| John's of Bleecker Street | |
| Image Caption: | West 44th Street |
| Established: | 1915 |
| Previous-Owner: | Filippo Milone John Sasso Rose Vesce and Augustine "Chubby" Vesce |
| Current-Owner: | Peter Castellotti Sr. Robert "Bob" Vittoria |
| Food-Type: | Italian-American pizzeria |
| Street-Address: | 278 Bleecker Street |
| City: | Manhattan, New York City |
| State: | New York |
| Postcode: | 10014 |
| Country: | United States |
| Coordinates: | 40.7316°N -74.0034°W |
John's of Bleecker Street, simply known as John's Pizzeria, is a historic pizzeria on Bleecker Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Founded in 1915,[1] the pizzeria serves coal fired brick oven pizza prepared in the style of a tomato pie.[2] [3] In 2015, it was ranked the 10th best pizzeria in the United States by TripAdvisor.[4] [5]
John's is known for its graffiti-carved wooden booths where any patron can carve their name.[6] The pizzeria does not serve slices, only whole pies cooked in an 850°F oven, along with calzones, and accepted cash only until May 2016, when it began accepting credit cards.[2] [3] [7]
John's was believed to be founded in 1929 by John Sasso when it was originally located on Sullivan Street in Greenwich Village.[8] [9] However, documents show the pizzeria was actually opened in 1915 by Filippo Milone. John Sasso, who was related by marriage, took over in 1925.[1]
In the 1960s, Augustine (Chubby) Vesce purchased John's Pizzeria. He and his wife Rose became the owners of John's until 1980-81. Augustine suffered from health issues and offered 40% of the restaurant's shares to the current manager at the time, Pete Castellotti Sr., if he continued to manage the business, allowing Augustine to retire. A year or two later, Castellotti opened up John's on 64th St, moved to Florida and opened John's of New York in Port Charlotte, letting his two children Pete Castellotti Jr. and Lisa Free run John's of Bleecker Street together with his longtime co-worker Robert "Bob" Vittoria.[10]
Castellotti's ex-wife Madeline left her job as a personnel director of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, a Manhattan law firm, to open a John's Pizzeria in the eighties on the Upper West Side. She opened John's Pizzeria on Times Square in 1994. In 1993, Bob Vittoria became the majority partner of John's Pizzeria on Bleecker. He is a nephew of the Vesce family.[11] [12]
John's has been highly rated throughout its operation.[13] As of 2011, Adam Kuban of Serious Eats considered it an NYC Quintessential pizza for connoisseurs.[14]