Louie & Ernie's Pizza

There is a house in Pelham Bay making pizza so good, we don’t know why there isn’t a constant line around the block for it. We like to imagine that whoever lives there woke up one day and realized they didn't really need a ground floor anymore, and they'd rather just have a pizza shop down there. 

Enter Louie & Ernie’s. They originally opened in Harlem in 1947, before moving to the pizza house in 1959. Their pies are saucier than some, with slightly sweet sauce that makes them the color of a traffic cone, but they somehow still have a cracker-thin crust, so impeccably charred they are right on the beautiful brink of burnt. Always order a whole sausage pie—it isn’t as greasy as some of our other favorites, which means you can successfully inhale a few slices before you even begin to get full. There's a few tables inside, but if you're here on a warm day for lunch, we'd recommend eating your pork product-layered monstrosity on the hood of your car out front, or in the large backyard, next to a bunch of people who have been coming here since before they were old enough to eat pizza. There’s also a dessert shop next door, for a post-pizza italian ice.  

Food Rundown

photo credit: Willa Moore

Sausage Pie

On your first visit, we understand if you want to try the plain, you purist, you. But what you should really be ordering is the sausage. The meat comes from a butcher shop a few blocks away, and each pie has handfuls of sweet, fennel-y chunks—there is absolutely no skimping here. If you’re torn, get a sausage pie and a plain slice.