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What Is Grandma Pizza? The Long Island Classic Explained
September 21, 2026 ◆ 2 min read ◆ Nino’s Pizzeria
If you grew up on Long Island, Grandma pizza needs no explanation. Almost everywhere else, it gets confused with Sicilian. They share a rectangular pan and not much else. So let’s talk about what Grandma pizza actually is, how it’s different from the other styles on a pizzeria menu, and when it’s the right pie to order.
What makes a pie a Grandma pie
A Grandma pie is stretched thin into an oiled rectangular pan and baked with very little rise. The order of toppings is the giveaway. Cheese goes on the dough first, then the tomato goes on top. That’s usually a simple crushed-tomato sauce with garlic and olive oil rather than a cooked pizza sauce. The result is a thin, crisp, almost fried bottom from the oil in the pan, with bright, fresh-tasting tomato on top.
The name tells you the idea behind it. It’s meant to taste like the pan pizza an Italian grandmother made at home: no special oven, no long dough rise, simple ingredients.
Where it comes from
Grandma pizza is widely regarded as a Long Island creation. Most accounts trace it to home cooking in Italian-American families in Nassau County. They credit pizzerias there with putting it on menus in the second half of the twentieth century. Whatever the exact origin, it’s a pie Long Islanders think of as theirs, and it’s only recently spread across the rest of the country.
Grandma vs Sicilian vs New York-style
| Grandma | Sicilian | New York-style | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shape | Square, thin | Square, thick | Round, thin |
| Dough | Short rise, pressed into an oiled pan | Long rise, tall and airy | Hand-stretched, foldable |
| Texture | Crisp, oily bottom | Soft, spongy crumb | Crisp edge, soft centre |
| Sauce | Crushed tomato on top of the cheese | Cooked sauce | Cooked sauce under the cheese |
For the deeper comparison between Sicilian and the round New York slice, read our guide to NY-style vs Sicilian pizza.
When to order Grandma pizza
- Parties and office lunches. Square slices are easy to grab, stack neatly on a plate and don’t flop. It’s our favourite pie to recommend for a crowd.
- When you want something lighter. Thin and tomato-forward, it eats lighter than a loaded round pie.
- Alongside a round pie. One cheese round and one Grandma on the same table gives everyone something different without complicating the order.
Grandma pizza at Nino’s
At our pizzeria on Medford Ave the Grandma pie is $20, next to our Cheese Siciliana at $23.95 and our classic round cheese pie at $16.95. All three are on the full menu. You can order any of them for pickup or delivery through our online ordering, where you get 5% off.
Feeding a group? See how Grandma and Sicilian pies fit into a pizza catering order, or how many to get in our guide to how much pizza to order for a party.
