5 new Long Island artisanal pizzerias

Long Island’s artisanal pizza scene is as dynamic as it is vibrant. In the last six months alone, we’ve seen exciting developments — trucks settling into storefronts, top pizzerias opening second locations and welcoming new owners.

And the pizza pace is not slowing down. Looking forward, Via Cuma will expand from Valley Stream to Oceanside (in the old Naples Street Food spot) by the end of April and Dario’s of West Hempstead is opening a second pizzeria in Massapequa Park sometime this summer. In the meantime, here are five new spots to check out.

Americano Pizza Shop

43 Berry Hill Rd., Syosset

Since he started making pizza professionally three years ago, Vinny Corrao has operated an Americano Pizza Trailer, an Americano Pizza Truck and, since Feb. 9, the Americano Pizza Shop in Syosset, his first enterprise with a fixed location.

In 2023, the insulation-materials salesperson was looking for a way to earn some extra money and so he bought a flatbed trailer, loaded it up with a wood-burning oven and hit the party circuit. He discovered Long Islanders loved the convenience of "having the pizza come to them." A year later, he upgraded to a fully outfitted truck.

Corrao was soon catering up to five parties per weekend. But between his full-time job and all the pre-weekend prep work, something had to give. "It was decision time," he said. "I had to sell or grow. So I left my job and went all-in with pizza."

As a mobile pizzaiolo, Corrao made tender, puffy-rimmed 12-inch Naples-style pies in a wood-burning oven. When he settled down in Syosset, he switched to a classic 18-inch, New York pie sold either whole or by the slice. This necessitated a change in technique, but one thing he didn’t change was the use of sourdough — a pre-fermented starter that boosts flavor and texture while it helps leaven the crust.

"If I didn’t do sourdough," he noted, "I’d be like every other pizza shop."

Americano’s pizzas are topped with restraint — the tomato sauce is clean and tangy; there will be no cheese sliding off your slice — and the crust is crisp and thin, except for around the blistered edge, where you can really taste the results of the sourdough, the high hydration and the long, cool fermentation.

For now, the menu is short and sweet. Available whole ($25 to $33) or by the slice ($4 to $5.50) are more than a dozen pies: regular, Margherita (with both fresh and low-moisture mozzarella), white, red and white (sauce and burrata), Bee Sting (sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, hot honey, ricotta), Big Vin (sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, crumbled sausage), Sweet Heat (sauce, mozzarella, sausage, hot cherry peppers, hot honey), Fig & Pig (mozzarella, prosciutto, fig jam) and Shroom (mozzarella, mushrooms, truffle oil). More info: 516-226-1523, americanopizza.com

Dough & Co.

25 E. Main St., Oyster Bay

One of Suffolk County’s best pizzerias has expanded to Nassau: Dough & Co., founded in Huntington in 2022, has taken over the former Umberto’s in the heart of Oyster Bay.

At 750 square feet, the slice of a shop is about a third of the size of the one in Huntington, and the menu is similarly abbreviated: No pastas here, just pizza, rolls, calzones and salads.

But pizza is the main event at Dough & Co., which has been on Newsday's top pizza list since it opened. Founder Danny Rocca (at only 27 years old) is one of the leaders of Long Island’s artisanal pizza movement. He works in a traditional New York format — big pies, thin crusts, gas oven, lots of slices — but with a modern emphasis on the crust, which uses a higher-hydration dough that makes it airy, crisp and altogether delicious on its own.

Purist pizza nerds (guilty!) can best appreciate the pies when they are topped simply — regular (with low-moisture mozzarella), Margherita (fresh mozzarella), etc. — but you’ll also find Buffalo chicken, barbecued chicken, braised mushrooms with sauteed onions, ricotta and truffle oil, and lots of pepperoni and sausage. There are 20 signature pies on the menu, and there is a rotating lineup of them available by the slice. (Pro tip: Rocca likes his burrata slice cold.) Whole pies range from $24 to $36; slices from $4 to $6.

Rocca is an inveterate tweaker, both to his dough and to his menus. He is currently experimenting with focaccia sandwiches, frittatine (deep-fried pasta balls), so always ask about the specials. The shop is little more than a counter but, in nice weather, tables are set up outside on the sidewalk. More info: 516-922-0434, doughandcopizza.com

Zozo’s on the Bay

424 Bayville Ave., Bayville

And the award for most out-of-the-way pizzeria goes to ... Zozo’s on the Bay in Bayville. Located on a narrow, L-shaped peninsula that extends east from Locust Valley, Bayville has a small business district. Zozo’s isn’t in it — you must drive to the end of Bayville Avenue to reach the windswept building.

Owner John Zozzaro makes 20 individual Neapolitan pies, from a classic Margherita, a cheeseless Naked Napolitano and a Bella Bianca with ricotta and mozzarella to the Uncle Tony’s Heart Attack (tomato, mozzarella, sausage, pepperoni and bacon), Toni’s Two-Times (hot sausage, Peppadew peppers, Calabrian chilies and Mike’s Hot Honey) and the relatively tame Green Vespa (mozzarella, ricotta, baby spinach, roasted garlic and freshly grated lemon zest). Prices range from $15 to $22.

His dough is made with finely milled Tipo 00 flour with some coarser Tipo 0 mixed in for a heartier taste. The taste and texture are amplified by a cool, five-day ferment, but Zozzaro has learned that his customers don’t like the floppy (some would say soggy) pies that fly in Naples. To that end he uses less water in the dough and bakes at a lower temperature.

He makes his own fresh mozzarella, one of three cheeses you’ll find in his setup, along with low-moisture mozzarella (for his New York State of Mind and other American-inspired pies) and Cheddar, which he deploys in conjunction with the low-moisture mozz in his six 8-by-10-inch Detroit-style pizzas ($17 to $19).

Zozo’s opened quietly in the summer, first only on weekends and now from Thursday to Sunday. The restaurant has two dining rooms, a bar and patio. In addition to pizza there’s a full menu of appetizers, pastas, sandwiches, soups and salads. More info: 516-212-3000, zozosonthebay.com

Josie’s Pizza Bar

1 Garvies Point Rd., Glen Cove

Josephine Giglio doesn’t do anything the easy way and, after years of being a mobile pizzaiola, she was reluctant to move her operation inside. She’d parked her Josie's Pizza Bar truck across from the water in Glen Cove’s Garvies Point since 2022 and, she said, "a store didn’t excite me. I didn’t want to be like everyone else."

Nevertheless, she made her last pizzas on the truck last August and, two months later, opened in the adjacent storefront that had been Heritage Bakers, the popover specialist that closed in 2021. "We just outgrew the truck," she conceded, "and our customers were ready for the next thing."

Giglio created a light-filled, 20-seat dining area in the front and, facing the wood-burning oven, a proper pizza bar where six customers can sit, have a beer or a glass of wine, and watch the creation of pizzas, panini, salads and, for the first time, a daily fresh pasta. The five picnic tables from the truck setup are still outside, making Josie’s the rare al fresco pizza destination on Long Island.

After sweltering during the summer and freezing in the winter, even Giglio has to admit that being indoors has its advantages: "The weather just doesn’t matter to us anymore — and it is nice not having to lug everything to the truck."

All the truck pizzas have stayed on the menu, from the simple Marg-A-Rita (with Italian tomatoes and fresh mozzarella from Brooklyn’s Lioni Latticini), the Boozy (with vodka sauce) and the Little Piggy (with tiny Battistoni "cup and char" pepperoni and lots of basil) to the more fanciful Honey Bomb (with Calabrian chili spread, hot soppressata and honey) and the frequent special, Gracefully Shroomed, a white pie with mushrooms and white truffle oil.

The pies themselves ($18 to $25) exhibit a blend of tradition and idiosyncrasy. They are cooked in a Neapolitan-style wood-burning oven but, instead of an airy-holey rim and a droopy middle, these pies are puffy throughout, with the fine-grained texture that comes from not fermenting the dough for days. Almost all ingredients are imported — from the Sicilian oregano branches that she shakes and sieves to the Sicilian sea salt, fine for the dough, coarse for sprinkling on salads. More info: 646-918-4944, josiespizzabar.com

Olive & Garlic

970 Hempstead Tpke., Franklin Square

Olive & Garlic in Franklin Square may well be Long Island's first wood-fired halal pizzeria. Danyal Javeid bought the former Farina 00 and relaunched it with a pared-down pizza menu and smashburgers.

Javeid worked with Farina 00’s chef-owner, Gigi Sacchetti, for two weeks to learn the pizza ropes, and he’s also kept most of the kitchen staff. You’ll still find about 20 pizzas and a dozen pastas as well as chicken Parms and wings, starters and salads. The Muslim rules governing halal prohibit pork and, while he has found good substitutes for pepperoni and sausage, those looking for prosciutto or mortadella are out of luck.

But Javeid’s Pakistani culinary heritage inspired him to create some new toppings, such as chicken tikka masala and tender, minced reshmi kebab. Individual (12-inch) pies range from $11.99 to $19.99; 17-inch pies from $19.99 to $29.99. There is no longer a liquor license but customers are welcome to BYOB.

Javeid is new to pizza but not to the industry or to Italian food. He and his father ran a South Asian restaurant, Tabaq, in Queens; he’s worked in fast-food establishments and, for two years, at DaVinci’s in Island Park (now closed). That’s where this plan began to take shape.

"I know a lot of Muslims like pizza," he said, "but there are not too many options around here for halal pizza — and we are the only ones who have a wood-burning oven."

More info: 516-673-4630