Lombardi’s

While its title of “America’s first pizzeria” is sometimes disputed, its position as one of New York’s premiere tourist destinations is not. First, the good news: The staff is genuinely hospitable and the multi-room space is more comfortable than you’d expect. Now, the less-good: the prices are, if not completely insane, still too high, and the pizzas — which emerge with appropriately crackly crust from the joint’s fabled coal oven — are fine, but not exactly transcendent. (After one recent clam-pizza experience left our fingers covered in blackened crust dust that resembled fireplace soot, we wondered if maybe the kitchen could stand to clean their famous oven a little more often.) On the whole, Lombardi’s is good but not great. As an important piece of pizza history in America, it’s worth visiting, but if you’re in the mood for the finest New York–style pies in existence, you should probably look elsewhere.