Joe & Pat's Pizzeria & Restaurant

"The biggest name in Staten Island pizza is Joe and Pat’s, open since 1960. There’s a sit-down restaurant in the East Village that opened in 2018, but the original is the best. Joe and Pat is known in particular for an “imperially thin” crust that “almost crackles.” In addition to standard offerings like plain or pepperoni, we’ve spotted lesser-seen options like squid on occasion." - Emma Orlow, Eater Staff

"You might think that Rubirosa is the only place that makes a super-thin-crust pie with excellent vodka sauce. News flash: Rubirosa borrows their recipes and style from legendary Staten Island spot Joe & Pat's. (The owner of Rubirosa is related to the team who started Joe & Pat's.) The crust here is almost as thin as matzoh, so we don’t recommend weighing it down with more than one topping. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It just means you can eat more cracker-thin pizza, which you will inevitably want to do. If you don’t live on Staten Island, this old-school restaurant is worth the trip, but there's also a location in the East Village." - bryan kim, willa moore, kenny yang, carlo mantuano, molly fitzpatrick

"In case you live under a rock (Manhattan) and only know about the East Village location of Joe & Pat’s, let us provide you with a little history lesson. Long before Joe & Pat’s opened on 1st Avenue, it existed on Staten Island, in Castleton Corners. The year was 1960, so if we do the math there, they’d been perfecting their thin-crust, Staten Island-style pies for 58 years before they made their Manhattan move. If you call yourself a diehard fan of the vodka pizza (one of the best pies in NYC), you owe it to yourself to try it straight from the source. Round out your order with some baked clams and chicken parm." - willa moore

"In case you live under a rock (Manhattan) and only know about the East Village location of Joe & Pat’s, here’s a history lesson. Long before the First Avenue Joe & Pat’s came the Staten Island original. The year was 1960, which means they spent over half a century perfecting their thin crust pies in Castleton Corners before hopping across the water. So for a crash course in Staten Island pizza—some of the best in any borough—you should go straight to the source. The crusts are so thin it’s easy to finish a couple of pizzas, so add the caesar salad pie, which will make you a certified salad-on-pizza fan. Vodka pie, plain pie, caesar salad pie" - molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, will hartman, bryan kim, sonal shah

"In case you live under a rock (Manhattan) and only know about the East Village location of Joe & Pat’s, here’s a little history lesson. Long before the 1st Avenue Joe & Pat’s came the  Staten Island original. The year was 1960, which means they spent over half a century perfecting their thin crust pies in Castleton Corners before hopping across the water. So for a crash course in Staten Island pizza—some of the best in any borough—you should go straight to the source. photo credit: Emily Schindler photo credit: Willa Moore photo credit: Emily Schindler Joe-Pat’s (that’s how they answer the phone) is on a busy avenue, but it’s usually pretty quiet inside. There’s a counter at the entrance where you can grab a slice to go, and two large dining rooms that are perfect for lunch with a few pizza enthusiasts, or a three-year-old’s birthday party. It’s all pretty simple, with some chandeliers and red tablecloths under protective layers of butcher paper, and everything else fades away once the pizza arrives. Every pie here has sauce and cheese that creeps towards the very edges of its cracker-like crust, leaving you with just a centimeter or two to crunch on—like a palate cleanser before your next piece. The slices here are so light that you can easily eat half a pie without noticing. The plain pizza is a fantastic place to start, but the vodka is the one you’ll keep coming back for. And—if you can wrap your head around it—the caesar salad-topped pizza is pretty great too. Food Rundown photo credit: Emily Schindler Plain Pie For an introduction to Staten Island-style pizza, start here. The mozzarella doesn’t cover every square inch, so the exposed red sauce gets sweet and caramelized in the oven, and the globs of cheese grow bubbly and browned. photo credit: Emily Schindler Vodka Pie We love the plain, but when we think about Joe & Pat’s, we think of the vodka pie. The sauce is rich, and thick with some chunky tomato texture, and the mozzarella adds some crucial stretchy bites in between all that velvety orange. photo credit: Emily Schindler Caesar Salad Pie Caesar salad on pizza is a relatively newer phenomenon, but Joe & Pat’s version tastes like a classic. A white pie topped with an inch-thick layer of simple, classic caesar—just romaine, shards of parmesan cheese, and creamy dressing that tastes smooth and even, like it came out of a well-shaken bottle." - Willa Moore