John's of Bleecker Street simply known as John's Pizzeria is a historic pizzeria founded in 1929 and located in Manhattan, New York City on Bleecker Street which serves coal firedbrick oven pizza prepared in the style of a tomato pie. In 2015, it was ranked the 10th best pizzeria in the United States by TripAdvisor. John's is known for its graffiti-carved wooden booths where any patron can carve their name. The pizzeria does not serve slices, only whole pies cooked in an 850° F oven, along with calzones, and accepted cash only until 2016. John's began accepting credit cards in May 2016.
History
John's was founded in 1929 by John Sasso, originally located on Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village. After losing his lease in 1934, he moved the pizzeria to Bleecker Street. The restaurant was later purchased by the Vesce brothers in 1954. In the 1960s Augustine Vesce purchased John's Pizzeria from his brother Joe. He and his wife Rose became the owners of John's until 1980-81. Augustine suffered from health issues and offered 40% of the restaurant's shares to current manager at the time, Pete Castellotti Sr, if he continued to manage the business, allowing Augustine to retire. A year to two later, Castellotti opened up John's on 65th St, then moved to Florida and opened John's of New York in Port Charlotte, letting his two children Pete Castellotti Jr. and Lisa Free run John's of Bleecker Street together with his longtime co-worker Robert "Bob" Vittoria. Castellotti's ex-wife Madeline left her job as a personnel director of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, a Manhattanlaw firm, to open a John's Pizzeria in the eighties on the Upper West Side. She then opened John's Pizzeria on Times Square in 1994. In 1993, Bob Vittoria became the majority partner of John's Pizzeria on Bleecker. He is a nephew of the Vesce family. Documents show the pizzeria actually opened in 1915 by Filippo Milone. John Sasso was related by marriage took over in 1925.
Ratings
John's has been highly rated throughout its operation. Adam Kuban of Serious Eats considers it an NYC Quintessential pizza for connoisseurs.
