HEADS UP! Lombardi’s is closed today and tomorrow for their (almost) annual oven maintenance. The approximately 12’x14’ coal-burning oven was built around 1898 at 32 Spring Street, the currently location of the restaurant. The oven at Lombardi’s original location (53 Spring Street) has been removed due to deterioration caused by the 6 train. That oven was built around the same time with only slightly smaller dimensions. Lombardi’s relocated to 32 Spring Street in 1994 because of an unused coal oven on site that had been out of commission for 21 years. 

These ovens were built originally as bread ovens and were not intended to be heated as intensely as they are when used for pizza. Every year or so, Lombardi’s shuts town for a few days to cool off the oven and replace broken bricks. Masons literally crawl into the oven. That photo above was taken when I went into the oven in 2010. 

Want to visit another coal-burning pizzeria while Lombardi’s is out of commission? Here are a few options:

John’s Pizzeria (278 Bleecker St, Greenwich Village)
Arturo’s (106 West Houston St, Greenwich Village)
Luzzo’s (211 1st Ave, East Village)
Patsy’s (2287 1st Ave, East Harlem)
Juliana’s (19 Old Fulton St, DUMBO)
Angelo’s (117 West 57th St, Midtown)
Grimaldi’s (1 Front St, DUMBO)
Totonno’s is closed Mon-Tues but you should still go there this week