Video:Lombardi's Pizza in NYC

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Transcript:Lombardi's Pizza in NYC

Hi, I’m John Brescio, owner of Lombardi’s Pizza in New York City, here for About.com. I’m going to explain to you why Lombard’s Pizza is so special and what we do here to make it that way.

The History of Lombardi's Pizza

Lombardi’s is actually the first pizzeria in the whole United States. It opened in 1905, and Gennaro Lombardi was the originator that opened Lombardi’s, and it was a grocery and pizzeria in the beginning and as time went on it evolved into a pizzeria and then a restaurant, a full restaurant.

People came from all over New York to eat the pizza, even the food. And it also became a hub for all the immigrants. This was all Italian immigrants that lived in Little Italy and they lived in SoHo. Those were all factories back then. My family grew up amongst the Lombardi family and when I was a child my father would drop me off in the restaurant. And I would stay with his gandson and we would stay there for the whole day. Make pizza with the grandfather. Between there and my grandmother who would make homemade pizza in our house, I knew what real good pizza tasted like.

Lombardi's Reopens

In the early 90s, Gennaro, the grandson and I were talking, cause they had closed the first restaurant. So we kept talking and finally we found a place right here. Everything is the same. I might even say maybe better cause I’m always looking to better something. I’m always looking for better quality tomato, olive oil, whatever is out there. I look for the best. People know the difference. And that’s why people come here and people aren’t going to write good things about you if it’s not right.

The Pizza at Lombardi's

The type of pizzas we make here are mainly the classic pizzeria toppings which is first the Margherita which is a plain mozzarella and tomato sauce. Sausage, roasted peppers, we roast our own peppers here every morning. I use fresh mushrooms, my meatballs are homemade, so everything is made like being in your own home. Everything is time consuming and hard work. I get people coming from all over the world, and returning every year when they come to town. Lombardi’s became like the Statue of Liberty. If you come to New York – this is one of the places you have to go. Thanks for watching, to learn more visit us on the web at About.com.