Juliana's Pizza

Juliana's Pizza
Restaurant information
Established	2012 (2012)[1]
Owner(s)	Pasquale "Patsy" Grimaldi
Food type	Italian-American pizzeria
Street address	19 Old Fulton St.
City	New York City
County	Brooklyn
Postal/ZIP Code	11201
Country	United States
Coordinates	40°42′10″N 73°59′36″W
Website	www.julianaspizza.com

Juliana's is a pizzeria located in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2012 by Pasquale "Patsy" Grimaldi and named after his mother,^[2] in 2015 it was rated the best pizzeria in the United States on TripAdvisor.^[3][4][5] Along with cannoli^[6] and egg creams,^[7] the restaurant is known for its classic Margherita pizza^[8] with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil.^[9]

History

Backstory and founding (1925-2012)

Pasquale "Patsy" Lancieri founded a bakery in East Harlem in 1925. He converted the bakery to a pizzeria in 1933 and named it Patsy's Pizzeria, hiring his namesake nephew Pasquale "Patsy" Grimaldi as a cook. Following in his uncle's footsteps, Grimaldi opened Grimaldi's Pizzeria 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.^[2]

In 2012, he opened Juliana's, named after his mother Maria "Juliana" Lancieri Grimaldi,^[2] in Grimaldi's former location, starting a rivalry between the two.^[10] According to AMNY, the rivalry is "playful."^[11] 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,^[12] 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. Before the pandemic, they sold about 40 egg creams a week to customers of all ages, many of them curious tourists."^[13]

Reception in Brooklyn (2013-2017)

In 2015, TripAdvisor named Juliana's the "#1 pizzeria in the United States."^[8] In late 2016, Zagat named the restaurant the best place in New York City to get pizza, with Business Insider 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."^[14] It was rated the best pizzeria in New York by Zagat's in 2017.^[13] In 2017, New York Magazine 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."^[6] Also that year, New York Magazine named the restaurant's egg creams "the absolute best" in the city.^[7]

Recent (2018-2022)

In January 2020, Juliana’s threatened legal action against another restaurant named Juliana’s Pizzeria in West Hartford, Connecticut, forcing the restaurant to change its name to Bert’s Pizza.^{[citation needed]}

Menu and restaurant

At 19 Old Fulton Street^[8] in DUMBO, Brooklyn, the restaurant is located close to the Brooklyn Bridge, with views of Manhattan Island.^[15]

The menu in 2021 included appetizers, pizzas, white pizzas, calzone, spaghetti and meatballs, and desserts such as New York cheesecake, cannoli, and local ice cream among others. Drinks include egg cream, espresso, cappuccino, seltzer from the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys company, beer on tap and by bottle, and wine by the glass and bottle.^[16] The company also partially cooks pizzas for "take and bake."^[17] According to ABC^[8] and CNN, the restaurant's "signature" pizza is the "classic margherita" with San Marzano tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil.^[9]

See also

• List of Italian restaurants
• List of restaurants in New York City

References

1. "The best pizza places in America, according to TripAdvisor". Fox News. July 29, 2015. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
2. Weiskopf, Jill. "Juliana's Pizza". NYMag. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
3. Muto, Jordan (August 7, 2015). "Inside Juliana's, the No. 1 pizza place in the U.S., according to TripAdvisor". TODAY.com. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
4. "The 101 Best Pizzas In America". The Huffington Post. August 13, 2015. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
5. Hunter, Marnie (July 29, 2015). "TripAdvisor picks America's best pizza". CNN. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
6. Merwin, Hugh (April 28, 2017), "The Absolute Best Cannoli in New York", New York Magazine
7. Weedman, Mary Jane (March 23, 2017), "The Absolute Best Egg Cream in New York", New York Magazine
8. Candelieri, Domenick (August 8, 2015), "Juliana's Pizza in Brooklyn named #1 Pizza in America", ABC7
9. Hecht, Anna (October 18, 2018), "10 places in the US worth traveling to for pizza", CNN
10. Shunk, Laura (June 25, 2013). "The Juliana's and Grimaldi's Rivalry, Bite-by-Bite". Village Voice. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
11. Mitchell, Alex (February 6, 2020), "Celebrate National Pizza Day with a rundown of NYC's great slice spots", AMNY
12. Mao, Tien (December 14, 2012), "Patsy Grimaldi Returns! Juliana's Pizza Officially Open Under Brooklyn Bridge", Gothamist
13. Ringler, Rachel (June 16, 2021), "What is an egg cream and why is it so Jewish?", Jewish Telegraphic Agency
14. Martin, Emmie (December 12, 2016), "The best New York City restaurant for every type of cuisine", Business Insider
15. Kristen Bateman (October 26, 2015), "#ChicEats: New York's Best Pizza", Harpers Bazaar
16. Juliana's Pizza (2021), "Menu", Juliana's Pizza
17. Juliana's Pizza (2021), "Take and Bake", Juliana's Pizza

External links

• Official website