Don Antonio

What Don Antonio Does Here

The Montanara Starita is the reason to come. This is a lightly fried pizza base finished in the wood-fired oven, topped with house-made tomato sauce, smoked mozzarella, and basil. The technique is specific: frying the dough before the oven pass creates a texture that a standard baked pizza cannot replicate. The base stays airy inside while the exterior develops a char-edged crust. It is a method associated with the Starita family in Naples, and the version served here carries that provenance directly.

The wood-fired oven is central to everything on the menu. Over 30 Neapolitan pizza varieties are on offer, including pizza fritta, a fried format less common on Midtown menus. For those willing to move beyond the Montanara, the salsiccia e friarielli pizza with fennel sausage and broccoli rabe is a frequently cited second order. The frittatine, where chopped spaghetti and ham are combined with Buffalo mozzarella, breaded, and fried, functions as a serious starter rather than a routine appetiser.

Giorgia Caporuscio, who leads the kitchen, learned the craft from her father Roberto Caporuscio, who himself trained in Naples. That direct transmission of technique matters here in a way it does not at most pizza operations in New York. The result is a kitchen that executes Neapolitan pizza the way it is made at the source, not an adaptation for local tastes. The wine list is also worth attention, which is less common at this price tier.

For the explorer who wants to understand what separates authentic Neapolitan pizza from the broader New York pizza category, Don Antonio is the clearest reference point in Midtown. The Opinionated About Dining ranking climbed from #171 in 2024 to #330 in the 2025 North America Cheap Eats list, reflecting continued recognition in a competitive field. The Michelin Plate designation confirms a baseline of consistent quality.

Compared to other serious pizza addresses in New York, the distinction at Don Antonio is the dual-technique approach: fried and wood-fired in the same dish. Angelo's Coal Oven Pizza and Leading Pizza both have strong followings, but neither works with the Montanara format. Artichoke Basille's is a useful lower-stakes alternative if you want fried pizza without the Neapolitan formality, while Emmy Squared is the right call if Detroit-style is on the table. Denino's Pizzeria and Tavern covers the bar-and-pizza format if that is more useful for your group. For a wider view of what Manhattan has to offer across all categories, see our full New York City restaurants guide.

If you are travelling and want to benchmark Don Antonio against serious pizza operations in other cities, Ken's Artisan Pizza in Portland and 11th Street Pizza in Miami are both worth knowing. For higher-end dining on the same trip, Le Bernardin, Eleven Madison Park, and Per Se are in a completely different price tier but cover the range of what Manhattan can do at the leading end. Beyond New York, Alinea in Chicago, The French Laundry in Napa, Lazy Bear in San Francisco, Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg, Providence in Los Angeles, and Emeril's in New Orleans round out the national fine dining picture for anyone planning a broader trip. For hotels, bars, and other options in the city, see our New York City hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide.