What Defines New York-Style Pizza?

New Yorkers are passionate about certain city delicacies like bagels, cheesecake, and black and white cookies. Still, no other food quite defines the identity of the city more than New York-style pizza. When John Travolta famously scarfs down two slices — stacked — on the go from Lenny's Pizza in Brooklyn in the opening credits of Saturday Night Fever, you know that it will be a quintessential Big Apple story. Some people say it's the water, and others think it's the ovens, which are both critical factors in making an authentic Empire State pie, but it's also all about the size and shape of the slices and the ingredients in the dough and sauce.

Often imitated, New York-style pizza is unlike any other pie in the world. It's super thin and wide (perfect for folding and stacking), has a distinctive chewy crust topped with tomato sauce and cheese, and owes its origins to early 19th-century Italian immigrants who brought their pizza-making heritage to New York City.

It may seem like New York-style pizza has always been with us, but there's actually a traceable history of the iconic pies. Today's pizzas have old-world Italian roots and were initially based on Neapolitan-style pies. When an influx of Italian immigrants came to the city in the early 1900s, they brought their pizza-making skills and set up shop in the city that never sleeps. It's widely believed that in 1905 the first proper New York-style pizza came out of the oven of Lombardi's in Manhattan's Little Italy, followed by Totonno's in Coney Island not long after (a former employee of Lombardi's opened it). Patsy's in Harlem started serving the style in 1933, and Di Fara Pizza in Brooklyn opened in 1964 and is still considered by many to be one of the quintessential New York-style slices, according to Eater.

The original pizza shops in New York City started out baking their pies in coal-fired ovens, which creates a charred crust. These days, however, almost all pizza ovens in the city are heated with gas, which doesn't char the crust in the same way, so while you may come across a New York slice that has leopard-like charring, the vast majority of authentic New York-style pizzas don't have that old-school char.

If you're looking for an authentic New York-style pizza, there's more to it than just making a wide, flat pie. New York-style pizzas are usually at least 18 inches wide and cut into eight big slices. The dough is made with high-gluten bread flour so that it's strong and stretchy, and it's also often made with olive oil and a little sugar. The crust is pliable enough for folding (and throwing), but it's not so soft that it can't hold up to toppings, and it's durable enough to be eaten on the go as busy New Yorkers have places to be. New York City tap water is also widely believed to be a significant factor in pizza crust making, although that hasn't been entirely proven, according to WNYC. 

New York-style pizza sauce is classic tomato, usually made with canned San Marzano or Roma tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, sugar, salt, Italian herbs (oregano, basil), and sometimes crushed red pepper. They're topped with mozzarella cheese and often a variety of classic pizza toppings like pepperoni, mushrooms, sausage, and such. Quite a lot of New York-style pizza is served with just cheese, or "regular," however. When you get your fresh slice, top it with grated parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper, or dried Italian herbs. Then, fold it up and hit the streets because a proper slice of New York-style pizza is the ultimate to-go food.