In the classic New York and Boston rivalry, Boston is 2-0 this year, with wins in baseball… and pizza.
Regina Pizzeria, which first opened in Boston’s North End in 1926, took the top spot in TripAdvisor’s top 10 pizzerias list, beating out the village’s Bleecker Street Pizza for No. 1. And while the Red Sox may have whooped the Bronx Bombers in the MLB playoffs, New Yorkers generally expect to win at pizza.
"There are so many pizza places — so many good pizza places — that you know, it’s really up to the people," said Bleecker Street Pizza owner Tony Salihaj, 40. "I think what’s special here is that we have the best ingredients: the best cheese, the best olive oil, the best sauce."
Lora Durkee, 53, who was visiting from Tulsa, Oklahoma, said she had to come try a slice after she saw Bleecker Street Pizza’s ranking.
"Especially since we have already gone to the 9th best place… in our hometown, Tulsa." (Andolini’s Pizzeria took that spot).
Juliana’s in Brooklyn, opened in 2012 by Patsy Grimaldi in the same spot where his original Grimaldi’s Pizzeria once stood, was the second New York City pizzeria on TripAdvisor’s top 10 list. But its No. 6 ranking is quite the tumble from TripAdvisor’s previous pizza rankings, which had Juliana’s in the top spot.
"Obviously we’re disappointed that we didn’t repeat as No. 1, but we’re grateful to be in the top 10. And congratulations to our neighbor in Manhattan, Bleecker Street Pizza," said Juliana’s co-founder Matthew Grogan. "I love Boston, but I’m born and raised in New York. I think our pizza is the best pizza I’ve ever had."
Top pizza cities
But while Beantown may have beaten New York as home to the best pizzeria, fear not: the city was named top pizza city in the country by TripAdvisor, which weighed reader reviews.
Chicago (and it’s top-rated joint, Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria) came in at No. 2, with Las Vegas at No. 3 and San Francisco at No. 4, which Scott Wiener, who runs Scott’s Pizza Tours, said is a good sign that other cities with exciting pizza scenes are finally getting proper recognition.
"I really feel like within the next 10 years, New York and Chicago will not be the only things on people’s minds," said Wiener, who was sitting inside Home Slice Pizza in Austin, Texas. (the No. 4-rated shop in the country) as he spoke.
But he cautioned that lists made up entirely of reviews, as the TripAdvisor one was, should be taken with a grain of salt. This year’s list was based off written reviews with more weight given to reviews within the last year. A restaurant also needed to have a minimum of 4.5 out of 5 bubbles, 500 reviews and a maximum of 15 locations as of September, according to the site.
"Not everybody writes a review," Weiner said. "And the kind of person who writes a review is not authoritative."
