CNN
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The best pizza in the United States comes from a wood-fired oven on New York’s Lower East Side, an Italian pizza-ranking guide has announced. For the second year running, the Naples-based 50 Top Pizza judged Una Pizza Napoletana the winner in its annual assessment of American bakers.
The ranking focuses strictly on Neapolitan-style pizza — the thin, round, fastidiously prepared variety from the city that considers itself the cradle of pizza — but to aficionados, it’s the only type that matters.
In a one-two punch, the Big Apple also claimed the top individual pizza slice, with the honors going to L’industrie Pizzeria, run by Massimo Laveglia and Nick Baglivo.
Last year, Una Pizza Napoletana was also rated No. 1 in the whole world. The global rankings are due to be released later this year.
Una Pizza Napoletana is owned by Anthony Mangieri. Born and raised in New Jersey, Mangieri opened his first pizzeria on the Jersey Shore in 1996.
Food and Wine magazine has called Mangieri “one of the country’s most skilled practitioners of the Neapolitan style” of pizza, and New York magazine called him a “one-man Opus Dei” for authentic pizza. The organization behind the ranking, 50 Top Pizza, cited the rich flavor of his pizzas and the his straightforward approach to making them, with only a few dishes on offer and a single location.
Mangieri said that perfecting his technique has been his goal since he first started making pizzas at age 15. While his focus remains the same, he said the world of pizza has changed dramatically in the nearly 30 years since he established his first restaurant.
“When we opened, no one was making the style of pizza that we make,” he told CNN Travel. Now, he says, you can find good pizza all over the world, and American diners have come to appreciate fine Neapolitan pizza.
‘A life’s work’
He attributes his success to a strong work ethic that limits distractions.
“It is not a concept restaurant — it is not one of 20 things that I’m doing,” Mangieri said of the restaurant on Orchard Street in New York. “It’s a life’s work.”
Restaurants in Los Angeles and San Francisco snagged the next two spots on the list of top pizzerias in the US, which also included nine other New York pizzerias.
Pizzeria Sei, the No. 2 pizzeria in the US, is run by William Joo, whom the organization deemed “very talented.” And American pizza “legend” Tony Gemignani came in third with his Tony’s Pizza Napoletana in San Francisco.
Other cities known for their pizza also made appearances on the list, including New Haven where the restaurant Zeneli was singled out.
California fared particularly well, with honors also going to pizzerias in San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Berkeley.
But the gospel of Neapolitan pizza has traveled widely, and the ranking also included restaurants in Louisville, Kentucky, and Charlotte, North Carolina.
The ranking was announced at the West Edge in New York’s Chelsea Market on Tuesday.
Have a hankering for more pizza news? The organization will announce the best pizzerias in Italy on July 15 and the world’s best pizzerias in September.
The top 10 pizzerias in the US according to 50 Top Pizza:
1 Una Pizza Napoletana – (New York)
2 Pizzeria Sei – (Los Angeles)
3 Tony’s Pizza Napoletana – (San Francisco)
4 Jay’s – (Kenmore, New York)
5 Ribalta – (New York)
6 Robert’s – (Chicago)
7 Don Antonio – (New York)
8 Ken’s Artisan Pizza – (Portland, Oregon)
9 Truly Pizza – (Dana Point, California)
10 La Leggenda – (Miami)