Lucia Pizza of Avenue X

From the sidewalk, Lucia Pizza on Avenue X looks like any corner slice shop in south Brooklyn — a counter, a few tables and chairs. But the family behind it traces its Brooklyn pizza lineage to the 1970s, and since the early 2020s this storefront has drawn slice obsessives from across the city, enough that the family has opened branches in Manhattan while calling Avenue X the mothership.

The grandma and the vodka slices are the ones to order, both sold by the slice and best eaten the moment they leave the oven, so grab one of the small tables rather than carrying them home. The Caramelle Piccanti piles on cherry peppers, small crisp pepperoni cups and a spicy-sweet drizzle. Get a plain slice too, for calibration, and if you're with a group, a whole grandma pie disappears fast. It's a short walk from here to the water at Emmons Avenue.