L’Industrie sets the standard for a great New York slice at both their original Williamsburg spot, and a larger location in the West Village. Each bit of blistered thin crust puffs, then crunches, tasting more like the loaf of bread you bought at the farmers market thanks to a long fermentation process. The difference between this and most other slice shops is that L’Industrie prioritizes ingredients imported from Italy. This is simply the best single slice in NYC.

We could tell you about the way the pizzaiolo at this cash-only, BYOB restaurant rolls out dough with empty wine bottles on a marble countertop in the candlelit dining room. But those details don’t matter for this guide. We’re here to talk about Lucali's thin New York-style pies, which have crunchy crusts, a serious sprinkle of minced garlic, and tomato sauce that’s a little sweet, a little tangy, and good enough to eat with a spoon. This pizza is absolutely perfect - the best we've had in NYC.

Going to L&B is a rite of passage, and if you haven’t made the trip out to Gravesend for a square slice, we don’t think you can really call yourself a New Yorker. This place has been around since 1938, with an over-the-top Rococo interior for sit-down meals and an always-bustling outdoor seating area with grab-and-go windows for slices, sandwiches, and spumoni. Don’t bother with round pizza here, you want their signature sauce-on-top square that achieves textural perfection.

This is the sixth iteration of Una Pizza Napoletana, and we know exactly why this place won’t die. It’s serving the best Neapolitan pies in NYC—and possibly the world. Open three days a week, Una Pizza is now in a remodeled, candlelit room on the Lower East Side. Our go-to order is the margherita, but if you’re in the mood for something without sauce, try the bianca with anchovies and dip torn-off pieces of crust into the fishy and salty pool of olive oil that forms in the middle of the pie.

We once went to Mama’s Too to eat their gas-oven Sicilian squares when it was 15 degrees outside. We had to wear pants under our pants, and it was 100% worth it. That was the first time we tried their 'shroom and sausage slice and the cacio e pepe pizza with its four types of cheese and cracked black pepper, both of which will enrich your life in ways you have yet to fathom. And those aren’t even the best slices here. The square pepperoni one is worth a trip across the city.

Di Fara opened in 1965, and they’ve been making legendary pies in South Brooklyn ever since. The late owner Dom DeMarco made the pizzas himself right behind the counter for most of that time, but now the pizza-making torch has been passed on to his family. The pizza here is still being prepared with several different kinds of cheese, olive oil, and plenty fresh basil. It has a crunchy crust that's notably salty, and each slice will offer a satisfying crackle as you fold it.

Ops perfected their sourdough long before society jumped on the naturally-leavened-dough train. Each time we eat here, their wood-fired pizzas seem to get tangier. In terms of style, Ops’ pies fit somewhere between crispy New York and soppy-in-the-middle Neapolitan, as each slice remains straight when you hold it in the air, but the crust puffs up like a balloon.

If you want to eat at Lucia Pizza in Sheepshead Bay five days a week, that sounds like a fine idea, and we aren’t going to stop you. Just make sure that one of those days is Friday. That’s when you can try the clam pie, a weekly special made with chopped cherry stones, translucent cross-sections of garlic, and a white wine butter reduction.I t has a thin, crisp, slightly chewy crust that’s puffy around the edges like a fresh-made zeppole. Squeeze a lemon wedge over the top, and enjoy.

The greatest places to grab a slice are generally not establishments where you want to stay and hang for a while. Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop is different though. It’s a counter-service spot that looks like a neighborhood pizza parlor from the 1970s, and it’s where you’ll find some excellent, foldable New York-style slices with crust that’s equal parts chewy and crispy. Their “Hellboy” slice—with hot honey and spicy pepperoni—is one of the finest things in New York City that you can purchase for $5.

We once tried to get an employee to tell us the secret to this Flushing spot’s pizza. They gave us a one-word answer: consistency. Open since the 1970s, Amore is still churning out simple, perfect New York-style pies for a steady stream of customers. Stop by for a whole cheese pizza, or try to snag a slice fresh from the oven. The crust is thin and crispy with a little bit of chew, the sauce is thick and not-too-sweet, and the hefty layer of cheese on top is bright orange with grease.

It’s almost impossible to resist the gravitational pull of Scarr’s - partly because of the stereotypically hypebeast-y LES crowd that lingers out front, and partly because a Scarr’s slice will make you want to investigate how crust can taste so flavorful. Part of the reason the pizza is so good: Scarr’s mills their own grains in house to create a nutritious dough. Browned cheese blankets the surface of the slightly yeasty crust, with a zesty tomato sauce underneath.

Wizard Hat Pizza thinks it’s okay if you dip your pizza in ranch. We know that might anger some pizza purists, but we'd encourage them to try. The pies are crispy, chewy, and showered in basil—and in an ideal world, you'd have stomach space for all seven variations. Try the spicy pepperoni first, and get a caesar salad. This pop-up is now operating regularly out of a space in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, and we’d recommend ordering ahead, so that you can eat at least one hot slice on the sidewalk.

Mano’s is not just a classic New York slice, but a classic New York slice shop as well. There are no servers. There’s no natural wine. If you pop in for lunch, there won’t be a tour group clogging the entrance. The Ridgewood establishment sports a standard-issue Italian flag awning, and it’s home to a perfect cheese pie with a thin layer of mozz that commingles with a simple tomato sauce, becoming one.

At Farina, a Southern Italian restaurant on the border of Carroll Gardens and Red Hook, the “irregolare” pizzas are slightly heftier than a classic Neapolitan, smaller than regular pies, and topped with things like apricot jam, and mashed potatoes. Funkily shaped and perfectly charred, they come with chewy, blistered crusts, and are best shared with a group after a full day Red Hook excursion, along with some house wine.

The very best part of the margherita pizza at this Italian spot in Rockaway Park is the sweet, garlicky sauce. It’s almost too sweet. It’s almost too garlicky. And yet it saunters gracefully down the tightrope. The pie’s crust lives in an impressive liminal space, too. Not quite New York-style and not quite Neapolitan, the bottoms and edges stay chewy despite being crispy and thin. This is the kind of pizza you text multiple friends about before you’re even finished eating your first slice.

Ace’s in Williamsburg makes the best Detroit-style pizza in the city. It’s also somewhere you can hang out, sip some wine or beer, and play Mario Kart on N64. While they also do Sicilian pies and slices, your first move at Ace’s should unquestionably be some iteration of Detroit-style. Keep it simple and get it topped with pepperoni, and if you’re with one other person, order a small. You’ll get four airy slices with crispy cheese-webbed crust that will provide you with profound joy.

This Bed-Stuy spot sets itself apart from other slice shops by offering a bunch of uncommon toppings. You’ll see varieties like chicken & waffle, black truffle alfredo shrimp, and lasagna, but the oxtail pies are the main attraction. There are three different kinds, and the sweet chili one comes loaded with crispy, tender shredded oxtail. The chewy crust will remind you of a buttermilk biscuit, and it’s a good understated vehicle for all the aggressively-flavored toppings.

You might think that Rubirosa is the only place that makes a super-thin-crust pie with excellent vodka sauce. News flash: Rubirosa borrows their recipes and style from legendary Staten Island spot Joe & Pats. The crust here is almost as thin as matzoh, so we don’t recommend weighing it down with more than one topping. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means you can eat more cracker-thin pizza, which you will inevitably want to do.

This pizza spot opened in East Harlem in the 1947, then moved into a tiny brick building on the first floor of a house in Pelham Bay about a decade later. We don’t know who lives in that house, but we hope they get Louie & Ernie’s New York-style pizza as often as their digestive tract allows. Whether you order a whole pie or a slice on a paper plate, be sure to get your pizza with crumbly-salty sausage on top. These edges crisp up while the middle stays soft.

Rubirosa is one of Manhattan’s top Italian restaurants, and they've earned this distinction almost purely due to the quality of their pizza. In addition to serving perfect Staten Island-style, crackery crust pies, they also have gluten-free pizza that's somehow just as good. Whichever route you go, prioritize the vodka-sauce and tie-dye varieties. Reservations at this dark, bustling Nolita restaurant are inevitably tough to get, but you can always stop by and put your name in for a table.

Lee’s Tavern feels like it’s frozen in an era before cell phones were invented. Every table at this 1940s-founded sports bar on Staten Island features at least one pitcher of light beer and a couple of thin-crust pizzas oozing cheese onto paper plates. The pies here are some of our favorite in the Staten-Island style, with slightly charred bottoms and crust bubbles you could break with a single little tap. Always order the clam pie, even if you think mollusks and cheese don’t belong together.