Juliana's is a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...

located in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Founded in 2012 by Pasquale "Patsy" Grimaldi and named after his mother, in 2015 it was rated the best pizzeria in the United States on TripAdvisor. Along with

cannoli Cannoli (; scn, cannola ) are Italian pastries consisting of tube-shaped shells of fried pastry dough, filled with a sweet, creamy filling containing ricotta—a staple of Sicilian cuisine. They range in size from . In mainland Italy, they are ...

and

egg cream An egg cream is a cold beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water, and flavored syrup (typically chocolate or vanilla), as a substitute for an ice cream float. Despite the name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream. It is prepared by po ...

seltzer drinks, the restaurant is known for its "classic margherita" pizza with

San Marzano tomato A San Marzano tomato is a variety of plum tomato. Description Compared to the Roma tomato, San Marzano tomatoes are thinner and more pointed. The flesh is much thicker with fewer seeds, and the taste is stronger, sweeter, and less acidic. Th ...

es,

mozzarella Mozzarella (, ; nap, muzzarella ) is a southern Italian cheese traditionally made from Italian buffalo's milk by the pasta filata method. Fresh mozzarella is generally white but when seasoned it turns to a light yellow depending on the anim ...

, and basil.

History

Backstory and founding (1925-2012)

Pasquale "Patsy" Lancieri founded a bakery in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

in 1925. He converted the bakery to a pizzeria in 1933 and named it

Patsy's Pizzeria Patsy's Pizzeria is a historic coal-oven pizzeria in New York City. Opened in 1933, it was regarded as one of New York's original pizzerias for its use of traditional New York style thin crust pizza. History Patsy's Pizzeria was founded in what ...

, hiring his namesake nephew Pasquale "Patsy" Grimaldi as a cook. Following in his uncle's footsteps, Grimaldi opened

Grimaldi's Pizzeria Grimaldi's Pizzeria is an American pizzeria chain from the New York City area with several restaurants throughout the United States. Its most famous restaurant is under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn at 1 Front Street, next door to its original ...

on Old Fulton Street in 1990. The building has a history dating back to the 18th century, originally built as a tavern and later owned by Dipoline Manufacturing Company before becoming a pizzeria. In 1998, Grimaldi retired and sold the Grimaldi's brand name and franchise to Frank Ciolli. Several years later, Ciolli moved Grimaldi's Pizzeria to a larger building next door. In 2011, Grimaldi announced he was coming out of retirement at the age of 80, but was unable to open a restaurant in his own name due to selling his brand rights. In 2012, he opened Juliana's, named after his mother Maria "Juliana" Lancieri Grimaldi, in Grimaldi's former location, starting a rivalry between the two. According to AMNY, the rivalry is "playful." The original opening, slated for March 2012, was delayed due to lawsuits with Grimaldi's, and the final opening was in December 2012. Without serving pizza by the slice, only the pie, Juliana's menu included "food from the Grimaldi's youth: pizza made with fresh mozzarella in a coal-fired oven; seltzer from glass bottles and egg creams made with U-Bet chocolate syrup. Pre-pandemic, they sold about 40 egg creams a week to customers of all ages, many of them curious tourists."

Reception in Brooklyn (2013-2017)

In 2015, TripAdvisor named Juliana's the "#1 pizzeria in the United States." In late 2016,

Zagat The ''Zagat Survey'', commonly referred to as Zagat (stylized in all caps; , ) and established by Tim and Nina Zagat in 1979, is an organization which collects and correlates the ratings of restaurants by diners. For their first guide, covering ...

named the restaurant the best place in New York City to get pizza, with ''

Business Insider ''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German publ ...

'' describing the staple food item as "coal-fired pies in simple, classic varieties, including margherita topped with tomato, mozzarella, and basil, and white pizza smothered in mozzerella and garlic." It was rated the best pizzeria in New York by Zagat's in 2017. In 2017, ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker'', ...

'' named its cannoli the second-best in New York City, after Villabate Alba. About Juliana's, the magazine wrote that "served with a (traditional) spoon and a garnish of adorable rainbow sprinkles, these cannoli brighten up the area’s permafrost of tourist gridlock, and even add irresistible levity to the block’s fabled and protracted pizza wars." Also that year, ''New York Magazine'' named the restaurant's egg creams "the absolute best" in the city.

Recent (2018-2022)

In January 2020, Juliana’s threatened legal action against another restaurant named Juliana’s Pizzeria in

West Hartford, Connecticut West Hartford is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States, west of downtown Hartford. The population was 64,083 at the 2020 census. The town's popular downtown area is colloquially known as "West Hartford Center," or simply "The C ...

, forcing the restaurant to change its name to Bert’s Pizza.

Menu and restaurant

At 19 Old Fulton Street in

DUMBO, Brooklyn Dumbo (or DUMBO, short for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The area known as Dumbo used to be known as Gairville. It encompasses two sections: one located between the Manhatta ...

, the restaurant is located close to the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

, with views of

Manhattan Island Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

. The menu in 2021 included appetizers, pizzas,

white pizza White pizza or a white pie is an Italian-style pizza that does not use tomato sauce. The pizza generally consists of pizza dough, olive oil, garlic, cheese, salt and sometimes toppings including vegetables such as spinach, tomato, and her ...

calzone A calzone (, , ; "stocking" or "trouser") is an Italian oven-baked folded pizza, often described as a turnover, made with leavened dough. It originated in Naples in the 18th century. A typical calzone is made from salted bread dough, baked in ...

spaghetti and meatballs Spaghetti and meatballs is an Italian-American dish consisting of spaghetti, tomato sauce and meatballs. Originally inspired by similar dishes from southern Italy, the modern version of spaghetti and meatballs was developed by Italian immigran ...

, and desserts such as

New York cheesecake Cheesecake is a sweet dessert consisting of one or more layers. The main, and thickest, layer consists of a mixture of a soft, fresh cheese (typically cottage cheese, cream cheese or ricotta), Egg as food, eggs, and sugar. If there is a Crust ...

, and local ice cream among others. Drinks include

espresso Espresso (, ) is a coffee-brewing method of Italian origin, in which a small amount of nearly boiling water (about ) is forced under of pressure through finely-ground coffee beans. Espresso can be made with a wide variety of coffee beans and ...

cappuccino A cappuccino (; ; Italian plural: ''cappuccini'') is an espresso-based coffee drink that originated in Austria and was later popularized in Italy and is prepared with steamed milk foam (microfoam). Variations of the drink involve the use of cre ...

seltzer Carbonated water (also known as soda water, sparkling water, fizzy water, club soda, water with gas, in many places as mineral water, or especially in the United States as seltzer or seltzer water) is water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gas, ...

from the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys company, beer on tap and by bottle, and wine by the glass and bottle. The company also partially cooks pizzas for "take and bake." According to

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

and

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, the restaurant's "signature" pizza is the "classic margherita" with

es, mozzarella, and basil.

References

External links

* {{Restaurants in Brooklyn, New York Italian restaurants in New York City Italian-American culture in New York City Pizzerias in New York City Restaurants in Brooklyn Restaurants established in 2012 2012 establishments in New York City