Luzzo's Restaurant

(212) 473-6665

211 1st Ave
New York, NY 10003 40.7305 -73.9833

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Neighborhoods: East Village, Downtown

Years in business

Established in 2005

Price:

$

Last updated 10.17.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

American Express, Visa, MasterCard

Restaurant Special Features:

Late Night Dining

Cuisine:

Italian

What People Are Saying About Luzzo's Restaurant

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

In Short – This East Village space has a calm, old-world vibe. The menu is Southern Italian: A coal oven produces crisp, thin-crusted pizzas with a variety of toppings, including meatballs, gorgonzola, grilled chicken, arugula, even spicy salami. A host of pastas are available as well: lobster ravioli, penne with mint and ricotta, oven-baked cannelloni; as well as hearty meat and fish dishes like meatballs and sausages, chicken parmigiana, and shrimp scampi.

Editor's Tips

The Extras:
Ask about the restaurant's daily specials.
ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. Our meal started out well -- friendly and quick service, charming atmosphere, and a nice eggplant parm appetizer.
  2. The atmosphere is really friendly
  3. Yes, it's true: it's not the place for a romantic dinner and it could happen you've to wait for a while to be seated and served.
  4. the place is fun, young and old hip crowd.
  5. the atmospheare is warm and cozy and will make your experience even better!
dessert
50.0% positive
  1. did not like the cheese scattered in dollops (rather than shredded on the whole pie) and the basil leaves were sparse.
  2. My suggestion is choose the big one maybe the ripieno that is my favorite and to complete with a great dessert: the pastiera napoletana!
  3. Maybe tonight was an off night for Luzzo's--unless the other reviews were all written by friends and relatives--but this was the worst pie I've ever had in this price range.
  4. the pie is thin and crispy, the sauce simply delicious and the bufala mozzarella is AMAZING!
drinks
0.0% positive
  1. I'd also like it if they had a full bar (wine and beer only), but I'd still go back in a second.
food quality
94.44000244140625% positive
  1. The pizza is absolutely the best that I ever tryed!
  2. Needless to say, the flavors of the sauce & the meat were the best I've probably ever had!
  3. .....live it to posterity for ratings, If you want to be really cool and be like a true neapolitan go there order a pizza with your favorite toppings and a bottle of Gragnano, you'll see ,you can still be a king spending less then $ 40.
  4. Best pizza anywhere!
  5. It wasn't served with ricotta cheese, as it's an authentic Italian restaurant, but it didn't even need it!
  6. owners are very friendly and the food was excellent and inexpensive.
  7. Our meal started out well -- friendly and quick service, charming atmosphere, and a nice eggplant parm appetizer.
  8. Seriously, it is the best pizza in the World, if you love pizza you cannot go in other restaurants!
  9. THe pizza here is just so good.
  10. The pizza is still delicious, the crust altogether good.
  11. I'm Italian, I've eaten so many pizzas in Italy you cannot even imagine, but pizza you can find at Luzzo is simply perfect.
  12. It gets a little loud and crowded, but that's due to the great food!
  13. Give me a good slice from a Brooklyn "dive" pizza shop any day!
  14. will say that it is very pricey, but to be honest, it is worth it the pizza is that good.
  15. went to Luzzo yesterday for the first time, and since I am a pizza lover, the thing I missed most from Italy was a good italian pizza.
  16. while back I enjoyed a good meal there with bad service.
  17. My pizza con salsiccia e bufala was amasing, excellent ingredients and proportions, that for Italian is very important.
  18. The old waitstaff was friendly and eager to show off how good their little pizza joint was.
  19. GREAT pizza!
  20. This is by far my favorite authentic Italian Pizza place in NYC.
  21. Friendly and informal place, good for Sunday night pizza (truly Italian tradition).
  22. The flavor was so amazing because of the mozzarella & the sauce with just the right amount of basil & parmigiano.
  23. Everything is fresh and flavorful.
  24. the best pizza
  25. good pizza but only for takeout.
  26. and also its very pricey and besides the pizza the food is disgusting.
  27. Hands down the best pizza of my life and waitresses ain't too bad either.
  28. Bottom line is the pizza is good, but after the most recent visit I think takeout is the safest way to go.
  29. This is absolutely the best pizza I have ever eaten in my whole life though I am Italian and I ate pizza almost everywhere in Italy and not only.
  30. Because they use good products (buffalo mozzarella, fresh tomato etc...) and the Chief know how to cook and manage the dough.
  31. Hands down this is the most authentic pizza in the world including Italy, here it's all about the pizza, burnt to the right amount, bubbly and crusty to the right amount, soft and crunchy, tangy tomato sauce and the mozzarella even melted you can tell it
  32. Perfectly executed think crust, fresh cheeses (and not too much of it) and the best sauce you'll ever taste.
  33. the pie is thin and crispy, the sauce simply delicious and the bufala mozzarella is AMAZING!
  34. Though we have never eaten in the actual restaurant, their take-out is excellent -- delicious, home cooked meals, delivered hot to your door.
  35. Everything is authentic down to the employees and customers!
  36. It was floppy, had very little sauce and the crust was not even near crispy.
  37. Would not go back, even though the pizza was good
  38. This hot coal oven cooked Neapolitan style pizza with imported buffalo mozzarella from Italy tastes so good.
  39. had the Lasagna Di Carne, which is my favorite dish & it's the 1st thing I try everywhere i go.
  40. Rigatoni Alla Norma--Rigatoni with Eggplant & Ricotta cheese, the pasta was cooked just the right amount~the only thing my friend added to that was an extra plate of Ricotta on top of what she received with her meal because she loves A LOT of Ricotta with
  41. Luzzo's pizza are the best in New York City.
  42. yumm i am a pizza lover i tryed pizza eveywere but this is the only one that i love the moust and eat all the time.
  43. Then we had the Prosciutto E Mozzarella, this dish was so amazing!
  44. go to luzzos once a week to eat there wonderful pizza
  45. This restaurant is AMAZING & Long Island was over due for a restaurant that could offer this kind of Italian cuisine.
  46. The flavor are really authentic and delicious.
  47. The Bruschetta~it was SOOO good, the flavors were perfect & the tomato's were so fresh!
  48. Light, tasty, crispy, done with excellent ingredients.
  49. The meat was seasoned so well, the pasta was so fresh & the flavors between all of them together were really were Devinne!
  50. went during lunch as I was in need of a great meal from a long night.
  51. really didn't expect much from this place, but the pizza was very good - great, even.
  52. go to a lot of "really great" restaurants and eat a variety of food, but to date, nothing has ever once toped any of my multiple experiences at this pizza place.
  53. The pasta is also fantastic.
  54. think if u want to eat a good pizza and feel like ur in italy luzzos is the right place for u !
  55. Again, if you know good food, you can tell the difference.
  56. The food was AMAZING, if you know authentic Italian cooking it's ALL that & more to rave about.
  57. know a lot of restaurants claim to have the best pizza in NYC, but I think Luzzo's is the real one.
  58. The best great Italian pizza.
  59. am a very fussy eater and I have to say that Luzzo's pizza is terrific --- crisp, thin crust and just enough cheese.
  60. thought it was a bit soggy and the cheese was very oily for fresh mozzarella.
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. go to a lot of "really great" restaurants and eat a variety of food, but to date, nothing has ever once toped any of my multiple experiences at this pizza place.
overall
100.0% positive
  1. think if u want to eat a good pizza and feel like ur in italy luzzos is the right place for u !
  2. go to a lot of "really great" restaurants and eat a variety of food, but to date, nothing has ever once toped any of my multiple experiences at this pizza place.
return potential
66.66999816894531% positive
  1. Props to the chef & the staff for giving us a GREAT dining experience & we WILL be back!
  2. Would not go back, even though the pizza was good
  3. I'd also like it if they had a full bar (wine and beer only), but I'd still go back in a second.
service
71.92999839782715% positive
  1. Everything is authentic down to the employees and customers!
  2. Very poor service with the hostess and also with the waiter.
  3. The service is excellent as well - speedy and attentive.
  4. Props to the chef & the staff for giving us a GREAT dining experience & we WILL be back!
  5. Hands down the best pizza of my life and waitresses ain't too bad either.
  6. The owner/staff are the most friendly around.
  7. The old waitstaff was friendly and eager to show off how good their little pizza joint was.
  8. The atmosphere is really friendly
  9. Our meal started out well -- friendly and quick service, charming atmosphere, and a nice eggplant parm appetizer.
  10. The service is very good.
  11. The service was excellent.
  12. but the service is not good at all.
  13. After reading some of these reviews it really sounds like someone has an axe to grind for them because I have never had bad service or slow delivery.
  14. while back I enjoyed a good meal there with bad service.
  15. Worst service ever!
  16. THe staff is friendly and attentive.
  17. owners are very friendly and the food was excellent and inexpensive.
  18. The service is great, and the entire staff is friendly.
  19. The service is lousy, the waiters forgetful, they don't listen when they take your order.
value
60.0% positive
  1. owners are very friendly and the food was excellent and inexpensive.
  2. Maybe tonight was an off night for Luzzo's--unless the other reviews were all written by friends and relatives--but this was the worst pie I've ever had in this price range.
  3. and also its very pricey and besides the pizza the food is disgusting.
  4. will say that it is very pricey, but to be honest, it is worth it the pizza is that good.
  5. The best Pizza in NYC, not American Pizza, but Napolitan Pizza ( a huge difference)
wait time
83.33000183105469% positive
  1. went during lunch as I was in need of a great meal from a long night.
  2. After reading some of these reviews it really sounds like someone has an axe to grind for them because I have never had bad service or slow delivery.
  3. Our meal started out well -- friendly and quick service, charming atmosphere, and a nice eggplant parm appetizer.
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

04/23/12

Real Neapolitan pizza !

by Fieu dla nebia

Real Neapolitan pizza !

1 Star Rating: Poor

12/11/11

Distressing

by ronap

I had not been to Luzzo's for a couple of years and I had some good souvenirs of my past visits but I was in for a treat this time- for starters a Camorra lookalike maitre d' seated us and basically threw the menus on the table, my wife and I ordered an escarole and white bean soup which resembled more a bowl of hot water with some green matter, followed by a buffalo mozzarella pizza which was OK but tasteless and then by a plate of soggy, oily spaghetti (very small portion) swimming amidst a few baby tomatoes.

And we also got the attitude and it is also extremely expensive for what it is. Stay away from this pseudo Italian southern hovel. I forgot to tell you that the decor is dreadful

3 Star Rating: Average

09/04/10

Really Good Pizza, But Bring Earplugs

by karipei

Ok, it was a 7:30 reservation for 9 people, a little tough to accommodate perfectly, but they should've had our table ready. No big deal wait, about 10 minutes, but I had specifically asked that they have the table ready because I was bringing a 90 and 93 year old. Ok, the pizza better be worth the wait...and so it was! The pizza is really the best we Italophile have had in NY...much better than SD 26. The pappardelle with mushrooms was dreamy and the artichoke appetizer quite yummy. The service was good, food came promptly, but we had to ask them 4 times to turn down the music, which was so incredibly loud that the table of 7 ladies across from us had to scream at each other to speak, thus making the room deafening. Once the music was lowered, things were more tolerable. Next time we go, I think we'll bring a smaller group and sit at a booth in the front. And the food is so good, that there will be a next time!

4 Star Rating: Recommended

07/19/10

Great Italian brick oven style pizza

by Athena Chang , Citysearch Contributor

I don't know why some people got poor service here but when I was here, it was fine. We got our order and food relatively fast.

Between my boyfriend and I, we ordered a large spicy salami with cheese pizza and the fried calamari as an appetizer. The pizza is crusty and chewy and the salami was flavorful. I just wish there was more salami!

We didn't finish the pizza as the fried calamari came in such a big portion. The price here is pretty reasonable and we had a good time here.

  • Pros: Delicious pizzas
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

07/01/10

Outstanding!

by ciccadee

Just had the ricotta pizza and salad at Luzzo's two nights ago and they were both out of this world! The service was prompt and friendly; so, I guess they've heeded previous complaints made on this website. I would highly recommend, if you're looking for real authentic pizza similar to in Italy.

  • Pros: authentic

The Details on Luzzo's Restaurant

Place Categories:

  • best night pizza
  • excellent service
  • amazing flavor
  • inexpensive food
  • favorite authentic italian pizza place
  • authentic everything
  • really great italian restaurant
  • terrific crust
  • old hip crowd
  • great good meal
  • cool italian trattoria
  • attentive the staff
  • really friendly atmosphere
  • great dining experience
  • not like cheese
  • amazing bufala mozzarella
  • eager old waitstaff
  • good slice
  • excellent ingredients
  • great italian pizza
  • fantastic pasta
  • favorite dish
  • disgusting pizza
  • full pizzeria
  • good luzzo

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