#1
9.4Top Tier
St Francis Apizza (Oakley) - @stfrancisapizza is the pizzeria I’ve posted about the most, not just because they produce top-tier pizza but also because they are regularly improving - the sign of a great restaur…
City guide
Best New York Style Pizza in Cincinnati
Every New York style pizzeria I have eaten at in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, ranked on the same scale as everywhere else on the site.
What counts as New York style here
People constantly ask where to find quality New York style pizza in Cincinnati. Historically it has been a hard question to answer. Plenty of places here claim to make New York pizza, but the crust is often too thick, too soft, or simply missing the character of a good slice. I sometimes call this Midwest Style New York Style Pizza, and it is one of the most abused labels in pizza: a pie gets called New York style because it is large and triangular, not because it has the structure, crispness, chew and balance the style actually requires.
The by-the-slice format is the harder test, and it is rare in Cincy outside mall food courts. Pre-baking a pizza just the right amount so that each slice gets to the right bake when it is reheated for a customer is a little like eating soup with a knife. I judge a slice on three things: a thin crust with a crispy exterior and a soft, chewy interior; enough flavor that it tastes good on its own; and enough structure to hold up the toppings without getting soggy.
That said, this is a far better list than it would have been ten years ago. St Francis makes an East Coast pie that could hold its own in New York. Guardia channels Brooklyn slice shops in Mt Lookout. Your Mom's slices stack up against classic New York slice joints. The doughy Midwestern pizza is still here, and some of it is genuinely good in its own right, but it is no longer the whole story.
Score keyTop Tier · 9.0+Great · 8.0–8.9Worth the Calories · 6.5–7.9All Pizza’s Good, Right? · Below 6.5
#2
8.7Great
Guardia Pizza (Mt Lookout) - A strong addition to the local pizza scene, @guardiacincy recently opened in Mt Lookout Square by the team behind @delwoodcincy. The vibe channels Brooklyn slice shops - casual coun…
#3
8.1Great
Mad Anthony’s Pizza (Covington, KY) General “Mad” Anthony Wayne earned his nickname from his battlefield aggression and a refusal to compromise. According to DC Comics, one of his direct decendents is the elusi…
#4
8.1Great
The Cincy pizza scene has been booming in recent years, such that I think the top places match up well with the best nationally. One style that’s a challenge though is your classic New York by-the-slice: pre-ba…
#5
7.9Worth the Calories
This Evendale pizzeria has been at the top of my to-try list since before it opened, so I was glad to finally visit recently. Decored as a classic New York slice shop, @mytrophypizza serves two styles: New York…
#6
7.8Worth the Calories
This Walnut Hills wood-fired pizzeria is built into an old Cincinnati firehouse designed by the great local architect Samuel Hannaford in 1869. @firesidepizzawh opened here in 2014 & I’ve been a number of times…
#7
7.7Worth the Calories
Whether we remain the ash or become the Phoenix is up to each of us. After two years of dormancy, this Newport pizzeria has chosen the route of the Greek Phoenix, gloriously emerging from the ashes of Monmouth…
#8
7.7Worth the Calories
Continuing an epicurean exploration of Cincinnati’s burgeoning New York style pizza scene, I visited @latenightslice in Over-the-Rhine yesterday. I have a history with Mikey’s: I first…
#9
7.7Worth the Calories
Possible there was too much pepperoni on this one? The fault would be mine in ordering a custom double pepperoni with fresh mozzarella - The oversized toppings were at some risk of sliding off, so it was perhap…
#10
7.7Worth the Calories
When @deweyspizza first opened in Oakley in 1998, it significantly elevated Cincinnati’s pizza scene. At the time, Cincy pizza was dominated by LaRosa’s and national chains like Pizza Hut…
#11
7.6Worth the Calories
An Americanized Neapolitan pizzeria in Ft Mitchell, Camporosso offers two styles: Neapolitan wood-fired pizza and ‘American’ New York-ish gas oven pizza. Pictured is the ‘American’. The crust is more airy/bubbl…
#12
7.5Worth the Calories
On a snowy day, what could be better than some Past(a) + (P)izza? i.e. “Pastizza.” This New York-style pizzeria just opened in Madeira in November, and we were able to try a few takeout pies during Thanksgiving…
#13
7.5Worth the Calories
A “Goetta Grip” pizza topped with crumbled Goetta sausage & Grippos BBQ potato chips (the world’s greatest potato chip), available at this brewery+circus+Neapolitan pizza mashup. Bircus’s full circus brewery is…
#14
7.5Worth the Calories
This New York style pizzeria is located onsite at @16lotsbrewing in picturesque Mason, Ohio. @madmonkspizza serves a quite thin style pizza, with a crisp bottom and a chewy interior. The lightly charred crust,…
#15
7.4Worth the Calories
a cartoonishly oversized (two plate) New York slice, with the chewy foldable crust you look for in that style
#16
7.1Worth the Calories
The ‘Perfect Pepperoni’ 16” pizza represents a grease-forward New York-ish style pie. Note what’s left on the plate after just one slice in my 3rd pic. The sauce is mildly spicy although fairly minimal. Instead…
#17
7.1Worth the Calories
New York style pizza from a new restaurant in an old Italianate building in Bellevue (the former Virgil’s). When a restaurant is run by engaged onsite owners who really seem to care, the difference is palpable…
#18
7.0Worth the Calories
Tony’s Pizzeria (Mason) – Walking the Mason concrete boardwalk, I was drawn to @tonyspizzeriaandcatering by its “A Taste of Jersey” mural. I had recently been to a Mason pizzeria most notable for its stylized b…
#19
6.8Worth the Calories
Doughy Cheesy Midwest pizza - it always hits the spot! Baked using a pizza screen - It’s essentially a better version of the “hand-tossed” pizza seen at chains, with a buttery Parmesan-encrusted crust. Pictured…
#20
6.8Worth the Calories
Located on Queen City Avenue in the northern outskirts of South Fairmont (Cincinnati’s ‘Little Italy’), Queen City Pizza feels like an old school throwback. Before all the glitzy pizza trends of recent decades,…
#21
6.8Worth the Calories
“Brewery Pizza” - isn’t it great? Brewery pizza embodies a distinctly American multicultural synthesis: Italian culinary tradition reinterpreted with extra cheese, German brewing heritage filtered through compe…
#22
6.6Worth the Calories
#23
6.5Worth the Calories
Greasy foldable NY pizza, overloaded with cheese - note how the cheese overhangs off the side when you fold a slice. The crust could have a bit more flavor, but it’s still a true crowd pleaser.
#24
6.5Worth the Calories
#25
6.5Worth the Calories
Straddling the edge of stately Old Milford, just off the Loveland bike trail, and overlooking the Little Miami River is this brick (gas) oven brewery pizzeria. Little Miami’s style might be described a thick he…
#26
6.4All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Some trivia night pizza in Cincinnati’s oldest neighborhood: Columbia-Tusculum (Sidenote: I love the early Cincinnatian tendency to evoke republican Rome). The East End’s @localpostcincy is an early 1900s post…
#27
#28
6.1All Pizza’s Good, Right?
A 16” Double Pepperoni Pizza in Mt Lookout, featuring extra pepperoni and extra cheese. I’d last been to Ramundos in 2010 to try their 26” pizza challenge (scroll to the far right to see those results). The piz…
#29
6.1All Pizza’s Good, Right?
This Norwood pizzeria was opened in 1956 by the DeLuca family, recent immigrants from southern Italy who named their restaurant “Sorrento’s Pizza” after the Campanian town. The pizzeria suffered a truly tragic…
#30
6.0All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#31
5.9All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#32
5.9All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Being perhaps a better pizza/architecture nerd than speller, I was very excited to visit *Italianate Pizza*. A pizzeria dedicated to Cincinnati’s outstanding stock of 19th century Italianate architecture might…
#33
5.8All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#34
5.8All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#35
#36
5.8All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#37
5.7All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Il Gusto (“The Taste”) is a straightforward New York-style pizzeria offering pizza, stromboli, calzoni, insalati, and subs. With its steady flow of Deer Parkian customers, it’s clear @il.gustopizza has quickly…
#38
5.3All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#39
4.7All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#40
3.8All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#41
2.3All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Riverfront Pizza and Sports Bar is a 25-year-old neighborhood sports bar in Covington, located in the same parking lot as a popular Waffle House. Its website claims that the menu “specializes in gourm…
Closed PizzeriasGone but not forgotten. The historical record lives below.
#42
8.6Great
Some of my favorite slices in Cincinnati come from bakeries (see the focaccia at @brownbearbakery & sfincione at @allezbakery). Pizza is mostly bread & bakeries tend to be extra thoughtful on how they craft the…
#43
7.9Worth the Calories
#44
7.9Worth the Calories
#45
Raniero’s PizzeriaClosed
Address: Address not yet documented
7.7Worth the Calories
Historically, it has been difficult to find the kind of New York-style pizza in Cincinnati that you might get on say Bleecker Street. Plenty of places claim to make New York pizza, but the crust is of…
#46
7.6Worth the Calories
Pomodori’s has a sprawling menu, but unlike many restaurants that try to do too much, everything I have tried has been good. It is also one of Cincinnati’s original wood-fired pizzerias, offering the…
#47
7.6Worth the Calories
This place makes very good artisan pizza. The 16-inch pies are dense and generously loaded with cheese and toppings, with everything made in-house by Jean Paul. It is also a bakery, and the cannoli we…
#48
7.6Worth the Calories
A Hyde Park taproom with intense New York style pizza. To me, this pizza was reminiscent of that enjoyed by the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Flexible/floppy (not at all crisp) crust and an extreme amount of ch…
#49
7.5Worth the Calories
Fred & Gari's pizza is a little like Papa John's, except everything is better. The crust is thin, with an excellent balance of crispness and chew, while the cheese and toppings taste fresh and flavorful.
#50
7.3Worth the Calories
Northslice serves New York-style pizza, though its version is a little thicker and more substantial than the typical New York slice (this is the midwest after all). The crust is still thinish and fol…
#51
7.2Worth the Calories
ZZ’s has recently reopened in its distinctive angular corner building on Gilbert in Walnut Hills. The restaurant has plenty of character, and the menu offers a strong selection of artisan pizzas with…
#52
6.7Worth the Calories
#53
6.6Worth the Calories
Cincy by the Slice is located on Main Street in Over-the-Rhine, next to Mayberry and across from the Drinkery. The pizzeria occupies a long, narrow storefront with a small bar in the back, where a friendly guy takes your…
#54
6.5Worth the Calories
#55
6.4All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Back in the day, there were two Mr. T’s: the one who fought Rocky, and Mr. Thomas of East Price Hill.
#56
#57
6.3All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Fast-casual pizzerias have been appearing across the country, as entrepreneurs race to become the “Chipotle of pizza.” To me, this seems like an excellent business model: Neapolitan pizza can cook in 90 seconds in a suff…
#58
6.3All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#59
6.1All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#60
6.1All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Aponte’s describes its pizza as “New Jersey style.” On the back of the menu, founder Tony Aponte explains the designation: “I’m from New Jersey. It’s the kind of pizza we made.” Fair enough. Honestly, it remind…
#61
6.1All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#62
5.8All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#63
Hyde Park PizzeriaClosed
Address: 3392 Erie Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45208
5.6All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#64
5.4All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#65
5.3All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Cincinnati Magazine recently held a Pizza Madness tournament, and the winner is the only pizzeria in the field I have never tried. I have not even heard of Comet’s Pizza in Mason. Still, any place capable of harvesting t…
#66
5.3All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#67
PizzaBombaClosed
Address: Address not yet documented
5.2All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#68
5.0All Pizza’s Good, Right?
Whether it’s maturity transformation, risk free asset creation, or just plain old fashioned liquidity supply, America (and indeed the world) loves banks. So it peaked my *interest* when this pizzeria opened in…
#69
4.7All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#70
4.6All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#71
4.5All Pizza’s Good, Right?
#72
#73
3.5All Pizza’s Good, Right?