Long Island's best pizza of 2024

Brunetti kicked off Long Island’s neo-Neapolitan pizza trend in 2010 when the tiny pizzeria opened in the back of a Häagen-Dazs shop. In 2021, Michael Brunetti expanded into a proper restaurant with tables, a full menu and a new partner, Danny Armyn, who took on the positions of general manager and head pizzaiolo. But the soul of Brunetti remains the wood-burning oven. The Margherita remains a classic whose lily might be gilded with spicy soppressata or Mary’s meatballs. White pies include the Funghi e Cipolle, with shiitakes, caramelized onions, goat cheese and thyme. Tomato-less and (mercifully) cheese-less is Brunetti’s signature Vongole, a refined marriage of crust, clam, garlic, parsley and little else. Sweet-and-salty teeth can opt for the Fig-Prosciutto pie anointed with truffle-honey oil.

Dario’s treads a path similar to those forged by other Long Island pizzerias — King Umberto, Taglio, Dough & Co. — that are upgrading the classic New York pie and serving it alongside other Italian specialties such as the Roman pizza al taglio (a pan pie sold by the slice). But chef Dario Carosi comes at it from a singular direction: He is a trained pastry chef who emigrated from Italy in 2016 and worked at a series of bakeries and at the cult Brooklyn pizzeria, L’Industrie. In his laboratory-kitchen, Carosi has a stash of flours and is endlessly tinkering with ratios and hydration. What customers see in the display case are round, crisp-crusted New York pies and lofty rectangular Roman pies, both of whose toppings might be as simple as the Italiana (tomatoes and stracciatella), as classic as the Crostino (mozzarella, potato, cooked ham and rosemary oil), as inventive as the Rossa & Verde (stripes of roasted-pepper cream and cilantro cream with mozzarella and pickled onion) or as counterintuitive as the Beef Birria (shredded braised beef, pickled onion, arugula and white sauce).

John Peragine doesn’t want to pick sides; his six-year-old spot offers multiple styles of pizza. A wall of deck ovens dispatches both traditional New York- and deep-dish Detroit-style pies. Then there’s a wood-burning oven for baking individual Neapolitan pies. You can appreciate the unadorned dough with garlic or truffle focaccia, or explore myriad toppings, from a simple Margherita or, hearty four-cheese potato-bacon to an exotic Provencale (tomatoes, artichokes, olives, capers, fresh oregano) or over-the-top Meat Lovers with tomato, mozzarella, ham, meatballs, pepperoni, sausage (hot and sweet) and, hey, why not add an over-easy egg? The torpedo shape of the open-faced calzones maximizes the proportion of well-browned crust. They arrive heaving with a molten filling of fresh mozzarella, ricotta, sausage and marinara sauce. Margheritas can be made with vegan cheese.

Two years after Danny Rocca and Teddy Fortunato opened the original Huntington Dough & Co. Pizza, the entrepreneurs expanded to Northport where they continue their mission of grafting the busy slice-shop vibe onto an artisanal base. The Neapolitan, Sicilian and grandma pies are made with a higher-hydration dough than is the local norm, but the main event is the "pizza al metro," a rectangular pie, sold whole or by the square, that uses a long-fermented, super-high hydration dough. You’ll always find the Margherita, the Metro East (fresh mozzarella, marinara, pepperoni, jalapeño and Mike’s hot honey) and the Metro West (wild mushrooms, caramelized onions, mozzarella and ricotta and Parmesan and lots of black pepper). A restless baker, Rocca said that he’s gone through 15 dough recipes in the last two years. "And I thought each one was great — until I made the next one."

When Italian chef Pierligui "Gigi" Sacchetti took over the original Naples Street Food in 2021, he changed the name to Chef Gigi’s Place, as well as adding dozens of regional pastas. Now, partnered with pizzaiolo Michele Russo and manager Giovanni Lascala, he’s changed the name again to Farina 00, a tribute to the primacy of the finely milled wheat flour that informs almost everything on the menu. Russo, an alum of Manhattan’s vaunted Ribalta pizzeria, has brought a new focus on dough and technique. The pies are available in both classic Neapolitan 12-inch rounds and party-sized 12-by-17-inch rectangles. Many pizzas namecheck Southern Italian locales: The Avellino with tomatoes, mozzarella and prosciutto topped with a whole burrata; the Calabrese with tomato, mozzarella, 'nduja and spicy salami; the Catania with pistachio pesto, sausage, mozzarella and Caciocavallo Ragusano. Other names are more descriptive: The Burrata Porcini features those two ingredients plus arugula, aged Parmesan and truffle oil.

John Cesarano grew up at King Umberto, the iconic Elmont pizzeria established in 1976 by his father, Ciro Cesarano, and Ciro’s partner Rosario Fuschetto. But young Cesarano was determined to create something on his own. "I wanted to make a pizza that was not about the toppings but was about the dough," he said. "I didn’t want to do anything gimmicky, not another penne alla vodka pie or another Buffalo chicken." And so, in 2018, he helped kick off LI’s Roman trend by debuting a rectangular pizza that is baked not in a pan but directly on the floor of the oven. His "metro" pie is a puffy, crusty pizza that’s about 10 inches wide and 3 feet long (metro is Italian for "meter"). The metro is all about the crust, chewy yet filled with pockets of air. There’s always a Margherita; wild cards might include prosciutto and arugula, pepperoni with stracciatella cheese and Mike’s Hot Honey, fried zucchini flowers in season.

In 2017, Joe Strada had a revelation visiting family in Italy five years ago when he tasted "pizza al taglio," the feather-light-crusted pan pie sold by the square slice there. His day job was building restaurants with his father; in 2020, he decided to build one of his own, recruiting chef John Ioannou to be his pizza guru. Their pizza al taglio, made with a pre-fermented, very wet dough, comes topped with four cheeses, mushrooms and truffle oil; fried eggplant, burrata and roasted peppers — and whatever strikes the chefs' fancy. Classic New York pies are made with the same care following these rules: The air is pushed to the edge of the pie so the outer crust is puffy, the cheese is cut thick so it doesn't burn, toppings are added midway through the cooking and pies are cooked until they are well done.

Over the eight years that he’s been slinging pies on Long Island (first in Franklin Square and, since 2019, in Oceanside), Naples-born pizzaiolo Gianluca Chiarolanza’s menu has grown to encompass more than 30 pies, each available as either a 12-inch round or 12 x 17-inch rectangle. Among the highlights are the Capricciosa (tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, ham, artichokes, olives), the Tonno e Cipolla (mozzarella, Italian tuna, onions) and the Estiva (cherry tomatoes, burrata, arugula). He’s been a standard-bearer for unapologetically Neapolitan pies, bordered by a pillowy-but-chewy rim, but he’s also moved in a crisper direction to accommodate American tastes. Don’t feel like a pizza? Naples Street Food has an extensive roster of calzones and Neapolitan panuozzi, hot sandwiches whose bread is a freshly baked length of pizza dough.

Since Jay and Raquel Wolf Jadeja opened The Onion Tree in 2019, it has become a destination for authentic regional Indian specialties, New American creations and ... some of Long Island’s best pizza. Jay could have rested on his laurels after he took first prize in the Neapolitan division of the Pizza and Pasta Northeast 2022 Competition in Atlantic City but, instead, he decided to add Roman-style to his repertoire. It took months to master the technique but now, each of the 10 variations can be had as a 12-inch round or a light-textured 8-inch square "pizza in teglia" (pan pie). The Jadejas’ classic pies are beyond reproach, but don’t miss East-meets-West variations such as Masala Margherita (finished with chilies, curry leaves and a sizzling finish of infused oil) or Short Ribs Roganjosh (with braised short ribs, red onion and cilantro).

Chef Jesse Olson’s particular passion is small-production American flour, the basis for both his house-made pasta and the pizza, and he ably proves that, when it comes to wheat, the U.S. can compete with Italy. He is also inspired by seasonal produce so a windfall of Brussels sprouts and delicata squash might result in a pie also adorned with Gorgonzola dolce, toasted pumpkin seeds and rosemary. Or he might roast Yukon golds and gild them with spicy pancetta, Fontina and shallots. It’s the luck of the delicious draw. Regular pies include spicy soppressata with house-made chili honey, onions and fennel sausage and an Amatriciana made with the shop’s own jarred sauce.

The name of Rob Cervoni’s six-year-old spot refers to the Roman "pizza al taglio," a rectangular pizza sold by the piece — "taglio" is Italian for "cut." One of LI’s Roman pie pioneers, Cervoni has always presided over a hybrid: half classic New York slice shop, half high-end Roman atelier where you’ll find crunch-airy crusts topped with shingled potatoes and ricotta, or spinach and artichokes or mushrooms, pancetta caramelized onions, stracciatella and truffle oil. But two years ago, he began pushing even the slice envelope, using a pre-fermented dough and imported tomatoes to build a better 18-inch, 8-slice pie, what he calls a "Neo New York." The edge of this crust is pronounced, with marvelous, airy texture. The pie itself is topped with four types of cheese: Shredded low-moisture mozzarella, blobs of fresh mozzarella, Pecorino Romano and an American-made grana.

The newest shop on this list, Tony & Luigi’s is a labor of love from cousins Anthony St. George and Lou Neglia. After opening takeout-friendly La Bottega franchises in Syosset, Merrick and East Meadow, they set their sights on a loftier goal: wood-fired Neapolitan pizza and a full-service bar. Neither partner makes pizza, but they hired a group of talented pizzaioli to ensure the quality and consistency of more than 20 classic 12-inch Naples-style pies including reds such as Margherita, Marinara, Diavola, Capricciosa and the Norma with eggplant and ricotta salata; whites like Quattro Formaggio, Cacio è Pepe, Porcini è Speck and the Rosemaria with scamorza, sausage, potatoes and rosemary. New York-influenced toppings include Margherita alla vodka (a sauce rarely seen in Italy) and Pepperoni (the American version of soppressata). There’s also large-format "pizza al tegamino," pan pizza similar to Sicilian, and "pizza alla pala," a large, rectangular pie baked directly on the floor of the oven.