Two New Orleans pizza spots, one in the Lower Garden District and the other in the Bywater, have been recognized as having some of the best pies in the U.S.
St. Pizza on Magazine Street was recognized by the New York Times in their list, "22 of the Best Pizza Places in the World." This is a huge accomplishment for the restaurant and pizza window, as it just opened during the 2024 Mardi Gras season.
Pizza Delicious, a local favorite on Piety, was ranked the 39th best pizzeria in the country by 50 Top Pizza USA 2024. This is the second year in a row Pizza D made the list.
St. Pizza comes to New Orleans
Pizza was a staple dish in Tony Biancosino's southern New Jersey household, he told Gambit Weekly in April, adding that he "always played around with pizza dough."
In 2019, St. Pizza co-owner Biancosino and his wife, Leslie Pariseau, moved from New York to New Orleans. An empty warehouse on Magazine Street prompted the couple to open Patron Saint in the fall of 2023. Months later, Biancosino and Pariseau decided to open a pizza tavern next door to the wine bar, along with their third business partner Abhi Bhansali.
“We do the kind of pizza I grew up with,” Biancosino told Gambit.
The Times noted that the tavern offers "crisp, sparely appointed" pizza, often using base ingredients like soft ricotta or mozzarella with tomato, basil and house-made fennel sausage to create a northeast-style concoction.
Kitchens in every corner of the nation were recognized in the Times' list, but pizzerias in southern states — Mississippi, Tennessee and North Carolina — especially dominated the culinary roadmap.
From a Sunday pop-up to Pizza Delicious
Before they became restaurant owners, New Yorkers Mike Friedman and Greg Augarten were college roommates pursuing liberal arts degrees at Tulane University.
Friedman and Augarten were disappointed when they quickly discovered that New Orleans did not offer the style of pizza they grew up around: thin-crusted, flimsy and massive pies.
"Everyone in the world loves pizza," Friedman told The Times-Picayune, "And, for New Yorkers, it's a great point of pride."
The business partners were on completely different paths when they decided to take it upon themselves to bring New York-style pizza to New Orleans.
When Friedman and Augarten became determined to bring their business vision to life in their early 20s, there was only one problem: the two didn't know how to make pizza.
It wasn't until after extensive research and experimenting that the former roommates nailed the recipe. From there, they launched a Bywater Sunday pop-up in February 2010 — shortly after the New Orleans' Saints won the 2009 Super Bowl, Friedman noted, rising above their long-winded history of disappointing fans.
After years of success, Friedman and Augarten opened their brick-and-mortar spot, Pizza Delicious, in the Bywater in 2012.
Pizza Delicious owner Michael Friedman and general manager Madison Beaudet holding the Top 50 Pizza USA 2024 award. (Provided by Friedman)
This year marks the second time in a row that Pizza Delicious has been named one of the best pizzerias in the United States.
"It feels really nice to be recognized for doing the work you do," Friedman said.
Pizza scene in New Orleans grows
Despite the city being home to a renowned culinary hub, the New Orleans pizza scene is quite young and didn't start flourishing until about 15 years ago. For decades, New Orleanians could only get their pizza fix at long-standing, local classics like Reginelli's, Theo's and Mark Twain's.
The times have changed now. A handful of establishments have come to New Orleans, introducing locals to northeast and Neapolitan pies. And now, the city's metastasizing pizza scene is being recognized on a national level.
