Abstract
While pizza was initially invented in Italy, it got propelled to its current status in
the streets of New York. As such, New York is often seen as the pizza capital of the
world. Here we try to discern what makes a pizzeria more or less favorable to the non-
expert pizza eating community based on user reviews at menupages.com. We have
information regarding the location, relative price, type of fuel used in the oven, number
of reviews and average rating for over 600 pizza serving establishments in Manhattan and
parts of Brooklyn. Our results suggest that the average consumer views all pizza to be of
the same general quality with the possible exception of Midtown pizza being slightly less
desirable. Using the number of user reviews as a proxy for the popularity of a pizzeria,
we see that coal fired ovens draw larger crowds than either wood or gas powered ovens.
1. Introduction
While pizza, in one form or another, has been eaten since the times of Ancient
Greece and Persia, the root of modern pizza was seeded in 1889 when a chef from Naples
prepared a pie with mozzarella, basil and tomatoes (the colors of the Italian flag) for King
Umberto I and Queen Margherita of Italy. From that moment pizza became a sensation,
cooked by pizzaioli (pizza chefs) all over the country in wood burning ovens. Over the
next decade, millions of Italians migrated to America bringing their pizza with them.
Coal was the most plentiful fuel in the new world, so it was used in pizzeria ovens, giving
American pizza a distinctive bend, charred crust and unique flavor.
Gennaro Lombardi opened America’s first licensed pizzeria in 1905 at 53 ½
Spring Street in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood selling nickel pizza pies to the
area’s working class Italian denizens. Lombardi’s kitchen was a classroom for future
pizza innovators who all learned their craft from the master himself. Many of his
apprentices went on to open now-famous pizzerias. Anthony “Totonno” Pero left the
restaurant and opened Totonno’s in Coney Island in 1924. John Sasso followed his
former coworker when he established John’s of Bleecker in 1929. Patsy Lancieri not
only ventured away from Lombardi in 1933 to open his eponymous restaurant in the then
Italian dominated Spanish Harlem, but was the first proprietor to sell pizza by the slice.
Further, Lancieri’s nephew, Patsy Grimaldi, owns and operates Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn
Heights in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge. This family tree of pizzerias grows from
there, but these restaurants have three common traits: They do not accept credit cards; do
not sell by the slice (except Patsy’s), they all use coal ovens.
After World War II, pizza’s popularity ballooned as the soldiers returning home
from Europe brought back their love for this new delicacy. Pizzerias popped up all over
the country and continued to spread like weeds through New York. Gas was the fuel of
choice due to its ease of use, low cost and new regulations regarding clean air among
other factors. Today there are a plethora of pizza joints with myriad different offerings.
A hungry New Yorker can get a quick one dollar slice or wait 40 minutes for a small $25
pie with no alterations allowed.
With so many factors going into the ingredients, preparation and culture of pizza
it is fascinating to question what makes one particular pizza better than others. A big