Geoffrey from New York

About me I travel to discover how people elsewhere live, how they manage living with low incomes in expensive cities, how they grapple with hard times and failing economies, how they deal with ageing or crumbling families and how they themselves age and adapt. Knowing and loving New York comes from having lived through many of its manifestations while witnessing its changes....

Oct 16, 2025

Di Fara, Brooklyn New York

Pizza 1

""Di Fara" in New York is the best pizza pilgrimage one can go on. This local favorite makes a time-capsulized pizza restaurant. Its crust sets it apart..."

Wonder where the best pizza is? Take a look at this interactive pizza map. When you are talking pizza, you need to dream up and use terms like ‘puffy’, ‘charred’ and ‘flirting-with-burnt crispness’ to partake in a serious pizza conversation.

I think pizza-world's #1 certified pilgrimage is the one to Di Fara in Brooklyn, a time-capsulized pizza restaurant probably unchanged since 1964. It takes a good 45 minutes to get there from midtown.

There, you buy a divine slice with fresh cut basil; 80+ year old Domenico De Marco uses scissors to clip the leaves for each slice with craftsmanship and love.

The bottom line is, I can’t put it better than the writer of this website: “If you're a New Yorker, all I have to tell you is that there's a really long fucking line. Isn't that enough? If you're not a New Yorker, you wouldn't understand.”

The New Yorker magazine has just agreed with the consensus regarding Di Fara’s quality by publishing a video interview, well worth watching.

From Manhattan, take the QTrain (Yellow) to Avenue J in Brooklyn. Go downstairs, walk west about one short block. The storefront is so old and weathered, you might overlook it at first. Look for the line!

I was there recently, had two slices, one plain, one sausage. I'll stick with plain in the future. Fine, unadulterated, Di Fara's crust really sets it apart from generic pizza.

The NYTimes reported the death of Mr De Marco March 2022. Will the $5 per slice price be reduced?

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About this spot

1424 Avenue J

Pizza:

US$

Website

7182581367

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