Lombardi's is a pizzeria at 32 Spring Street on the corner of

Mott Street Mott Street () is a narrow but busy thoroughfare that runs in a north–south direction in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan. It is regarded as Chinatown, Manhattan, Chinatown's unofficial "Main Street". Mott Stre ...

in the Nolita neighborhood of

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

in New York City. Opened in 1905, it has been recognized by the Pizza Hall of Fame as the first pizzeria in the United States, though later research has shown other pizzerias that predate it by more than a decade.

History

It was believed that Italian immigrant Gennaro Lombardi started the business in 1897 as a grocery store at 53½ Spring Street, and began selling "tomato pies" (in which the cheese is put down first then covered by tomato sauce) wrapped in paper and tied with a string at lunchtime to workers from the area's factories. As the story went, in 1905 Lombardi received a

business license Business licenses are permits issued by government agency, government agencies that allow individuals or companies to conduct business within the government's geographical jurisdiction. It is the authorization to start a business issued by the loc ...

to operate a pizzeria restaurant, and soon had a clientele that included Italian tenor

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that r ...

, and later passed the business on to his son, George. However, in 2019, suspicion was raised about whether Gennaro Lombardi was the true founder, after a search of his birth record, naturalization papers, and other supporting documents show he first came to America in November 1904 at age 17, classified as a "laborer." If he became involved with the pizzeria at 53½ Spring Street in 1905, it was as an employee, not as an owner. Research suggests Filippo Milone opened the pizzeria. In 1984, the original Lombardi's closed, but reopened 10 years later a block away at 30 and 32 Spring Street, run by Gennaro Lombardi III, Gennaro Lombardi's grandson, and his childhood friend John Brescio. This hiatus and location change surrendered the title of America's longest continually operating pizzeria to Papa's Tomato Pies in

Trenton, New Jersey Trenton is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat of Mercer County, New Jersey, Mercer County. It was the federal capital, capital of the United States from November 1 until D ...

, which opened in 1912 and has sold pies without interruption since. Brescio, who remains the current owner, was named as a captain in the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family (), also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian Americans, Italian American American Mafia, Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and Ne ...

by law enforcement in 2017. The move to 32 Spring Street was because the space had a coal fired oven. When Lombardi's business suffered in the early portion of the COVID-19 pandemic in the 2020s, Lombardi ended its lease at 32 Spring Street (although keeping 30 Spring Street) and the owner of the building destroyed the coal oven. In 2005, Lombardi's offered entire pizzas for 5 cents, their 1905 price, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first pizza sold at its original location. They did this promotion again in 2015 for the 110th anniversary.

References

External links

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"Slice of the City: New York"
''Pizza'' magazine article 1905 establishments in New York City Culture of New York City Italian restaurants in Manhattan Italian-American organized crime Nolita Pizzerias in New York City Re-established companies Restaurants established in 1905 American companies established in 1905 {{NYC-restaurant-stub

History

See also

References

External links