The upper crust

Di Fara Pizza

Photo: Alexander Milligan

Pizza is the great equalizer. Everyone likes the stuff—food snobs, undiscerning drunks, old folks, picky kids, carnivores, vegetarians. But no one can agree on who makes the best slice or pie. If you ask your friends to name their favorite pizzerias, they’ll either rattle off the most famous joints (Lombardi’s, John’s on Bleecker, Grimaldi’s) or tell you about some hole-in-the-wall down the block.

So we asked dozens of food writers, friends and relatives to share their top picks throughout the five boroughs—and then we visited as many as we could. (There was no way to include every restaurant that has pizza on the menu, so we focused almost exclusively on true pizzerias.) As a result, we’ve reconsidered the classics, pinpointed the ingredients that make some pies gourmet, dared to taste the cheapest slices in town and paid proper respect to an essential yet underappreciated genre: the perfect-when-you’re-inebriated-at-2am category. We also sent a hungry reporter to as many Ray’s as his stomach could handle, explored the history of international flatbreads (the precursor to pizza) and determined how long pizza lasts in the fridge before it’s no longer suitable for breakfast—or eating in general.

Feel like your favorite pie slinger got burned? Want a slice of the action? E-mail wheresmypizza@timeoutny.com. We’ll post the feedback on our blog (timeoutnewyork.com/blog).—James Oliver Cury, Eat Out editor

Plus:

• Topping the charts: You can find primo pie all over, but these are the ten tastiest 'zas in town.
• What up, home slices?: New York pizza joints come in every style—from upscale to oddball.
• How to slice it: The cognoscenti follow strict rules when it comes to judging pizza.
• World pieces: Think globally but eat locally with these riffs on pizza—and other pies.
• Getting the boot: Explore the other boroughs' Little Italys
• The Ray's parade: The Ray guy sure has a lot of pizzerias. Do any stand out?
• Cold school: Some pizza is better in the morning, but some doesn't know how to chill.
• Accounting for taste: Readers revealed their habits in our pizza poll.
• A piece of history