Elmont Pizzeria Named Among Nation's best

Another year, another ranking confirming what we already know: The best pizza in the United States is served in New York City, but quality slices can be found in many other cities as well.

The Daily Meal released its list of the “101 Best Pizzas in America” at the end of September, and restaurants from 30 states made the ranking, including two from Long Island. The food blog considered nearly 1,000 pizzas and looked for such qualities as a nuanced sauce, well-distributed cheese, a flavorful crust and an overall balance of ingredients.

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.

At the end of the process, there were two Long Island pizza joints that made the rankings.

• 66: Umberto's Pizza, New Hyde Park
• 77: King Umberto's Pizza, Elmont

Last year, four Long Island pizzerias made the list. Both Umberto's and King Umberto's got knocked down in the rankings, and Salvatore's of Port Washington and La Piazza of Merrick were eliminated entirely.

Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, Connecticut was named the best pizza joint in the nation for the third year in a row.

Connecticut might have had the No. 1 pizza, but New York led the way overall with 28 pizza places on the Daily Meal list. New York was 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)