New York Versus Naples: Which City Has Better Pizza?

Pizza as we know it was invented in Naples, Italy, in the late 19th century. While flatbreads with various toppings predate the Margherita pizza by centuries, it wasn’t until 1889 when Neapolitan pizzaiolo Raffaele Esposito added mozzarella to bread topped with tomato sauce and basil. At that point, Italy as a nation was only 28 years old, but the food quickly became symbolic of the flag (white cheese represents the white of the Italian flag, basil represents green and tomato is a nod to the red). The Margherita pizza is named after Queen Margherita of Savoy (a region that is now the south of France), for whom the pizza was first made at Pizzeria Brandi, which still exists today.

By 1889, Italians were already migrating en masse to the United States via Ellis Island. The Southern Italians brought their pizza-making tradition with them, with Lombardi’s becoming the first American pizzeria established in 1906 (it’s still on Spring Street in Soho, just one block east of the original location). New York City has been America’s undisputed best pizza city ever since. But can it compare to Naples, where it all started? We break down, once and for all, whether New York or Naples has better pizza.