Lee's Tavern

Lee's Tavern sits on a residential corner of Hancock Street, steps from the Dongan Hills stop on the Staten Island Railway, and it has been the neighborhood's bar since around 1940. The Palemine family bought it in 1969 and still runs it, living in the apartment upstairs. It is a neighborhood bar first, and a family pizza place at the same time.

The pies are bar pies: small, thin and crisp enough to hold straight out from the hand. The one Staten Islanders drive across the island for is the clam pie, a white pie covered in chopped clams and a lot of garlic; there is a red version too, and you can order it half clam, half plain cheese. The family suggests a plain pie for first-timers, and buffalo calamari is the other house favorite. Order more than one pie; they go fast.