Totonno's is an American

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. A pizzeria may offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then takes the prepared food with them in a pizza box. A pizzeria may deliver food to ...

located at 1524 Neptune Avenue (between West 15th Street and West 16th Street) in

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. It was established in 1924 by Antonio "Totonno" Pero.

History

Totonno was an employee at the

Lombardi's Lombardi's is a pizzeria at 32 Spring Street (Manhattan), Spring Street on the corner of Mott Street (Manhattan), Mott Street in the Nolita neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1905, it has been recognized by the Pizza Hall of Fa ...

pizzeria on Spring Street in

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

Little Italy Little Italy is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave populated primarily by Italians or people of Italian ancestry, usually in an Urban area, urban neighborhood. The concept of "Little Italy" holds many different aspects of the Italian cul ...

that was established in 1905 when he began selling tomato pies cooked in a coal oven and wrapped in paper and tied with a string. In 1924, Totonno left Lombardi's to open his own pizzeria on Coney Island called Totonno's. It is owned by Louise Ciminieri and known for its lines out the door, longevity, and delicious food. Pero can be seen in a photograph with Lombardi, whose employ he left in 1924, "shortly after the subway started running out to the hinterlands of Coney Island, and opened his own place there". Totonno's pizza has been made the same way since 1924 and, "along with its Brooklyn pizza brethren Di Fara Pizza, Grimaldi's and Franny's ... is considered among the best in the country by people who have dedicated their lives to the subject".

James Oseland James Oseland is an American writer, editor and television personality. He is the author and editor-in-chief of ''World Food,'' an acclaimed book series from Ten Speed Press. He served as editor-in-chief of the U.S. food magazine ''Saveur'' from ...

, editor-in-chief of ''

Saveur ''Saveur'' is an online gourmet, food, wine, and travel magazine that publishes essays about various world cuisines. The publication was co-founded by Dorothy Kalins, Michael Grossman, Christopher Hirsheimer, and Colman Andrews. It was started ...

'' magazine, attributes a "quintessential New York City flavor profile" to Totonno's. Totonno's is one of a handful of pizzerias that use a coal fired brick oven, which imparts its unique flavor to pies baked in it. New coal ovens do not pass current environmental laws in New York, but the old ovens are grandfathered as long as the business remains open. The original location was damaged by fire in 2009, but reopened. In October 2012, Totonno's was among several landmark New York restaurants devastated by

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as Superstorm Sandy) was an extremely large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

. Although they had planned to open by the end of the year, they re-opened in mid-January 2013. In 2021 they closed temporarily due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in New York City The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City since January, with cases of community transmission confirme ...

. Totonno's has been featured on various television shows, such as '' Ugly Delicious'', ''

Somebody Feed Phil ''Somebody Feed Phil'' is an American travel documentary television series presented by Philip Rosenthal that premiered on Netflix in January 2018. Each episode follows Rosenthal touring the cuisine of its featured city, and spotlights charitie ...

'', and '' The Pizza Show''.

References

{{Coord, 40, 34, 44.1, N, 73, 59, 1.51, W, region:US-NY, display=title Pizzerias in New York City European restaurants in Brooklyn Restaurants established in 1924 Coney Island America's Classics winners 1924 establishments in New York City

History

See also

References