Lucali is one of those nearly impossible restaurants to get into, famous for great pizza. I couldn’t believe we got into the Brooklyn location, and it lived up to the hype.
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Lucali is home to this signature Chevy that never moves.
What Is Lucali’s?
Brooklyn-born and bred, Mark Iacono opened Lucali’s in the former site of his favorite childhood Carroll Gardens candy store. Working in the construction trade with no formal culinary experience, he didn’t want to see a neighborhood landmark go away. He signed a lease six days later and spent the next two and a half years building out the restaurant himself after his day job.
There are no menus save for the black a-board on the sidewalk outside. There are just two basic items on the menu: pizza, and calzones. The standard pie is a Margherita with generous fresh basil sprigs at the corners for personal application to taste for $32 (approximately 16-18″ diameter though variable and imperfect by design.) Lucali offers a few toppings for an additional cost: lightly marinated artichoke hearts ($8), pepperoni ($5), shallots, onion, garlic, hot pepper, sweet pepper, or mushroom ($3.)
Calzones are offered in large ($29) or small ($19) with a side of tomato sauce for $4, hot pepper sauce ($7.) A unique (and the only) side is a bowl of “Roni” Pepperoni Chips ($7) – they were absolutely satisfying.
The restaurant has just a handful of tables inside and a couple on the street, it also offers take-away for those who can’t get a table.
How Did I Get Into Lucali (Brooklyn?)
I cheated. Plain and simple, a supplier for my travel agency from a luxury cruise line, Uniworld, is from Brooklyn and knows the Iacono family. He called Mark personally (!) and secured a table on the day for our party of four adults, and my two children.
Not everyone “has a guy” to get them a table at Lucali so how does one secure a table without an impossible connection? They wait. We overheard one person that showed up at 3 pm (they open at 5.) She was seventh in line for her party of four and went in approximately three hours after she arrived. We observed another person waiting about 90 minutes for a to-go pie.
Does It Compare To The Hype?
I’m a pizza fanatic. I once worked in a local chain pizza restaurant as a manager, but we weren’t putting out the artisan quality I have come to love. I have tried and critically rated some of the best pizza on offer in Pittsburgh and elsewhere around the country.
This is the best I’ve had – anywhere.
It beats other New York haunts like John’s of Bleecker, or the purported original L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele that inspired the eat portion of Eat, Pray, Love.
Lucali is the favorite of world-famous chef, David Chang, Beyonce and Jay-Z, and other luminaries. In fact, the last time my contact ate there, David Beckham was in, brought a pie out to his driver while he dined in, and Ed Sheeran walked through the doors.
Mr. Iacono’s Lucali has been the subject of a number of documentaries about his expert execution and focused approach.
But dining next to celebrities doesn’t mean anything if the pie isn’t stellar. Lucali’s was crispy but not overcooked, fresh, simple, and flavorful. Dave Portnoy ranked it a 9.3 – equal to just three others in his hundreds of reviews and tied for first. It lives up to the hype, without doubt.
Brooklyn, New York Location
Address: 575 Henry Street, Brooklyn, NY 11231
Phone: (718) 858-4086
Hours: 5-11 pm; closed Tuesdays
BYOB
Conclusion
The pair of Lucali pizzas we shared were utter perfection. While I was grateful to have a connection getting me a table inside, I would gladly wait for take-away as long as it takes the next time I have the chance, it was that good.
What do you think? Have you tried Lucali? What’s your favorite New York pie?
I lived in NYC for years and had no idea this existed…thanks Kyle for sharing, always appreciate your restaurant reviews.
I do have to ask, would your opinion have been the same if you had to stand in line for three hours like the other plebes? For the record, I don’t begrudge you using connections to skip the line, but really, would you still have thought it’s the best pizza ever? This strikes me like the Franklin BBQ of pizza, one of those “the line is part of the experience” places. I just don’t see waiting in line for 3 hours (and especially now, waiting in line 3 hours with a hungry 7 year old) as ever matching up to the hype, when you can get 95% of the same thing without the wait somewhere else.
@MeanMeosh – This is an excellent question and I am happy to address it.
If anything, I am more critical of hyped-up spots with a reputation, doubtful that they can deliver and assuming its pomp and circumstance.
Crust – Chewy at the edges, crispy throughout the rest of the pie and somehow not like eating cheese and sauce on a saltine. He actually discusses his dough method in Ugly Delicious on Netflix and it makes sense. It’s a combination of lower water volume and rolling the dough with a wine bottle because he liked the result and didn’t have access to his grandmother’s rolling pin. Whatever works.
Sauce – Light, simple, but flavorful. There’s enough sauce that you know that it’s there, but not enough where it gets sloppy.
Cheese – I got a sense that there’s a combination of dry and wet mozzarella, of course with parmesan. Again, enough that it’s present in every bite, but not so much that it’s sliding off when you eat it.
On a recent count, the total number of critical scores I have rated in the pizza category has been more than 50 amongst some of the best. This is the best I have had in the American-style category.
Have you ever been to Naples, Italy? If not, you shouldn’t be writing this post. There is not better place for pizza in this planet than in Naples. Also, $32 for a pizza? That is plain robbery. You go to the best pizza places in Italy and you won’t pay more than €10 for the best pizza of your life. Americans love hype and the need to be at places that are just famous because some stupid celebrities liked it.
Yeah well, even going to a grocery store to buy food is plain robbery, I can imagine going to a restaurant.
@Santastico – I’ve traveled extensively throughout Italy and it should be noted, you’d no doubt concede, that Neapolitan-style pizza is not the same as other styles, such as this New York style or even Rome, where slices are cut in rectangles and weighed for price. I linked, in this post, to Michele which is credited as being the original Napoli pizzeria visiting their Roman location as well as the Manchester spot (reviewed on this site as well.)
I wholly reject the notion that only Neapolitan style is truly pizza. Arguments could be made against other styles – Chicago makes a delightful casserole – but this is certainly pizza. I don’t disagree that Americans love hyped up spots, and that’s why I have an entire section dedicated to this. However, Neapolitan as a style has flaws. The edge crust is difficult to execute where it’s fluffy and light, but the middle is still cooked and not soggy. And for the avoidance of doubt, we are only talking about knife and fork pizza when we speak of Neapolitan. Cheese ratios can suffer in this category too.
I won’t dispute that $32 for even a large pie is higher than others, but when I price against other New York pizzerias, it’s not extraordinarily high (excluding, of course, the 99¢ slice shops.) I find that most are around $25-29 for a similar sized pizza.
I invite you home to try my homemade pizza. I have state of the art Italian wood fire pizza oven and I buy the flour and yeast from Naples. I can guarantee you will love the pizza that doesn’t cost me $3 to make. As for Neapolitan pizza, do not go to the branches in Manchester, Los Angeles, etc… These are not the same. I spent a week in Naples, Italy and visited the most famous pizza places there. Unbelievable quality and prices. Calling Chicago pie full of tomato sauce and garlic a pizza is a sin.
It’s the oil they use. If they use olive oil to make the pizza that is healthy and tastes different. If they use processed vegetable oils, that is not healthy.
Hey tony n. ,
Completely agree on the olive oil. This is why I make my own pizza. It only takes a few more minutes with planning and I know the flour (Italian) tomatoes and basil. And no, I will not spend more for something I can prepare.
I completely agree. The pie in this picture looks nearly identical to what I baked last week in my backyard. And $32??? Go get better food for that amount, pizza has to be the best margin meal to serve. This place looks good but there’s no way I’d wait 3 hours for it. Shoot, 20 min in The Village got us a table at a perfectly good Italian place, homemade pasta, for about the same price.
Thanks for sharing, I’ll grab a slice in the street for lunch and save myself for better fare in the evening
It’s a great pie but it’s not worth the hype. Let’s be real.
Can’t wait for your reaction after tasting Keste Pizza or Don Antonio’s signature pie is the Montanara Starita—a lightly-fried pizza laced with fresh house-made tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella and basil, then finished in the wood-fired oven.
Don Antonio’s was amazing, loved it there, and spent about $20 per pie. We tried it on a whim and when presented with a 20 min evening wait for a table we gladly sat at the bar. We even passed Hugh Jackman on the street walking there (my wife jokes that she nearly got pregnant from that encounter).
Adding all of these to the list.
Don Antonio’s really is amazing. And aside from one time, I’ve always had reasonable wait times over there for a table (~20mins, once waited 40 minutes because we had a large party).
$32 for a pie? 10% food cost at best. Never ever underestimate the stupidity of the American public when someone tells them they “have” to have something.
But credit to the owner for exploiting the public when you can, also the American way.
@Dave Edwards – In fairness, food cost is, of course, very low across the category. Espresso is also very inexpensive to make but done right, is well worth $4 in a restaurant. I could get a cheaper pizza, and maybe one nearly as good, but how much cheaper and how close to the same quality? The cost doesn’t really factor in. What’s the food cost on a sourdough round, 30-40¢? But what you would pay for the best one you’ve ever had might be $10. Does it really matter how much it costs to make? And, as you well know, it’s not just food cost. Labor is exceedingly high and hard to come by, and rent anywhere in the five boroughs is not cheap.
But the point here is that food cost is not really a basis for delivered price. By the same token, the marginal cost for a business class seat is somewhere in the neighborhood of $32, and the marginal cost of a hotel room on a given night is about $25 at a high end hotel. That doesn’t really relate to the price, just as the cost of a cash business class ticket is not different in the off-season as it is over the holidays. To suggest that the rate per unit equates to the value or price doesn’t really match the market we consume in.
Glad you enjoyed! I coincidentally live around the corner from Lucali and have waited in the line to put my name down multiple times. It’s worth. Legitimately my favorite pizza in NYC.
Pro-tips: The start taking down names at 4:30ish and fill tables in chronological order, starting with a 5pm seating and they make it clear you have 60 minutes to eat. Don’t expect the warmest hospitality, but expect great food. If you’re earliest in the line and they’re still filling 5pm tables and you want to eat at a later time, you move to the side while the people behind you take the 5pm, 6pm, etc. slots. When they get to 7pm, 8pm, etc, you step back in and put your name down. Get there early or else you run the risk of it filling up. I’m talking 3pm. If it’s full, F&F and Sam’s in the neighborhood also put out great pies. There’s also Lucali’s sister restaurant Baby Luc’s, very different style that isn’t for everyone, but I’ll let you be the judge.
I’d rather stand in line for 10 mins for a slice of the fresh mozz slice at joe’s Pizza than 3 hours at this place
Or you could go to their Miami Beach location anytime without any of this fuss.
I plan on it.
I lived nearby and went to Lucali their first week. I immediately knew something special was going on. But there is a much easier way to go. Mark’s brother runs a place with identical pizza in Park Slope/Greenwood. No lines. Giuseppina.