L&B Spumoni Gardens

"When it's warm out, no patio’s more fun in all of Brooklyn than L&B Spumoni Gardens. Pull up to this institution, open since 1939, and order one of the hulking Sicilian slices. Saving room for spumoni ice cream for dessert is non-negotiable. There’s an additional, more touristy location in Dumbo." - Emma Orlow, Eater Staff

"For many Brooklynites, there’s the L&B square slice, and then there’s everything else. This Gravesend institution—with a second location in Dumbo—has been around since 1938, and the defining feature of the pizza is the fact that the cheese is layered underneath the sauce, creating an almost mochi-like chew where the thick crust and cheese meet. The sauce is, dare we say, to die for. Get a whole pie, even if you come here alone. It reheats beautifully." - willa moore, bryan kim, neha talreja, arden shore

"Going to L&B is a rite of passage, and if you haven’t made the trip out to Gravesend for a square slice, we don’t think you can really call yourself a New Yorker. This place has been around since 1938, with an over-the-top Rococo interior for sit-down meals, and an always-bustling outdoor seating area with grab-and-go windows for slices, sandwiches, and spumoni. Don’t bother with round pizza here—you want their signature sauce-on-top square that achieves textural perfection. L&B also has a Dumbo location, so if you have visitors in town who want to take that photo under the Brooklyn Bridge, feed them some perfect pizza afterwards." - bryan kim, willa moore, kenny yang, carlo mantuano, molly fitzpatrick

"Eating a square slice followed by a drip-down-your-hands spumoni cone on the patio of L&B Spumoni is a New York rite of passage, similar to walking the Brooklyn Bridge, or being yelled at by a stranger for walking too slow. Spaghetti is served in the dining room, but eating pizza at an outdoor picnic table in peak summer is where this Gravesend restaurant (with a Dumbo location) really shines. Their upside-down pie has sweet sauce on top and cheese underneath, which melds with the dough to form a hot, gooey, mouth-burning matrix. Ice cream is the obvious cure. World Famous L&B Sicilian Pie, vodka pie, spumoni cone" - molly fitzpatrick, willa moore, will hartman, bryan kim, sonal shah

"You might know L&B as that place where eating one of the city's best square slices on the patio is a rite of summer, but inside they serve a full menu, and you'll see several generations enjoying chicken francese every night of the week. The portions at this Gravesend restaurant, which opened in 1935, are huge—think cartoon-drawing-of-a-mountain-of-spaghetti—and bottles of red litter the tables. They serve pizza inside, and you should absolutely order one, because it remains the best thing here. But feel free to round out your meal with rice ball parmigiana, and pasta with vodka sauce." - willa moore, will hartman, sonal shah, neha talreja