{"id":1210,"date":"2025-05-19T19:45:16","date_gmt":"2025-05-19T23:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eportfolios.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/?post_type=locations&p=1210"},"modified":"2025-10-11T13:50:59","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T17:50:59","slug":"lombardis-pizza","status":"publish","type":"locations","link":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/locations\/lombardis-pizza\/","title":{"rendered":"Lombardi\u2019s Pizza"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Lombardi\u2019s Pizzeria, located in the Little Italy section of Manhattan, has long held the claim that they were the first pizzeria in America. But new research suggests that not only were they not the first pizzeria in the city, but that it is more than likely that Gennaro Lombardi purchased his pizzeria from a previous pizza maker. If true, this new information completely upends the idea that Lombardi was a pioneer for the industry. Instead, he more than likely was following in someone else\u2019s footsteps. Besides Lombardi\u2019s pizza not being the first, there is also evidence to suggest that Lombardi only became owner of the pizzeria in 1908, not 1905 as they like to claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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While first believed to open in 1905, it is more than likely Lombardi\u2019s was not opened until at least 1908. Image is in the public domain. Courtesy: NYPL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Historical records show that another pizzeria, Pizzeria E Forno, was documented by a surveyor in the 1894 issue of the Trow Business Directory. This directory was used to maintain records of businesses’ locations and their owners, but not the name. However, it is believed that the surveyor misidentified the \u201cForno E Pizzeria\u201d name on the business as the name of the actual owner itself. Due to this, we now have evidence today that suggests that Lombardi\u2019s claim is incorrect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Incorrectly documented business directories led to the discovery of the first known New York City pizzeria in operation in 1894. Image is in the public domain. Courtesy: Pizza History Book.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Even without this information, the discovery of advertisements for the Antica Pizzeria Port\u2019Alba in an Italian newspaper in 1903 shows that not only was there a pizzeria in New York City before 1905, it was actively advertising itself to the Italian immigrant community. This pizzeria was owned by Filippo Milone, the same owner who owned 53 Spring Street before Lombardi even arrived in the country. While listed as a baker, it is safe to infer that Filippo Milone was the pioneer of pizza within New York City, not Lombardi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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First known pizza advertisement within New York City. Tells of a pizzeria operating at 192 Grand Street in 1903. Image is in the public domain. Courtesy: NYPL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The Sun newspaper discussing where to find authentic Napotelian pizza in New York City, listing both Grand Street and Spring Street as authentic spots(circa 1905). Image is in the public domain. Courtesy: Library of Congress.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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<\/div>
32 Spring St, New York, NY 10012<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
By Joshua Sterling-Tosado
New York\u2019s first established pizzeria.. or was it? Dive deep into the historical archives with us to uncover the true origins of pizza in New York City, and find out if Lombardi\u2019s legend holds up to the facts.
Campus: Macaulay Central
Professor: Prof. Romano
Location: 32 Spring St, New York, NY 10012
References: The Sun. (New York, NY) 18 June. 1905, p. 31. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov\/item\/sn83030272\/1905-06-18\/ed-1\/.\n

Lombardi’s Pizza. America’s First Pizzeria. 2025, https:\/\/www.firstpizza.com\/.<\/p>\n

Regas, Peter. “Who Established the Famous Pizzeria at 53 Spring Street?” Pizza History Book, 30 Sept. 2021, https:\/\/pizzahistorybook.com\/2021\/09\/30\/who-owned-the-pizzeria-at-53-spring-street\/<\/p>\n

Regas, Peter. “Who Was Gennaro Lombardi?” Pizza History Book, 5 Feb. 2019, https:\/\/pizzahistorybook.com\/2019\/02\/05\/who-was-gennaro-lombardi\/.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lombardi\u2019s Pizzeria, located in the Little Italy section of Manhattan, has long held the claim that they were the first pizzeria in America. But new research suggests that not only were they not the first pizzeria in the city, but that it is more than likely that Gennaro Lombardi purchased his pizzeria from a previous […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1211,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"portfolio_post_id":0,"portfolio_citation":"","portfolio_annotation":"","openlab_post_visibility":"","api_coordinates_pp":"40.7215933,-73.9956147","footnotes":""},"tags":[10,12],"location_types":[17],"class_list":["post-1210","locations","type-locations","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-manhattan","tag-pizza","location_types-location"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/locations\/1210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/locations"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/locations"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1210"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/locations\/1210\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1491,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/locations\/1210\/revisions\/1491"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1210"},{"taxonomy":"location_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/openlab.macaulay.cuny.edu\/nyfoodatlas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location_types?post=1210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}