Grimaldi's Pizzeria

Grimaldi's Pizzeria is an American pizzeria chain based in the New York City area, they have restaurants in New Jersey and southern and northern parts of the US. Its most famous restaurant is under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn at 1 Front Street, next door to its original location. It does not sell slices, only whole pies. The pizzas are famous made using a coal-fired brick oven.

History

Patsy Grimaldi, the founder of Grimaldi's, learned to make pizza at Patsy's Pizzeria, his uncle Patsy Lancieri's restaurant in Italian Harlem in 1941 at age ten. He eventually opened his own restaurant, Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn, which he originally also named Patsy's. Grimaldi originally planned to build it in Manhattan. However, he believed that coal-fired brick ovens produced the best pizza, and that it was illegal to build new coal ovens in Manhattan. As a result, he moved to the current location at Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn.

In 1991, Grimaldi’s aunt, Carmela Lancieri, sold the East Harlem restaurant along with its naming and branding rights to a corporation, which franchised the Patsy’s name to other Manhattan restaurants. In 1995, the corporation sued Patsy Grimaldi for naming his restaurant Patsy’s Pizzeria, which eventually led Grimaldi to change the name of his restaurant to Patsy Grimaldi’s in 1996.