Anthony Mangieri’s guide to New York’s best pizza

Anthony Mangieri’s number one rated pizza restaurant is a Lower East Side staple for pizza connoisseurs. “[From the beginning] my pizza was naturally leavened, so I've never made pizza with commercial yeast. It was un-refrigerated and hand mixed. And that was from 1996." Mangieri’s pies are works of art with blistered, puffy crusts, utilising nothing but the finest ingredients like Buffalo Mozzarella DOP and San Marzano tomatoes.

“I love Joe’s. A slice of Joe's, just the regular New York slice. I love that especially when it’s not reheated. Those are great, and I feel like that's just a beautiful iconic New York pizza that has a very particular taste. I go to the one on 14th Street, or the one over in the West Village, which is a couple of doors down from the original, which was on the corner of Bleecker, but it's a few doors down from that in the middle of the block."

"I think Mama’s Too! on the Upper West Side is great. I love his squares." The squares are puffy, Sicilian-style slices with crispy edges and the menu is dripping with classics like the Angry Nonna with hot soppressata, aged mozzarella, and Calabrian chilli oil, or the House Pie with aged mozzarella, fresh tomato sauce, extra virgin olive oil, Parmigiano Reggiano and basil.

“Growing up, I loved L&B Spumoni for the squares. And I still go there pretty frequently for the square with my daughter. I don't think the quality or anything is that great there anymore. But it's funny, I go there with my daughter, we eat there, the service is a disaster, and half the time the dough isn’t risen right. I'm like, eff this place, I'm done with it. We leave and I say to my daughter, ‘We're not coming back here for a while’. She's like, ‘Sure, dad’. And then a week later, I'll say, ‘Hey, you want to go to L&B for dinner?’ It’s just nostalgic, I've been going there my whole life. And it's also near one of my favorite pastry places. I make a loop out of it. I go to Villabate on 18th Avenue and I go to L&B, and it's a little routine that I do.”

“I really like Frank Pinello who owns Best Pizza. He's great and I love his pizza over in Brooklyn.” Best is a classic NY pizza joint with giant 20-inch pies and features the quintessential NY slice. [Various locations].