first time for the Columbus Day weekend. We read about this restaurant and decided to try it out. What a great experience we all had. The food was excellent and the service was top notch. We're a pizza loving family and we couldn't have been more pleased with what we ordered. We had the white cheese pizza and a plain cheese pizza and they were both outstanding! We were absolutely spoiled and won't be able to eat pizza again without comparing it to what we had Saturday night at this restaurant. It's a must place to eat while in the city. We had about a 1/2 hour wait which wasn't bad for a Sat. night. We will definitely eat here again the next time I drag the family back to NYC... Which won't be hard considering the wonderful time we had last weekend!

I had heard of a place in Brooklyn with good pizza and we went and it was very good. But I was also told about Lombardi's being the best, so we decided to give it a try and now I will never eat ANY other pizza! We got the original and you could tell the mozzarella was fresh...NO GREASE! The crust was perfect, the sauce was to die for...PERFECTION! It was worth the trip and worth the wait. It would be a sin to visit NYC and not go to Lombardi's, the best pizza on the PLANET!! The service was great and we got our pizza very quickly. Don't waste your time with other pizzerias make a beeline to Lombardi's!

Good Pizza, I would pass on anything else that is served here. The staff is friendly & the service is fast.

Lomardi's is definately the best pizza in town! I flew my husband to NYC for his 40th birthday JUST for this pizza. Go hungry and eat lots!

What an experience. My wife and I went to Lombardi?s last Saturday night, and that was our only mistake, because the restaurant was fully packed. We got a pitcher of homemade sangria, so after that the time passed quickly. After 45 min our name was called, and we were seated downstairs in the wine cellar, which wasn?t that crowded. We had the Caesar salad for a start off, and the dressing was really tasty. You also can buy a jar of the pizza sauce or some dressing for the salads. We expected to wait for the pizza, but the service was extremely fast. Our waitress Julie was amazing. She was knowledgeable, friendly, and with great attitude. She recommended the original Margarita pizza since this was our first visit to Lombardi?s. That thin crust pie came out from coal burning oven, just like we like, crispy with large globs of freshly sliced and full flavored mozzarella. The second pie, again with Julie?s suggestion, half pepperoni & ricotta and half meatballs & spinach, was jus... Read more

Loved it, loved it, loved it! We went there on a referral and could not have been more pleased. The heart of Little Italy!

You must go here if you love pizza. It was so ggod I could not even tell you. It was very crowded at lunch, but who can blame it? Food was so good who cares! Pizza lived up to all the hype.

to whom it may concern, i was visiting nyc about a week ago. i was doing some shopping in soho and stopped at lombardis. my waitress (daniel) who was also a host was the rudest person i have ever met. she came over to the table introduced her table and walked away with our order. about 5 minutes later another waitress came with our drink and appetizers. now she was just lovely she gave us a tour of the restaurant and told us the history of lombardis. after we were done eating our waitress was still missing i was looking for the other waitress but she taking an order. i decided to tip her and made my way out the restaurant. i came back to lombardis but not for pizza but for a bag that i had left there, to my surprise my stuff was in the hands of a host who was claiming my stuff. i over heard her say, "this B is dead on this" i snatched my stuff and stormed out of there. NEVER SETTING A FOOT AGAIN IN THIS CHEAP TRAP

Opened in 1897 at 53 Spring Street, just down the street from its present location, Lombardi's is one of the city's oldest eateries. Since taking over the space next door, the restaurant has almost doubled its former size. And while the original half--with its well-worn booths and open kitchen--easily out-charms the new dining room, the famously long wait has been cut in half, and thanks to the addition of a bar, it's almost a pleasure. The reason to come here is obvious: beautiful, smoky crusted pizza with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. The genius of this pizza starts with the crust, which is black and crispy on the underside (with pleasant, slightly bitter overtones), but gives way to a wonderfully soft, yeasty interior.

THE BEST. DO NOT EAT PIZZA ANYWHERE ELSE. PERFECTION. GREAT VALUE . VERY BUSY. WORTH YOUR WAIT.

I was there with my boyfriend on a really busy friday night, we were visiting from LA and we really loved the place. The hosts were very fast and polite. We waited at the bar for like a half an hour but they have great home-made sangria!! Diana was our waitress and she gave a really friendly, super fast and attentive service. Even though she seemed busy( I mean the place was packed) she took great care of our table and we had everything we wished for, even directions...now let me tell you how great the pizza was!!! A slice of heaven. Never did we even taste something so delicious. Great meatballs and roasted peppers. This place is a must. We loved Lombardi's and recomend it to everybody!

this is probably the best pizza I ever had in my life...the crust, the sauce, the cheese, everything. absolute perfection! so definiatly...

I took a friend visiting from Winnipeg, Canada here. This was her first time to New York and she wanted to have a REAL NY pizza. So where else would you go but Lombardi's?? Pizza is thin-crusted with that smoky wood flavor. Sauce is so fresh tasting. Their white pizza with fresh basil is the best anywhere. And the service is very friendly. This is what pizza should be!! Be prepared to wait though...I'd say go on off-hours but one weeknight we arrived at around 10pm and had to wait 30 mins for a table. It's that good!

HIGH POINTS-PIZZA WAS EXCELLENT.....SERVICE WAS VERY GOOD...... LOW POINTS-VERY,VERY RUSHED.OUR APPETIZERS CAME AND 2 MINUTES LATER OUR PIZZAS WERE ON THE TABLE.WE DIDNT EVEN HAVE ROOM TO PUT THE PIZZAS ON THE TABLE!THEY PLACED THEM ON ANOTHER TABLE. THEY ONLY TAKE CASH! THOUGH THE FOOD WAS VERY GOOD,THERE ARE MANY OTHER VERY GOOD PIZZA JOINTS IN NEW YORK THAT WILL NOT RUSH ME OUT THE DOOR BECAUSE THERE IS A WAITING LIST.I WILL NOT BE GOING BACK.

Might be the best pizza in NYC. Located in SoHo on a relatively quite corner, the spot is still popular so be ready for a crowd. Pizza is ...

My g/f and I wanted to take our friend into the city for his birthday and after doing some research we settled on trying Lombardi's. We got there about 1:00 pm on a Saturday and had to wait 20 minutes to be seated, considering the time and day that much was expected. (side note: across the street is a corner store so we just went over and picked up some drinks and ice cream for the wait. Made the wait much more enjoyable) Once we were seated we were given water and menus, as a appetizer we all split an order of bruschetta (8.95) The bread was toasted and topped with mounds of tomatoes and basil and sliced into 4 pieces. There is a full bar with a few local beers and a nice wine selection but for real value split a bottle of wine ($24) as the single glasses ($7) leave much to be desired, the Sangria ($7) was a much better buy. Then we ordered two small pizzas (six slices) the first was half cheese/ half meatball, the meatballs are made out of beef and pork and had a wonderful flav... Read more

I am first geneation Italian from Naples, Italy, the real birth place of pizza and went to Lombardi's on tha advice of my mother in the old country. How disappointed was I when I got there. We ordered the large pie with pepperoni and sausage. The pizza appeared to be made in the style of pizza margarita with the toppings added. When the meal finally arrived the pizza was soggy, the crust was way to thin and couldn't support the toppings even when folded over. The double cut pepperoni was fine, but the sausage had a weird taste to it, almost like it was old. The price of the pie, toppings, appetizer and liter of sangria put the price of the meal into the $$$$ range for pizza, one of the cheapest meals to make. And what is it with the CASH ONLY, good thing I stopped at the ATM before I made it there. I am sure it was a fine place in its prime, but now that they are food network stars they must have all gone Hollywood. Too Bad!!! Needless to say I was disappointed and won't be ... Read more

I dont care what anybody says this is the best Pizza I ever had, it was very tasty. Service was great I even remember her name was Sofia she was from Republic of Georgia, it was funny how she repeated NOT THE STATE but Republig of Georgia, Sweet girl.... I will defenetly come back with my friends very soon.

I agree with most of the other reviewers---this place is way over hyped by them and some misdirected members of the press. I live in Manhattan and took my visiting brother there last night. We ate BELOW AVERAGE pizza, the place was tackily decorated and appeared to be full of tourists who had presumably been lured by the extravagant praise touted. Please avoid. Much better places to go for genuine, quality pizza: Serafina's uptown or downtown. What a disappointment!!

I had stopped by Lombardi's for years and loved the pizza. Since the spot was renovated and went mainstream due to national coverage (i.e. food network), the ingredients taste different. One topping (sausage) in particular has changed for the worse. In addition, the sauce is not as flavorful as I remembered. The margarita and white pie are still good but don't venture with adding toppings unless you want to eat a soggy pie with a knife and fork. Overall the post renovation visits have been disappointing and I will visit other vendors searching for a better value and taste. John's and Patsy's have now replaced this long time staple. Goodbye Lombardi's.

The Best Pizza on the planet?????? The zagat's must have had a cold that day and their taste buds impaired. The pizza was soggy and dry at the same time, I guess their is some talent there. I think New York pizza is some of the best in the world, however Lombardi's of new are not helping with that reputation. They are clearly living off of past reputation. The pizza is a 4 on a scale of 1-10. I only ate the pizza because it cost me an arm and a leg, besides I am from Philadelphia and did not know where the closest Mcdonald's was.

I eat here with my wife about once a month sometimes alone or with friends and family. Each time it never fails, the service is very poor. No one wants to wait 20mins for thier order or thier change. Many times I've seen other people arrive after us and have thier order taken first. Once I asked a waitress can we place our order with you, she said you have to wait for your waitress, I'll let her know your ready. I asked for fresh garlic which the menu says "ask for our fresh gralic". I ate 2 slices before the garlic was brought to me. The only reason we return is because the Pizza is OUTSTANDING! THE BEST PIZZA EVER. If they could only get waitresses and busboys with real people skills this would be the perfect establishment. The menu actually says they dont accept CC, also they have 2 ATMs on site.

My boyfriend and I shared a small "original" pizza here last night. The original is a simple cheese pie with shreds of basil scattered on each slice. The crust was tasty but became soggy after a few minutes, and the sauce was so sweet I had to give each slice a liberal sprinkling of salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Definitely not the best pizza ever. The service was attentive, but that's about all I'd recommend here. Worst of all, the ambience reminded me of a chain restaurant like TGI Friday's.

I went to Lombardi's when a few friends came to visit and it was the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant. I have worked as a server in many restaurants and am absolutely horrified by how we were treated. We went on a Sunday. It was, of course, crowded, because of all the tourists and because it is so famous. We were told 15 minutes, waited about 30 and then were told we were accidentally skipped and that we got the next table. We were just happy to sit down. These things happen. After waiting 10 minutes, our waitress (who happened to be foreign) came and just glared at us. "We would like menus," we told her. She went and got them and threw them down on the table and walked away. One minute later she came back, "we're not ready, just give us a minute because we just got our menus," we told her, but said we wanted some breadsticks. She looked furious and mumbled something about "ovens being closed." The three of us laughed at how rude she was. She came nearly tw... Read more

I recently took a group of 39 high school art students to NYC, and promised them the best pizza they'd ever tasted. Not only did Lombardi's make good on my promise, but they seated us and treated us like we were very welcome guests. The waiters served us with big smiles and were extremely efficient. [ Not to mention, they were also extremely cute! ] My Italian husband even commented that he had not tasted pizza that good since Italy. The kids said the pizza was "totally awesome" and can't wait to go back in the spring. Thank you, Lombardi's for your wonderful, friendly service, and great food.