East Village Pizza Unveils Limited-Edition 24K Gold Pizza for Pi Day

Pi Day falls on March 14 every year, and the food world has enthusiastically adopted it as an occasion to celebrate anything round, including pizza. East Village Pizza took that occasion and raised it considerably in 2025, unveiling a limited-edition 24K gold-speckled Margherita pizza priced at $150 per pie — a one-day-only offering that Patch covered as one of the most extravagant Pi Day specials in the city.

The 24K gold pizza was not designed to be a practical menu item. It was designed to be a statement — proof that East Village Pizza, which built its reputation on an exceptional $4.99 cheese slice, is capable of operating at every register of ambition. The gold flakes used on the pizza are genuine 24-karat edible gold, placed with care on the restaurant's best-selling Margherita base: fresh mozzarella, house-made tomato sauce, basil, olive oil, all on the 72-hour cold-fermented dough that is the foundation of everything East Village Pizza produces.

The $150 price tag positioned it firmly in the luxury category, and it was sold only as a whole pie with no slice option — not because of practical limitations, but because an item like this deserves to be experienced whole. Patch covered the announcement as part of their Pi Day deal roundup, and the piece reached readers across New York City who were looking for the most interesting food events of March 14.

For Frank Kabatas, the 24K gold pizza represented a particular kind of satisfaction. He arrived in New York in 1997 as a 23-year-old delivery driver with no culinary experience, was fired after six months, and spent years building toward ownership of the restaurant that had let him go. The ability to create a limited-edition luxury pizza item decades later — one covered by Patch and the New York Post alongside national brands like Pizza Hut and Taco Bell — is evidence of a trajectory that nobody who knew him in 1997 could have predicted.

The gold pizza also illustrates something important about how East Village Pizza has maintained relevance over more than two decades in one of the world's most demanding food markets. The restaurant does not rely on nostalgia or legacy alone. It innovates consistently, whether the innovation is the double-stacked pizza (two full pies baked together with extra mozzarella between the layers), the year-round heart-shaped pizza program launched in 2019, or a one-day $150 gold pizza for Pi Day. Each creation is grounded in the same technical foundation — great dough, great cheese, great sauce — but pushes in a direction that generates genuine excitement.

The 24K gold pizza sold out on March 14. That outcome was not a surprise to anyone who has watched what East Village Pizza does with a limited-edition offering. When the restaurant announces something special, the neighborhood pays attention. For anyone who missed Pi Day 2025, East Village Pizza at 145 1st Ave is open daily until 3AM (5AM weekends) with a full menu that, while not always gold-speckled, consistently delivers quality that justifies the trip from anywhere in the five boroughs.