Patsy's Pizzeria

(212) 534-9783

2287 1st Ave
New York, NY 10035 40.7971 -73.9349

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Neighborhoods: East Harlem (El Barrio), Uptown, East Harlem

THEPATSYSPIZZA.COM

Price:

$

Last updated 8.16.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

Cash

Restaurant Special Features:

Local Favorite, Lunch Spot, Family Style Dining, Cheap Eats, Historic Setting

Cuisine:

Pizza, Italian

What People Are Saying About Patsy's Pizzeria

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

The Scene – Patsy's has been open since 1932, and its coal-fired pizza oven was among New York's first. But the East Harlem pizzeria now feels woefully neglected, and eating in the decor-less dining room can be a depressing experience. Fortunately, Patsy's pizza is one of the few great pies available by the slice, so quick takeout is an option. – – The Food – Patsy's crust is more in the light and crunchy than dark and sooty vein. The tomato sauce is fresh and vibrant and the toppings are top-notch. Mozzarella is reasonably fresh and distributed across the surface of…

Editor's Tips

The Extras:
For more great New York pizza, check out our favorites.
ambiance
78.5699987411499% positive
  1. highly recommend Patsy's for civil people to enjoy a little bit of family-style cooking and atmosphere.
  2. The decor was bland and old - maybe it makes one focus on how great the pizza is?
  3. Great food great atmosphere, can eat this pizza any time of the day!
  4. However, this location really disappointed me.
  5. the food is great but the atmosphere is really not pleasant.
  6. great food and atmosphere!
  7. Yes, it is clearly one of the top three pizzas available in New York, but its location is also a big plus.
dessert
83.33000183105469% positive
  1. The regular menu, pasta, etc., is excellent as well, and don't pass up their chocolate souffle which is to die for!
  2. almost ate a full pie by myself.
  3. Make sure to get a pie with fresh mozzarella - it makes all the difference in the world.
  4. would honestly put their pie as the second best I've ever had, behind a pizzeria in Naples called Da Michele (the best pizza in the world).
  5. patsy's pizzas are so fresh and delicious that a simple cheese pie sends you to heaven.
  6. Hands down the best pie in the city.
food quality
89.82999801635742% positive
  1. Yes, it is clearly one of the top three pizzas available in New York, but its location is also a big plus.
  2. But the service is fast, and the pizza unbeatable.
  3. The perfect pizza-nothing better
  4. food "pizza" is totally inconsitence, burned bottom soggy crust other times dry sauce is not consistent,seems to change.
  5. No frills , just great pizza
  6. Not good pizza
  7. This is, without a doubt, the best slice of pizza in Manhattan.
  8. but the service is hospitable and accommodating, and the food is affordable, delicious and filling.
  9. You can't find a better pizza anywhere than the simple tomato sauce with fresh mozzarella - not the shredded stuff you get everywhere else, but large globs of freshly sliced, full flavored mozzarella.
  10. really think Patsy's in the best pizza in NYC.
  11. If you truly love pizza - you must go here
  12. Make sure to get a pie with fresh mozzarella - it makes all the difference in the world.
  13. They provided excellent service with the best tasting pizza and pasta I have ever had.
  14. Once you go Patsy's, your idea of "good pizza" will change completely.
  15. patsy's pizzas are so fresh and delicious that a simple cheese pie sends you to heaven.
  16. As for my favorite Patsy's pizza -- fresh mozzarella with portobello mushrooms and fresh garlic.
  17. One of the pizzas was with basil and it was very fresh tasting.
  18. Great sauce and killer fresh mozerella!
  19. Great food great atmosphere, can eat this pizza any time of the day!
  20. great brick oven pizza, and big-sized dishes (salads and pasta dishes are fantastic!)
  21. haved lived a life devoted to finding the best pizza.
  22. . .just great coal-oven pizza.
  23. The food is great and the people are down to earth I hope one do to own my own resturant and I want it to be just like patsys.
  24. there are a lot of great pizzas but patsys is the best.
  25. Incredibly good pizza: thin crisp tasty crust, sauce that is tangy, great cheese.
  26. live in the neighborhood and feel lucky to live by such a great pizza place.
  27. This place is history, the food is phenomenal and the staff is super cool.
  28. they rate better to me than John's mainly because not only is their pizza so good but also they have a very good assortment of tasty salads.
  29. had heard New York was famous for their pizza so I figured why not try the best.
  30. This is a perfect food.
  31. it has always been my favorite food.
  32. meatballs,what can i say , putrid,RETURNED,baked clams, tasteless,veal parm overcooked,tomato sauce worst i ever had, creme burley, burnt,they would not make my wife sole francese over linquini,i don't get that, wait staff OK for this place,very noisy,ove
  33. The decor was bland and old - maybe it makes one focus on how great the pizza is?
  34. The sauce has a nice spice to it, but it's slightly on the sweet side.
  35. Old-fashioned restaurant, great food, get what you pay for
  36. the photos of Sinatra, Tony Bennet, etc....The pasta is delicious.
  37. have been going to Patsy's for years and my kids would rather that I schlep to East Harlem to pick up the pizza than ordering from any of the great delivery joints we have around us.
  38. Go here for the best pizza in the USA.
  39. absolutely love the pizza but I'm too confused which dish is really my favorite.
  40. If you don't like thin crust, brick oven pizza, you won't like Patsy's or John's.
  41. got two pizzas - one with the fresh mozzarella and the other with grated - and of course the fresh is far superior.
  42. visited Manhattan last year and I read in a tourist's guide book that Patsy's was the best pizza in Midtown.
  43. It truly was the best pizza I have ever tasted!
  44. Patsy's has the best pizza outside of Naples (the birthplace of pizza).
  45. Order a soda with your meal and you'll get a 12 oz.
  46. the food is great but the atmosphere is really not pleasant.
  47. This pizza is the best!
  48. The regular menu, pasta, etc., is excellent as well, and don't pass up their chocolate souffle which is to die for!
  49. Wonderful food from a wonderful city!
  50. The pizza is pretty pricey for the not so large size compared to the other NY pizzas.
  51. would honestly put their pie as the second best I've ever had, behind a pizzeria in Naples called Da Michele (the best pizza in the world).
  52. No wonder the pizza is good
  53. Fantastic sauce, suberb crust and just the right amount of mozzerella.
  54. mussels were not fresh,dirty,sandy etc.RETURNED.
  55. would go again b/c it's a nice locale though would prefer a local pizzeria for a really good slice of pizza.
  56. The crust was amazingly crispy, and the blend of spices and cheese on the pizza was perfect.
  57. great food and atmosphere!
  58. but the food is always excellent and very good value.
  59. My kids are NYC pizza snobs so their demand is probably a good testament to Patsy's tasting pretty darn good.
menu variety
100.0% positive
  1. The regular menu, pasta, etc., is excellent as well, and don't pass up their chocolate souffle which is to die for!
overall
100.0% positive
  1. live in the neighborhood and feel lucky to live by such a great pizza place.
  2. patsy's on 3rd is a very good hang out place to see new york at its best.
return potential
0.0% positive
  1. meatballs,what can i say , putrid,RETURNED,baked clams, tasteless,veal parm overcooked,tomato sauce worst i ever had, creme burley, burnt,they would not make my wife sole francese over linquini,i don't get that, wait staff OK for this place,very noisy,ove
service
59.38000202178955% positive
  1. meatballs,what can i say , putrid,RETURNED,baked clams, tasteless,veal parm overcooked,tomato sauce worst i ever had, creme burley, burnt,they would not make my wife sole francese over linquini,i don't get that, wait staff OK for this place,very noisy,ove
  2. regularly eat, and have eaten at Patsy's for over 15 years and have NEVER once had a rude staff or wrong order experience.
  3. The service at times is awful, at other times is great.
  4. Staff is very rude and unkempt.
  5. The waiters ( young college boys) were extremely nice and apologetic for the wait.
  6. But the service is fast, and the pizza unbeatable.
  7. Rude staff, incorrect order, further rude staff, delayed correct order, more rude staff and finally a rude manager.
  8. They provided excellent service with the best tasting pizza and pasta I have ever had.
  9. During the middle of the afternoon, the service was neither good nor poor.
  10. The food is great and the people are down to earth I hope one do to own my own resturant and I want it to be just like patsys.
  11. The service was wonderful.
  12. Patsys and the people there have been great.
  13. but the service is hospitable and accommodating, and the food is affordable, delicious and filling.
  14. highly recommend Patsy's for civil people to enjoy a little bit of family-style cooking and atmosphere.
  15. This place is history, the food is phenomenal and the staff is super cool.
  16. Understand that you don't go into someone else's place and decide that you will dictate how things will be AND have an attitude of entitlement, dismissal, and all of the things that make people hate you, and expect to be treated with anything other than w
value
75.0% positive
  1. Seems like they have traded away quality for value.
  2. The pizza is pretty pricey for the not so large size compared to the other NY pizzas.
  3. but the service is hospitable and accommodating, and the food is affordable, delicious and filling.
  4. but the food is always excellent and very good value.
wait time
0.0% positive
  1. meatballs,what can i say , putrid,RETURNED,baked clams, tasteless,veal parm overcooked,tomato sauce worst i ever had, creme burley, burnt,they would not make my wife sole francese over linquini,i don't get that, wait staff OK for this place,very noisy,ove
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

02/17/12

Patsy's Pizza = true love

by crdog

Hands down the best pizza on the planet. My bf and I go to the walk-up counter and order a pie. In about 12 minutes, the thing is gone. Need I say more?

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

12/07/11

I love this place

by makoy731

I wasn't here for the pizza so I can't comment on that yet but what I had was very good. The service was quick and friendly. Everyone was smiling so that made me feel welcome. I thought the restaurant was nice and clean. I ordered the vitello alla marsala and I was pretty impressed. The veal and the mushrooms were cooked perfectly. The potato balls were not dry at all... in fact it was buttery. The only downside... they only take cash which is OK if you know about it ahead of time. I'll be back for sure.

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

11/09/10

BEST THING EVER

by RESPECTMEandpizza

look people dont appreciate anything PASTYS HElped me grow 2 inches im a model and i always stop by and eat pizza and its beautiful. best pizza great mexicano crew so polite !!!!!! so run 2 pastys its a hood neighboorhood but worth getting shot.....hi ya pastys pizza is da best pig pun 2 pac eat there get out the way im running there

3 Star Rating: Average

10/05/10

Not that great

by Nguyene

Was hoping for a New York style deli and bakery, what I got was cardboard tasking cakes that seemed unfresh. I dont understand how you can have unfresh cakes when this is Manhattan and you expect a ton of foot traffic, but oh well.

1 Star Rating: Poor

10/02/10

Forget About It

by Josh Bryan

I have gone to this coal-oven pizza landmark twice in the lastt six months. I expected to get tthin- crusted, bottom-blackened, blistered pizza that are the hallmarks of old-school coal-oven pizza. This had been true in the past. Instead, the pizza was undercooked, soft and doughy. You can get better pizza at Dominos. Eveerybody can have a bad day (or two), so I wrote a letter to the owner. I anticipated receiving an explanation, apology or, perhaps, an offer of a free pizza to make amends. Instead, my letter was never answered). If you want what I expected,en for coal offen pizza, go to Lombardi's, Grimaldi's in Brooklyn or Pepe's in New Haven. Don't go to Patsy's. They have lost it and don't care.

The Details on Patsy's Pizzeria

Place Categories:

  • best great brick oven pizza
  • great food
  • very fast service
  • rude staff
  • best thin crust
  • favorite patsy
  • fresh mozzarella
  • full pies
  • really good slice
  • great atmosphere
  • worst tomato sauce
  • very fresh tasting
  • great people
  • apologetic waiters
  • great customer services
  • old place
  • excellent pasta
  • famous new york
  • great patsys
  • very good value
  • fantastic bigsized dishes
  • love pizzeria
  • good soda
  • hate bland tomatoes
  • disgusting population
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