What Makes Grandma Pizza Different From Other Classic NYC Styles?

New York City is known for its busy streets, its tall buildings, and — most importantly — its pizza. Whether it's your first time trying the impossibly cheap slices that grace every street corner or you're a local at the pizzeria near your 250-square-foot apartment, you'll soon realize why New York City has earned the title of having the "best pizza in the world" for three years in a row. New York City made famous the greasy, cheesy, floppy slices that we associate with the Big Apple, but beyond that classic New York-style pizza, the city is also celebrated for a lesser-known style named Grandma pizza.

The classic New York-style pizza is the one you'd see Joey Tribbiani from "Friends" scarfing down on a Friday night or the kind that shows up in almost any movie set in the city. It's the thin-crusted, extra cheesy kind, not the thick, doughy kind. This differs vastly from Sicilian pizza, a type that's popular in New Jersey and is known for its square slices and thick, fluffy crust. Grandma pizza lies somewhere between the two. It's more similar to a Sicilian pizza than a classic New York-style pie, but it still has plenty of differences to the former. For example, whereas Sicilian pizza is known for its airy texture, Grandma pizza dough spends less time proofing, meaning the pie is both denser and thinner.

Grandma pizza is made by stretching a special pizza dough over a square or rectangular olive oil-lined pan and adding both tomato sauce and cheese before finishing it with more olive oil. A good slice of Grandma's pizza will have a satisfyingly snappable crust that remains chewy and flavorful. This stands it in direct contrast to the classic New York-style which is almost entirely foldable and produces very little flaking or crunching when eaten. Most chefs will bake their Grandma pizzas in a heavy-duty steel pan, allowing the olive oil to brown the dough more evenly. There's no need for a fancy wood-fired pizza oven when making a pie of Grandma's pizza; just a regular old pizza oven and a square or rectangular pan will do.

As if New Yorkers need any more reason to brag about their city's pizza heritage, they can also claim to be the originators of modern-day Grandma pizza. It's said that Umberto Corteo, owner of Umberto's Pizzeria in New Hyde Park, Long Island, created this unique pie on a whim. The story goes that after a long day, Corteo made a quick pizza for his employees, who enjoyed the pie so much that they encouraged him to add it to the pizzeria's regular menu. Other people contest that Grandma pizza was originally a homecooked dish made by Italian immigrants living on Long Island who, like many of their relatives back in Italy, lacked the time and equipment necessary to produce authentic Neapolitan or Sicilian pies. Either way, Grandma pizza is another jewel in New York City's pizza crown, one you'd do well to try for yourself.