John's of Bleecker Street
| John's of Bleecker Street | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1915 |
| Owner(s) | Peter Castellotti Sr. Robert "Bob" Vittoria |
| Previous owner(s) | Filippo Milone John Sasso Rose Vesce and Augustine "Chubby" Vesce |
| Food type | Italian-American pizzeria |
| Street address | 278 Bleecker Street |
| City | Manhattan, New York City |
| State | New York |
| Postal/ZIP Code | 10014 |
| Country | United States |
| Coordinates | 40°43′54″N 74°00′12″W / 40.73161870°N 74.00344680°W |
| Website | www |
John's of Bleecker Street, simply known as John's Pizzeria, is a historic pizzeria on Bleecker Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Founded in 1915,[1] the pizzeria serves coal fired brick oven pizza prepared in the style of a tomato pie.[2][3] In 2015, it was ranked the 10th best pizzeria in the United States by TripAdvisor.[4][5]
John's is known for its graffiti-carved wooden booths where any patron can carve their name.[6] The pizzeria does not serve slices, only whole pies cooked in an 850 °F (454 °C) oven, along with calzones, and accepted cash only until May 2016, when it began accepting credit cards.[2][3][7]
History
[edit]John's was believed to be founded in 1929 by John Sasso when it was originally located on Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village.[8][9] However, documents show the pizzeria was actually opened in 1915 by Filippo Milone. John Sasso, who was related by marriage, took over in 1925.[1]
In the 1960s, Augustine (Chubby) Vesce purchased John's Pizzeria. He and his wife Rose became the owners of John's until 1980–81. Augustine suffered from health issues and offered 40% of the restaurant's shares to the current manager at the time, Pete Castellotti Sr., if he continued to manage the business, allowing Augustine to retire. A year or two later, Castellotti opened up John's on 64th St, moved to Florida and opened John's of New York in Port Charlotte, letting his two children Pete Castellotti Jr. and Lisa Free run John's of Bleecker Street together with his longtime co-worker Robert "Bob" Vittoria.[10]
Castellotti's ex-wife Madeline left her job as a personnel director of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, a Manhattan law firm, to open a John's Pizzeria in the eighties on the Upper West Side. She opened John's Pizzeria on Times Square in 1994. In 1993, Bob Vittoria became the majority partner of John's Pizzeria on Bleecker. He is a nephew of the Vesce family.[11][12]
Ratings
[edit]John's has been highly rated throughout its operation.[13] As of 2011, Adam Kuban of Serious Eats considered it an NYC Quintessential pizza for connoisseurs.[14]
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Bruns, Kendall (February 5, 2019). "Lost Forefathers of Pizza in America Discovered". US Pizza Museum. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
- ^ a b Olmsted, Larry (December 10, 2015). "John's of Bleecker Street: NYC pizza that lives up to the hype". USA Today. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ a b Stern, J.; Stern, M. (2014). Roadfood. Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony. pp. pt161-162. ISBN 978-0-7704-3453-3. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ Hunter, Marnie (July 29, 2015). "TripAdvisor picks America's best pizza". CNN. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
- ^ Conley, Trevor (July 30, 2015). "New York City has 3 of top 10 pizza joints in the U.S." NYC Sun Times. Archived from the original on November 26, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
- ^ "The best pizza places in America, according to TripAdvisor". Fox News. July 4, 2015. Archived from the original on July 29, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
- ^ Levine, Ed (November 6, 2002). "Pizza 2002: The State Of the Slice". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
- ^ Whitson, C.; Gjesteland, T. (2015). Passion for Pizza: A Journey Through Thick and Thin to Find the Pizza Elite. Agate Publishing. p. pt152. ISBN 978-1-57284-746-0. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ Pizza Today. Pro Tech Publishing and Communications. 1988. p. 41. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ Blumberg, Deborah Lynn (August 4, 2004). "75 years of John's pizza and the Village: That's amore". thevillager.com. Archived from the original on September 2, 2013. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- ^ Witchel, Alex (June 23, 1993). "AT WORK WITH: Pete Castellotti; The Whole Is Greater Than the Slices". The New York Times. Retrieved November 28, 2017.
- ^ "John's Pizzeria family to go to court over their empire". Daily News. New York. March 9, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
- ^ New York E-Guide. Eyewitness Travel Guides. Dk Publishing. 2005. ISBN 978-0-7566-0890-3. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
- ^ Kuban, Adam (September 9, 2011). "NYC Quintessential: John's Pizzeria of Bleecker Street". Serious Eats. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
External links
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