John's of Bleecker Street

John's of Bleecker Street simply known as John's Pizzeria is a historic pizzeria founded in 1929 and located in Manhattan, New York City on Bleecker Street which serves coal fired brick oven pizza prepared in the style of a tomato pie.[1][2] In 2015, it was ranked the 10th best pizzeria in the United States by TripAdvisor.[3][4]

John's of Bleecker Street
Restaurant information
Established1929
Owner(s)Peter Castellotti Sr.
Robert "Bob" Vittoria
Previous owner(s)John Sasso
Augustine "Chubby" Vesce
Food typeItalian pizzeria
Street address278 Bleecker Street
CityManhattan, New York City
Postal/ZIP Code10014
CountryUnited States
Websitewww.johnsbrickovenpizza.com

John's is known for its graffiti-carved wooden booths where any patron can carve their name.[5] The pizzeria does not serve slices, only whole pies cooked in an 850° F oven, along with calzones, and accepted cash only until 2016.[1][2][6] John's began accepting credit cards in May 2016.

History

John's was founded in 1929 by John Sasso, originally located on Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village.[7][8] After losing his lease in 1934, he moved the pizzeria to Bleecker Street.[8] The restaurant was later purchased by the Vesce brothers in 1954.

In the 1960s Augustine (Chubby) Vesce purchased John's Pizzeria from his brother Joe. He and his wife Rose became the owners of John's until 1980-81. Augustine suffered from health issues and offered 40% of the restaurant's shares to current manager at the time, Pete Castellotti Sr, if he continued to manage the business, allowing Augustine to retire. A year to two later, Castellotti opened up John's on 65th St, then moved to Florida and opened John's of New York in Port Charlotte, letting his two children Pete Castellotti Jr. and Lisa Free run John's of Bleecker Street together with his longtime co-worker Robert "Bob" Vittoria.[9]

Castellotti's ex-wife Madeline left her job as a personnel director of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, a Manhattan law firm, to open a John's Pizzeria in the eighties on the Upper West Side. She then opened John's Pizzeria on Times Square in 1994. In 1993, Bob Vittoria became the majority partner of John's Pizzeria on Bleecker. He is a nephew of the Vesce family.[10][11]

Documents show the pizzeria actually opened in 1915 by Filippo Milone. John Sasso was related by marriage took over in 1925.[12]

Ratings

John's has been highly rated throughout its operation.[13] Adam Kuban of Serious Eats considers it an NYC Quintessential pizza for connoisseurs.[14]

See also

References
  1. Olmsted, Larry (December 10, 2015). "John's of Bleecker Street: NYC pizza that lives up to the hype". USA Today. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  2. Stern, J.; Stern, M. (2014). Roadfood. Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony. pp. pt161-162. ISBN 978-0-7704-3453-3. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  3. Hunter, Marnie (29 July 2015). "TripAdvisor picks America's best pizza". CNN. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  4. Trevor Conley (30 July 2015). "New York City has 3 of top 10 pizza joints in the U.S." NYC Sun Times. Archived from the original on 26 November 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  5. "The best pizza places in America, according to TripAdvisor". Fox News. 4 July 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  6. Levine, Ed (6 November 2002). "Pizza 2002: The State Of the Slice". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-09-11.
  7. Whitson, C.; Gjesteland, T. (2015). Passion for Pizza: A Journey Through Thick and Thin to Find the Pizza Elite. Agate Publishing. p. pt152. ISBN 978-1-57284-746-0. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  8. Pizza Today. Pro Tech Publishing and Communications. 1988. p. 41. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  9. Deborah Lynn Blumberg (2004-08-04). "75 years of John's pizza and the Village: That's amore". thevillager.com. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  10. Witchel, Alex (23 June 1993). "AT WORK WITH: Pete Castellotti; The Whole Is Greater Than the Slices". nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-11-28.
  11. "John's Pizzeria family to go to court over their empire". NY Daily News. 9 March 2016. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
  12. Bruns, Kendall (February 5, 2019). "Lost Forefathers of Pizza in America Discovered". US Pizza Museum. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  13. New York E-Guide. Eyewitness Travel Guides. Dk Publishing. 2005. ISBN 978-0-7566-0890-3. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  14. Kuban, Adam (9 September 2011). "NYC Quintessential: John's Pizzeria of Bleecker Street". Serious Eats. Retrieved 2015-09-11.

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