damnlines.comdamnlines.comA cash-only, family-run pizzeria on Crosby Avenue since 1959 (with roots to a 1947 Harlem original), celebrated for its fennel-sausage pie and named New York's best hole-in-the-wall restaurant by Food Republic, per Time Out.
damnlines hasn't pointed a lens at Louie & Ernie's Pizza yet. The most-wanted lines get a camera first.
Louie & Ernie's has run out of the same Crosby Avenue storefront in Schuylerville since 1959, with roots to a 1947 Harlem original, and Time Out reports weekend waits of 30 to 60 minutes during prime hours at the cash-only pizzeria. The dining room is tiny — Time Out describes "only a handful of tables" inside — so when it's busy, customers spill outside, eating "out front on car hoods or in the backyard patio."
The crowding hasn't hurt the reputation: Time Out reports that Food Republic named Louie & Ernie's the best hole-in-the-wall restaurant in New York in a 50-state roundup, crediting the fennel-sausage pie — "fennel-laced sausage from a nearby butcher scattered generously across a sauce-slicked, thin-crusted pie" — and the old-school counter model run today by John and Cosimo, who took over from Ernie in 1987. Time Out describes an operation that's "warm, unflashy and rooted in community," with "no pretension, no gimmickry," and a regular crowd of families, firefighters, and little league teams who keep coming back despite the wait.
No reservation system is reported anywhere in the coverage — it's strictly a walk-in, cash-only counter, so the only way to avoid the reported weekend wait is to time a visit outside the busiest stretch.
Patterns as reported by press and regulars — not measured by damnlines.
Reservations: None — cash-only, walk-in counter with no reservation system, per Time Out.
Walk-ins: Yes, walk-in only; Time Out reports weekend waits of 30-60 minutes during prime hours.
Time Out reports weekend waits of 30 to 60 minutes during prime hours at this cash-only Bronx institution. The dining room holds only "a handful of tables," so overflow crowds often eat standing outside — Time Out notes diners eating "out front on car hoods or in the backyard patio" when it's busy.
No. Every source describes it as a walk-up, cash-only counter operation with no reservation system — Time Out notes the pizzeria has "only a handful of tables" inside.
Yes, it's walk-in only — there's no other way in. Time Out's reported 30-60 minute weekend waits mean arriving outside peak hours is the main way to shorten the line.
Yes — Time Out reports it as a cash-only operation, consistent with its old-school, no-frills reputation since 1947.
It's known for its fennel-sausage pie, made with "fennel-laced sausage from a nearby butcher scattered generously across a sauce-slicked, thin-crusted pie," per Time Out, and for being named New York's best hole-in-the-wall restaurant by Food Republic.
Sources: Time Out New York · Yelp