By West Side Rag
Last week, The New York Times put together its list of “The 22 Best Pizza Places in New York Right Now,” and an Upper West Side eatery made the ranking.
The Times sampled 79 of the city’s most popular pizzerias and came up with a list of the 22 best.
The lone UWS pizza place to make the list? Mama’s Too Pizzeria at 2750 Broadway, between West 105th and 106th streets.
“When Frank Tuttolomondo started selling thick, square slices from his parents’ Upper West Side pizzeria, he was shunned as a heretic,” The New York Times wrote about Tuttolomondo, the founder and owner of Mama’s Too. “’I couldn’t give them away,’ he said. He found an audience after opening his own pizzeria a block away, where slices with fried chicken, cacio e pepe and street corn became standard protocol.”
Tuttolomondo’s parents run Mama’s Pizzeria, the longtime joint at the nearby 941 Amsterdam storefront, off the corner of 106th Street.
The different pies dished out at Mama’s Too include:
- Angry Nonna with hot soppressata, aged mozzarella, Calabrian chili oil, and hot honey.
- Poached Pear with aged mozzarella, poached pear, sweet gorgonzola, and hot honey.
- 18th Avenue with fennel sausage, mozzarella, and roasted peppers.
- Bufalina with beer-battered fried chicken, red devil sauce, gorgonzola crema, roasted chili powder, and chopped scallion.
Other pizzerias in the five boroughs to be featured in the recent New York Times ranking were Joe’s Pizza in Greenwich Village, John’s of Bleecker Street in the West Village, L’Industrie in Williamsburg, and Roberta’s in Bushwick.
You can check out the full list — HERE.
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Motorino is awesome – can’t believe they aren’t one of the UWS best.
Nothing in NYC compares with Johnny’s Pizzeria in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. IYKYK.
Try New Park in Howard Beach.
Sal’s in Mamaroneck if you like Sicilian.
Do these pizzerias know someone is coming from the Times beforehand? I ask because the pizza I’ve had at Joe’s the last few times was mediocre at best. They shouldn’t be on any list. lukewarm pizza slices, annoyed and surly staff. Never again.
I disagree. The original Mama’s Pizza on Amsterdam & 106 is so much better.
The Mama’s Pizza on 106th and Amsterdam is not the original that Mama opened. That was Capri Pizza on 104-105th Sts and Broadway. She moved Capri from Broadway to Mama’s on Amsterdam, then they later opened Mama’s Too near to the original Capri Pizza spot. Mama started Capri with her husband around 60 years ago. The oldest son and the daughter continue the family neighborhood business.
Capri!!
I’ve never been. How does it compare to Sal & Carmine’s on Broadway and 102?
Equally delicious!
I can’t stand a thick crust. The very, very, thin pizza at Fiorello’s is the best.
I couldn’t either. And then I tried Mama’s Too.
Not sure I would trust the New York Times for a rating on pizza.
If the article is not politics I trust the NY Times. My neighbors are the opposite.
Don’t forget the Games: Wordle, Spelling Bee, Crossword, Strands and Connections!
Newsmax, maybe?
Does Newsmax review food ?
Or for ANYTHING, really.
They just make up all those numbers in the financial section, amirite?
Correct.
If you’re ever in Whitestone or maybe going to a Mets game, try Amore which is at the top of the Times’ [alphabetical] list. It’s really excellent and they never reheat pies, you always get a fresh one out of the oven.
V & T, Amst bet W.110 & 111th! Granted, for a few years it’s been somewhat inconsistent because of too much oil on the bottom when they’re very busy, and the crust not always being its usual thicker fresh-bread texture. Perhaps it’s the variation in post-2019 cooks. I’m still a fan, though. Must get the whole pie, but it’s very good even the next day. Lisa (counter manager) is so kind!
If only they were grading customer service because they could be nicer. That pizza is 50% oil. We are not all “Pals” to that guy. I still prefer Sal and Carmine’s.
No one has mentioned Emmys Squared, on Amsterdam and 60th. Scrumptious “Detroit style” pizza.
We always get the Miranda. It’s so good my picky kids will devour the whole thing.
Crime being what it is I thought at first t you were referring to a Miranda warning.
Mama’s II was unique on the first visit, but it got stale quickly. Greasy oily burnt topping on top of what resembles focaccia bread, I don’t get the hype for it.
I ate Mama’s Too once and their plain round slice was burnt to where I couldn’t eat it. The crust was black and it broke in pieces and I threw half the slice in the garbage. Never again. Sal and Carmine or Made in NY or Upside or even Little Italy are better.
It’s an emeperor with no clothes situation.
Hard to believe this is still on the list. It was fabulous when they first opened. The toppings now are stingy. I tasted more like a focaccia than pizza.
And the staff are still as ornery as ever.
Fool me once …..
Meanwhile Mama’s – the original that’s been in the West Side since the 1970s is closing due to a rent raise
Wait what?!? The one on Amsterdam?
Since the 1960’s. I went there.
Congrats Frank. We have known Frank and his family’s Mama’s on w 106 for 17 yrs. Best pizza places!
The best pizza is in any Italian neighborhood. The Bronx, lower East Side, Brooklyn and New Jersey.
I’ve eaten at so many spots, including the “big” names on the UWS and so far not a single one has been as consistently good as Little Italy on Bwy and W92.
Zowiee! I agree! It’s the best pizza I’ve ever had!!
I’m here for the comments – nothing like picking pizza polls to stir up some strong reactions in us, New Yorkers! 😀
Mama’s Too is, IMO, the best pizza on the UWS. This honor is well deserved.
Every student in the area went to Capri and Mama’s for six decades.
Still haven’t tried Mama’s II. And at this point, there’s no way it can live up to the hype. I’m still curious though. Always hilarious seeing the pizza debate here though. Keep your favorites coming.
We’ve known the family for years since the 70’s The grandma used to come early in the morning to make the sauce. I was there the first day Mamma’s too opened. Congrats!
I’ve been wanting to try this place, even more incentive to do it now!
Sal and Carmines is the BEST.
Always has been
“Are you talk’in to me.”
Is Louie and Ernie’s ever going to open up a UWS location?
Is L’Industrie planning to open up a UWS location?