10 Iconic Foods of New York City, and Where To Find Them

From: The Village Voice

 2. 

Coal-Oven Pizza

The coal-oven pie at John's, with sausage that comes from Faicco's,
 just down Bleecker Street

 New Yorkers have been inundated with pretentious pizza parlors that trace their pedigree to Naples (if you're ever visited, it looks an awful lot like Brooklyn). But the pizza as we and the world know it and love it -- the lush, multi-person, shareable pie -- was invented in New York at Lombardi's. Go to one of the city's original coal-oven parlors (Patsy's, John's, Totonno Pizzeria Napolitano) to experience the Gotham invention in all its glory. The 200 degrees hotter these ovens burn when compared with wood makes a big difference in the texture of the crust. Don't, whatever you do, go to the franchise locations spun off by any of these places -- the product is inferior in every way. 

John's Pizzeria, 278 Bleecker Street, 212-243-1680