Grimaldi's Pizzeria
| Grimaldi's Pizzeria | |
|---|---|
 One Front Street main location | |
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1990 |
| Food type | Italian pizzeria |
| Street address | 1 Front St |
| City | New York City |
| County | Brooklyn |
| Postal/ZIP Code | 11201 |
| Country | United States |
| Website | www |
Grimaldi's Pizzeria is an American pizzeria chain from the New York City area with several restaurants throughout the United States. Its most famous restaurant is under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn at 1 Front Street, next door to its original location. It does not sell slices, only whole pies. The pizzas are renowned for being cooked by coal-fired brick oven.
History
Patsy Grimaldi, the founder of Grimaldi's Pizzeria, learned to make pizza at age ten at Patsy's Pizzeria, his uncle Patsy Lancieri's restaurant in Italian Harlem in 1941. Decades later, Grimaldi decided to go into business for himself and originally planned to his own restaurant in Manhattan. However, Grimaldi believed coal-fired brick ovens produced the best pizza and new coal ovens were illegal in Manhattan. As a result, Grimaldi opened Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York in 1990.
In the late 1990s, Patsy Grimaldi retired, selling the Grimaldi's name and franchise (except for the Hoboken locations) to restaurateur Frank Ciolli. In 2011, the building's owner declined to renew Ciolli's lease, so he renovated an abandoned bank next door and moved the restaurant over. The next year, Patsy Grimaldi came out of retirement and opened a new pizzeria called Juliana's Pizza in the original building, resulting in considerable enmity between himself and Ciolli.[1]
Accolades
- Grimaldi's Pizzeria is one of the most popular pizzerias in New York City. In recent years, Zagat Survey rated Grimaldi's No. 1 Pizzeria in New York.[2] It was named one of the top 10 restaurants in New York by Let's do New York City.[3][4] As Grimaldi's does not take reservations, lines for tables are often long in summertime and extend far up Old Fulton Street.
- Grimaldi's Pizzeria was chosen as one of the five best pizzerias in United States by the Food Network. Its pizza was featured on the television show The Best of....[5]
Separate chains
There are several independently-operated Grimaldi's chains throughout the United States:
- A chain of four Grimaldi's Pizzeria restaurants, including the original Brooklyn Bridge restaurant, is located through the greater New York City area.[6]
- Two more locations, operated by former Patsy Grimaldi partner Sean McHugh, are located in Hoboken, New Jersey.[7]
- The largest chain of Grimaldi’s Pizzeria restaurants, operated independently by Frank Ciolli and his family, has locations in Alabama, Arizona,[8] California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada,[9] South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.[10][11]
References
- ^ Blau, Raven (December 5, 2012). "Food fight over Brooklyn's Grimaldi's pizza spreads to the classic coal ovens strictly regulated by the city". New York Daily News. Retrieved August 7, 2016.
- ^ [1] Archived October 9, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Let's do New York City
- ^ [2] Archived September 26, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Pizza Places : The Best Of : Food Network
- ^ Locations - Grimaldis
- ^ About-Us
- ^ Owings, Amy (August 14, 2016). "Grimaldi's Pizzeria brings signature flavors to Flagstaff". Arizona Daily Sun. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
- ^ Hall, Debbie (August 22, 2016). "Grimaldi's Pizzeria toasts its food with its new signature wine, Mille Gradi". Las Vegas Informer. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
- ^ "Grimaldi's Pizzeria is now open at Chesterfield Towne Center". Richmond Times-Dispatch. June 7, 2016. Retrieved October 28, 2016.
- ^ Grimaldi's Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria with locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas