John's of Bleecker Street — Restaurant in New York

John's has become one of those restaurants that is such an institution, they could care less about a good customer experience. They are in the category of Peter Luger, Balthazar, and Katz. Tourists will come regardless of the service.

We walked in and sat in the interior of a pizza shop that has been untouched by the river of time since 1929. Checkered floors, beat up walls, vintage tables and chairs, water cups that my grandpa probably sipped out of, etc. The only updates are likely the pictures of celebrities that litter the walls.

We were seated in one of the most uncomfortable booths I've ever sat in in my life. It would have been comfortable if I was an 8 year old kid. But, to be fair, I'm chalking this up to the river of time thing so no hate.

Our server came by 2 minutes after we sat down and asked what we wanted... like bro we just sat down and were catching up, we haven't even looked at a menu. When we told him he needed more time, he said "Okay I'll be back in 2 minutes." Damn.

2 minutes later, we put in our order of a 16" Boom Pizza ($36.39) and a 16" Margherita ($28.04). I got up to ask one of the servers for a refill on water, and he didn't break stride as he walked away from me saying "I got you."

One of our pizzas came without the little pizza server thingy and when I got up to ask, the waiter again walked right by me without breaking stride or looking at me and said "I got you."

At this point, I was sort of hoping for mid-tier pizza so it would fit in line with the rest of the experience, but that was simply not the case. This pizza was fantastic. Thin crust, a great hold on the underrcarriage, and a quality crunch on every bite. Even the simple Margherita had me doing a stank face on every chomp. S-tier pizza.

I get it, they are busy and care more about turning tables than anything else. I just wish there was some semblemance of a welcoming service instead of “how quickly can we get them in and out of here?”

If you want a warm and welcoming dining experience with great service, don't come here. But if you're sole purpose is to have some of the best pizza to ever grace your lips, John's is the spot.

IG @jnov_ Tiktok...

This is gonna be a longer one but trust me, you're gonna wanna read this, especially if you haven't had John's of Bleecker st. Pizza before. I'll start by saying John's has the ABSOLUTE BEST pizza I've ever had in my life. And I've had a lot of really good pizza... it's kinda my thing. I always go out of my way to recommend it to any friends who are visiting New York, even if it's for a couple of days. I always tell them to get the meatballs topping. There are three important attributes to a good pizza: crust, sauce, and toppings. Some pizzas are great crust pizzas. Some excel in the sauce department. And some have amazing toppings (cheese, etc). Rarely is a great pizza really good in more than 1 area. World class pizzas strive to achieve perfection in 2 areas. John's is the only pizza I've ever had that absolutely aces ALL THREE categories!! The crust is always amazingly crunchy, the sauce is insanely delicious (especially the meatball sauce), and the cheese never disappoints. Then there's the atmosphere. It takes rustic to a whole new level. Up until a couple of weeks ago, I felt bad for people who have never and will never try this pizza in their life. And if you think about it, that encompasses 99.999999~% of all the humans who will ever live. Which puts me, and all those who have had the privilege of trying John's of Bleecker st pizza in an extremely exclusive group of ELITES in the history of humanity that have had this pleasure in their lifetime.

I've described John's of Bleecker st as being 40% better than the next best thing in the world of pizzas. And I stand by that statement. And believe me when I tell you, the next best thing is still mindblowingly amazing. If you've made it this far, you're probably destined to be a member of this elite group of human beings. So congratulations, and welcome...

We were excited to finally try John’s of Bleecker Street after always seeing long lines, but if you’re looking for a solid NYC slice, this isn’t it. We started with a pitcher of wine, calamari, and garlic bread. The wine was the best part of the meal, the rest was underwhelming.

The $8 garlic bread was a joke in terms of portion size (check photo), barely larger than a dinner roll, and it wasn’t good. It was essentially a tiny piece of bread with an overwhelming amount of garlic thrown on top. The calamari was fresh, but the breading had no seasoning, and the marinara sauce that came with it was bland and watery, which should have been a warning sign for what was to come.

The pizza itself was the biggest letdown. While the crust had a nice crisp on the edges, it was unevenly cooked: half crispy, half floppy. The sauce lacked the depth you expect from a good tomato base, and there was barely any seasoning to bring out the natural sweetness of the tomatoes. It was the kind of pizza that desperately needed extra garlic, red pepper, or even salt to bring it to life, but our table was missing those basics, and we had to flag down servers again to get them.

Service was chaotic and slow, though the staff seemed to be doing their best given how packed and loud the restaurant was. The atmosphere felt geared toward a younger, college age crowd.

Overall, we left wondering what the fuss is about. The experience felt like all hype, no flavor. Probably won’t be back and wouldn’t recommend, especially when there are far better pizza spots within...