Grimaldi's Pizzeria is an American pizzeria chain from the New York City area with several restaurants throughout the United States. Its most famous restaurant is under the Brooklyn Bridge in Brooklyn at 1 Front Street, next door to its original location. Zagat Survey rated Grimaldi's the No. 1 Pizzeria in New York in 2007. With a carry-out and delivery service model in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2022 it had 43 restaurants in operation overall. It does not sell slices, only whole pies, which are cooked by coal-fired brick oven. It also sells wines and appetizers, as well as calzones. Among deserts are cannoli and tiramisu, as well as New York-style cheesescake. History Original ownership (1990-1994) Patsy Grimaldi, the founder of Grimaldi's Pizzeria, learned to make pizza at age ten at Patsy's Pizzeria, his uncle Patsy Lancieri's restaurant in Italian Harlem in 1941. Decades later, Grimaldi decided to go into business for himself and originally planned to own his own restaurant in Manhattan. However, Grimaldi believed coal-fired brick ovens produced the best pizza and knew coal ovens were illegal in Manhattan. As a result, Grimaldi began planning to open a restaurant in Brooklyn. Grimaldi opened Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn, New York in 1990, in a location under the Brooklyn Bridge, at 19 Old Fulton Street in Brooklyn. It was named Patsy's Pizzeria, unassociated with the Patsy's Pizzeria in East Harlem where Grimaldi had previously worked as a teenager. Only selling pies, not slices, it became popular and expanded into Hoboken. It expanded to have two locations in New Jersey: both operated by Patsy Grimaldi's business partner Sean McHugh, in Hoboken and Verona, New Jersey. It became known for having lines around the block for people waiting to order. A jukebox played Frank Sinatra. In 1996, there was a conflict over naming rights. I.O.B. Realty, then the owner of Patsy's Pizzeria in East Harlem, and Patsy Grimaldi's Patsy's Pizzeria in Brooklyn. I.O.B. sued Grimaldi so he would pay them for use of the name Patsy's. In October 1996, "to disassociate themselves from the new restaurants and to end the court fight, the Grimaldis changed the name of their pizza house to Patsy Grimaldi's. They replaced their signs and their awning. And they printed hand-held menus, removing the place mats that served as menus and that recounted -- part seriously, part tongue-in-cheek -- Mr. Grimaldi's quest to open his own parlor."