Short answer–yes.

John’s of Bleecker Street, to give its full name, takes itself seriously and will not sell by the slice to samplers as you can see from the above awning. It does however provide really great pies–a small/medium served the two of us just fine for $14.50. Even if you order the liter bottle of Pellegrino with lemons for $8 (we loved it), you can eat well and cheaply.

The awful murals are the Blue Grotto and something else we couldn’t decipher and as you can see,

generations of diners have left their marks on the walls and booths. But if you’d been here since 1929, you would have some souvenirs, too. The same family still owns John’s and they still have a brick oven, albeit covered in metal. The pizza is incomparable–very thin crust, just enough sauce and cheese, and served very hot. They have a second room next door,

but the old one is my favorite.

Once you have finished your pizza, step across the street to Rocco’s for some fine Italian cookies

or pastries.

I remember having a super iced cappucino here once also. There’s still plenty of Italian restaurants, stores, butchers, bakers and schools here that remain a testament to the Village’s Little Italy heritage. Don’t miss them.