Lombardi's Pizza

Coordinates: 40°43′18″N 73°59′44″W / 40.72155°N 73.995624°W / 40.72155; -73.995624

Lombardi's is a pizzeria located at 32 Spring Street on the corner of Mott Street in the Nolita neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan, New York City. Opened in 1905, it has been acknowledged by the Pizza Hall of Fame as the first pizzeria in the United States.

History

Gennaro Lombardi started the business in 1897 as a grocery store at 53½ Spring Street, and began selling tomato pies wrapped in paper and tied with a string at lunchtime to workers from the area's factories. In 1905 Lombardi received a business license to operate a pizzeria restaurant, and soon had a loyal clientele, including Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. He later passed the business on to his son, George.

In 1984, the original Lombardi's closed, but re-opened ten years later a block away at 32 Spring Street, run by Gennaro Lombardi III, Gennaro Lombardi's grandson, and his childhood friend John Brescio. This change in location and ten-year hiatus surrendered the title of America's oldest continuously operating pizzeria to Papa's Tomato Pies in Trenton, New Jersey, which opened in 1912 and has sold pies without interruption since.