National Pizza Day | ‘The real Brooklyn Slice’: How Luigi’s Pizza became a Park Slope staple

Luigi’s Pizza has all the makings of a perfect pie, but over the past 52 years, it’s grown into something more than just a pizza place for the Park Slope community.

“I want people to come in here and feel like this is their neighborhood store,” owner Giovanni Lanzo told Brooklyn Paper. “Because [when] I grew up here, every store was a neighborhood store. That’s changing.”

The shop’s slices have stayed the same for over 50 years, with fresh, simple ingredients atop a crunchy yet light and airy crust. Lanzo recommends the plain cheese, but whether it’s a margarita, Sicilian, or grandma slice, it does not disappoint.

Lanzo’s father, Luigi, opened the pizzeria in 1973. An Italian immigrant, Luigi began his life in Brooklyn working at Green-Wood Cemetery from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. before starting his shift at a pizzeria from 5 p.m. to 4 a.m.

His father opened Luigi’s Pizza around the time Lanzo was 11. He grew up in the shop and eventually took over in 1999. He has kept his father’s vision alive by keeping the pizzeria a reliable place for his neighbors to grab a great slice. 

“Today everything has changed. They try to reinvent the wheel, but the bottom line is, it’s still around,” Lanzo said. “I keep it the way I was brought up, the way my father was taught in 1961.”

Luigi’s draws a steady stream of patrons who fill the narrow walkway and backroom seating. It is hard to ignore the chatter between customers as they recognize one another and strike up conversations about their families. 

“At one time, you might have your grandparents here, your parents here, your kids. It was a family neighborhood. Now prices change all that,” Lanzo said.

The pizzaiolo has seen the neighborhood undergo many changes — especially in the last few decades as rising rents for storefronts and apartments have reshaped the community. He has seen families that have lived in Park Slope for generations pack up and leave, and smaller mom-and-pop shops having a harder time staying open.

“I guess it’s part of life. This is what you deal with,” Lanzo said. “But I’ve had customers that have been coming since my father started in this business.”

Despite its old-school roots, Lanzo welcomes a younger crowd to Luigi’s. In 2021, Dave Portnoy’s viral YouTube series, Barstool One Bite Pizza Review, awarded the shop a 9.3 rating for its plain slice.

While Lanzo admits to profiting from extra toppings and more nontraditional pies, he prefers the authenticity of “the real Brooklyn slice.”

“I know you love your pepperoni, you love your sausage, you love your onions…I’d rather you try the fresh regular slice,” he said. “It’s $3.”

The pizza ovens at Luigi’s go into overdrive during the after-school rush as families pick up pies and students come and go.

“I come here for the slices,” said 18-year-old customer Matt Fallah. But “it’s the atmosphere” that keeps him coming back to Luigi’s.

During a recent visit to Luigi’s ahead of National Pizza Day, Brooklyn Paper witnessed a drive-by compliment when a patron shouted through the door window, “This is the best pizza in Brooklyn!”

With a kind “thank you, sweetie,” Lanzo said compliments like that mean more to him than any money he could ever earn from his shop.

“ National Pizza Day is celebrating something that, for life, [has] been something that’s affordable,” Lanzo said. “And I keep it that way.”

Luigi’s Pizza is located at 686 Fifth Ave. in Park Slope and is open Monday through Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. For more information, visit luigispizzabrooklyn.com.