The oldest pizza places in Brooklyn

What is the oldest pizza place in Brooklyn?

Totonno's Pizzeria Napolitano at 1524 Neptune Avenue, Coney Island, opened in 1924 by Antonio "Totonno" Pero, who had worked at Lombardi's in Manhattan.

The family still runs it, now in its third generation, and calls it the oldest continually run family-owned pizzeria in the country (Brooklyn Paper, 2021). It bakes whole pies in a coal-fired brick oven. That matters: per Wikipedia, new coal ovens do not pass New York's current environmental rules, and the old ones survive only because they are grandfathered while the business stays open.

Is Totonno's still open in 2026?

Yes, but for takeout only: its website lists Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5:30 p.m., with orders through the delivery apps. There is no dine-in for now.

Totonno's has survived a fire in 2009, Hurricane Sandy in 2012 (it reopened in January 2013) and a long COVID closure in 2020 and 2021. In May 2024 the owners said publicly they were looking for a buyer, and Time Out New York reported in December 2025 that they were still looking, with more than 200 inquiries. Its site lists Grubhub, DoorDash, Uber Eats and Slice for orders.

Pies sell out, so go early in the window and call ahead on 718-372-8606 before you ride out. The latest news is in our Totonno's 2026 post.

How do you get to Totonno's in Coney Island?

Take the D, F, N or Q train to the end of the line at Coney Island-Stillwell Av, then walk a few blocks inland to Neptune Avenue between West 15th and 16th Streets.

The MTA's own Coney Island guide confirms all four lines end at Stillwell Avenue, a short walk from the boardwalk and the beach. With the dining room closed, the move is obvious: carry the pie to the boardwalk and eat it on a bench facing the ocean.

Visiting outside the weekend? Totonno's will be closed, and the next old classic is one stop away on the N.

How old is L&B Spumoni Gardens?

L&B dates from 1939, when Ludovico Barbati bought the 86th Street lot to make spumoni and ices. The pizzeria came by the mid-1950s.

Barbati had sold spumoni and Italian ice from a horse and wagon in 1938. The Sicilian square is now what people cross Brooklyn for: thick, sauce on top, eaten at the outdoor tables with a cup of spumoni. The original is at 2725 86th Street, on the Gravesend and Bensonhurst border, and its site lists it as open Monday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m.

Getting there: the N stops at 86 St, one stop before Coney Island-Stillwell Av, with exits on 86th Street per the MTA line map. From there it is a walk of a few blocks along 86th Street. Not going that far south? The DUMBO branch at 46 Old Fulton St serves the same squares; see Grimaldi's vs Juliana's.

When did Di Fara Pizza open?

In 1965, on the corner of Avenue J and East 15th Street in Midwood. Domenico "Dom" DeMarco ran it for more than half a century; his family has run it since his death in 2022.

DeMarco came from the province of Caserta, near Naples. The name joins his and his first partner's: DeMarco and Farina. For decades he made every pie himself, snipping basil over the top and finishing it with olive oil, and the lines started because people wanted to watch. NYC Tourism notes that basil still grows in the window.

Di Fara sells slices, squares and whole pies, which makes it the easiest of the old guard for a solo visitor. Take the Q to Avenue J and walk along Avenue J to East 15th Street. The family also runs 1012 Kitchen around the corner at 1012 East 15th Street, and sells frozen pies in grocery stores.

Three pizzerias, three styles and the stories behind them on a 2.5-hour walk in Cobble Hill, with a coal-oven slice shop among the stops.

★ 4.5 · 2.5 hours · from $65

Explore the Brooklyn pizza walk → Tour details

Is Grimaldi's one of the oldest pizzerias in Brooklyn?

Not really: Grimaldi's opened in 1990. It is famous and coal-fired, but it is 66 years younger than Totonno's.

Its roots go back further. Patsy Grimaldi learned the coal oven at his uncle's Patsy's Pizzeria in East Harlem, opened in 1933, before starting his own place at 19 Old Fulton Street. He sold the brand in 1998; it moved next door to 1 Front Street and became a chain of more than 40 restaurants. In 2012 he returned to the old address with Juliana's.

Both DUMBO pizzerias sell whole pies only and pause their ovens in the afternoon, Juliana's from 3:15 to 4 p.m., Grimaldi's from 4 to 5 p.m.

Was Lombardi's the first pizzeria in America?

It is the famous claim, and it is disputed. Lombardi's, now at 32 Spring Street in Nolita, dates its licence to 1905, but it closed in 1984 and reopened a block away ten years later.

Per Wikipedia, research in 2019 questioned whether Gennaro Lombardi founded the business at all, and the gap in the 1980s and 1990s handed the title of longest continually operating pizzeria to Papa's Tomato Pies in Trenton, New Jersey, open since 1912. What is not in doubt is Lombardi's role as a school: Totonno Pero worked there before he left for Coney Island in 1924.

That makes Totonno's the strongest candidate in New York for the oldest pizzeria still run by the founding family. The borough-by-borough picture is in Brooklyn vs Manhattan pizza.

Can you visit the oldest Brooklyn pizzerias in one day?

On a Saturday or Sunday, yes, because the subway lines link them: Totonno's at Coney Island, L&B one stop up the N, Di Fara on the Q and Grimaldi's on the F back toward Manhattan.

A route that works, with sharing in mind:

1. Noon, Totonno's: pick up a pie as the takeout window opens and eat it on the boardwalk.
2. Early afternoon, L&B: the N one stop to 86 St, then squares and spumoni outside.
3. Mid-afternoon, Di Fara: back on the Q to Avenue J for one slice each.
4. Evening, DUMBO: the F to York St, then Grimaldi's after its 4 to 5 p.m. oven break, or Juliana's before its 9 p.m. last seating.

It is a lot of pizza and a lot of subway. If you would rather have someone else plan the stops, the Cobble Hill pizza walk fits in an afternoon, as does the DUMBO food tour, and the pizza tour comparison covers the rest.

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