This is where it all began. Lombardi's is the godfather of New York pizzerias, and, if you take their side in a New York-New Haven dispute, the first pizza joint ever built in the New World. Since 1905, they're been turning out crisp, coal-oven pies at the original location, which was once part of sprawling Little Italy (now a Soho-like neighborhood known as NoLita). Eating at Lombardi's will be a near-religious experience for anyone who hasn't before sampled the pies at New York's elite pizzerias. The crust here is thicker than most of New York's uber-thin slices, bready, crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The sauce is tangy and the mozzarella is fresh. Pizza aficionados might want to sample some of the city's other premier purveyors -- East Harlem's Patsy's, Brooklyn's Patsy Grimaldi's, Di Fara's, and Totonnos -- but for taste and convenience, Lombardi's can't be beat.