This Brooklyn Pizza Is the 2nd Best In The Country, Ranking Says

CARROLL GARDENS, BROOKLYN — A Brooklyn pizza joint has nearly dethroned Connecticut's long-reigning pizza champ, jumping ranks to land in second place on this year's ranking of the best pizzas across the country.

Lucali on Henry Street was named runner-up in The Daily Meal's list of the “101 Best Pizzas in America," leaping from its position in 16th place in the food website's last round-up of top slices.

The Carroll Gardens join was surpassed only by Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, which has taken the top spot for the last three years. It joined nine other Brooklyn spots on the list and was one of 22 NYC eateries that made it, making New York the state with the most spots on the ranking.

Lucali's pizza was hailed as a perfect mix of a few of those top-earning pies.

"Include a pinch of Di Fara, stretch Totonno's crust a bit wider, add a few intangibles, and you’re close to the pizza experience Mark Iacono has made famous at his Carroll Gardens pizzeria Lucali, which opened in 2006," the foodies wrote. "Eating pizza in Lucali’s warm, softly lit environs, you wonder how Iacono seems to have inherited Gennaro Lombardi’s pizza magic."

Some of the top NYC slices included John's of Bleecker Street, Patsy's in Manhattan and Totonno's in Coney Island, which all made the top 10.

The “101 Best Pizzas in America” list is culled from a preferred pool of perfect pies. The Daily Meal then reached out to a diverse list of pizza chefs, bloggers, critics and writers, and asked them to take a survey on the pizza shops where they actually had eaten.

New York's 28 overall pizzerias were followed by Illinois with nine, California with seven, and Connecticut, Pennsylvania and New Jersey all with six.

Here are the top 10 overall pizzas in America:

10. John’s of Bleecker Street (New York, New York)
9. Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria (Chicago, Illinois)
8. Patsy’s (New York, New York)
7. Sally’s Apizza (New Haven, Connecticut)
6. Totonno’s (Brooklyn, NY)
5. Buddy’s Pizza (Detroit, Michigan)
4. Pequod’s (Chicago, Illinois)
3. Razza Pizza Artigianale (Jersey City, New Jersey)
2. Lucali (Brooklyn, New York)
1. Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (New Haven, Connecticut)