There are few New York City foods more iconic than the humble slice, perfected by pizza-making legends from Brooklyn’s Di Fara to Manhattan’s Joe’s Pizza.
But in recent years, the city’s top pizzaiolos have shifted their focus to whole Neapolitan pies — and while it’s led to some delicious discoveries, such as the much-hyped Roberta’s or the beautifully simple Lucali pie, it’s left the city’s slice scene in a state of neglect.
The result: an onslaught of rubbery, reheated wedges fit only for uninformed tourists and late-night revelers already broke from their bar tab.
Thankfully, there’s a slice renaissance a-bubbling. Everyone from Francis Garcia and Sal Basille of Artichoke Pizza fame to Greenpoint’s own Paul Giannone (aka Paulie Gee) are getting in on the slice action with new counter-service joints. And these spots are slinging out single-serving ’za like you’ve never had it before: in Roman squares, in Detroit-style baked-cheese crusts, even sunny side up for breakfast.
Here, The Post rounds up six of the city’s newest, tastiest pizza cuts. Fold, eat and repeat.
The new classic Annie Wermiel/NY Post
“There’s something called the pizza cognition theory, [which] states that the pizza that you have first is the pizza that tastes best to you for the rest of your life,” Giannone, of Greenpoint’s famous Paulie Gee’s pizzeria, tells The Post. “The slice I remember was a classic New York slice.” That’s what he’s tossing at his new Greenpoint spot, Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop. His Platonic ideal slices are less fluffy than Paulie Gee’s famous, nan-like Neapolitan pies. But they’re much better for traveling, ideal for one-handed consumption.
Back in 2014, Giannone stopped serving takeout pies at his original eatery — “The best pizza is served right out of the oven,” he says — and was met with a “backlash” from the hungry masses. To appease them, Giannone and chef Andrew Brown started tinkering with his pizza recipe, hoping to find a formula that would help a slice survive the oven-to-table journey. When he found one that worked, he ended up opening a whole new restaurant to go with it.
Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop, which opened last week and is just a three-minute walk from Giannone’s original Greenpoint restaurant, is “an homage to every great old-school New York-style pizzeria that I’ve been going to for the past 50, 60 years,” he says. In the retro space, he serves big, sturdy slices starting at $3.50 and made with “a firmer, snappier crust.” Try standout slices of the white pie, which he says is reminiscent of Totonno’s version, and the Hellboy, a fan-favorite combo of sopressata and Mike’s Hot Honey from the original Paulie Gee’s.
110 Franklin St., Greenpoint
Roman masterpiece Annie Wermiel/NY Post
It won’t take you long to wolf down PQR pizzeria’s square, Roman-style slices. But they take much longer to make than they do to eat, co-owner Fabio Casella explains.
“Our dough is fermented for 96 hours,” says Casella, who opened the Upper East Side slice spot this past spring with chef Angelo Iezzi after the success of their other uptown pizzeria, San Matteo. Roman pizza maker Iezzi — who runs the global pizza school Associazione Pizzerie Italiane — and Salerno-born Casella are obsessive about using only the freshest, highest-quality ingredients.
“If you use the right ingredients, 75 percent of your work is done,” says Casella. Such is the case with his summer special, the $7 Piennolo slice, topped with cherry tomatoes imported from Italy’s Vesuvio region, creamy stracciatella cheese, olive oil and fresh basil. “Just [these] ingredients make your mouth full of flavor,” he says.
1631 Second Ave.; 646-449-0889
Top toppings Annie Wermiel/NY Post
Mama’s Pizzeria on the Upper West Side has served New York-style slices since 1969. But owner Frank Tuttolomondo was looking to expand his family’s repertoire and venture into square territory. “I wanted to bridge the gap between an Italian-style Roman and an American Sicilian [slice],” Tuttolomondo tells The Post. So he opened a counter late last year, just a block away from the original Mama’s, in a cozy, tin-ceilinged space.
Tuttolomondo describes the resulting crust as “nice and airy, like a Roman focaccia,” with a “nice crunch” from a coating of crispy cheese on its edges. Pizza lovers can opt for gourmet toppings, such as red-wine-braised fennel sausage or Gorgonzola with poached pears, on the $4.50 slice. But the pepperoni square, with its shimmery pools of grease in every meaty cup, is an irresistible choice. Wash it down with an Italian-imported beer or glass of wine for just $6.
2750 Broadway, at 106th Street; 212-510-7256
Detroit-style stunner Annie Wermiel/NY Post
Artichoke Pizza owners Garcia and Basille have a new gourmet slice shop: Lions & Tigers & Squares, which opened in Hell’s Kitchen in the spring and spotlights Detroit-style rectangular slices. “It’s really different” from Artichoke’s cheesy offerings, and just as decadent, Garcia tells The Post. The almost-deep-dish slices are coated all over with Wisconsin brick cheese — a softer, meltier version of cheddar — giving the dough a crunchy crust. “It almost tastes like a Cheez-It,” Garcia says.
The cousin co-owners got deep-dish pizza in their heads while filming Cooking Channel’s “Pizza Cuz,” where they tried a similar four-cornered personal pie at Buddy’s Pizza in Detroit. The restaurant name is a tribute to all things Motor City: Detroit Lions football, Detroit Tigers baseball and, obviously, Detroit square pizza.
Their $5 classic version features two thick bands of tomato sauce over a pillowy bed of cheesy bread. It’s the stuff of dreams, at least for Garcia: “I’ve been making pizza my whole life, and, like, I dream about the friggin’ Lions & Tigers & Squares pie.”
268 W. 23rd St.; 917-261-6772
BK’s finest Annie Wermiel/NY Post
For more than 50 years, New Yorkers made the pizza pilgrimage to Midwood, Brooklyn, to eat at famed slice spot Di Fara Pizza. Today, it’s much easier to snag a piece of heaven, now that Di Fara is selling its slices in a stall in Williamsburg’s North 3rd Street Market. Margaret Mieles, co-owner and daughter of the pizzeria’s founding father, Domenico DeMarco, wanted to bring the restaurant’s storied slice to a more central part of the city for tourists and locals. The market “felt like the perfect place to start,” she tells The Post. The Di Fara stand serves the food fans know and love: slices, which start at $5, are smothered in a simple yet rich tomato sauce, and served alongside Calabrian chilies that Mieles says are “nearly impossible to find” elsewhere in the US.
103 North Third St., Williamsburg; 646-694-9750
Morning glory Annie Wermiel/NY Post
Jordan Baker wants you to eat pizza for breakfast. That’s the concept of Baker’s Pizza & Espresso, a sister restaurant to the 30-year-old pizza maker’s Baker’s Pizza in the East Village. The new Hell’s Kitchen spot opens at 8 a.m., and serves breakfast-ready slices featuring baked eggs and other flavors typically found at brunch.
Baker, who runs the shop with brother Jeremy Baker and Bronx-born pie tosser Jamie Cacace, says he would eat egg-topped pizza for breakfast before shifts at his East Village spot. “Regular customers would come in early and would see it and ask for it,” he tells The Post. So they decided to sell it to the masses.
Along with their $5 eggy ’zas, Baker and co. are serving Stumptown coffee and espresso drinks ($3 and up) at their marble-and-tile counter nook. There are also more traditional lunch and dinner pizzas, such as the eponymous Baker’s slice, with caramelized onion, herbed ricotta and house-made pork sausage.
754 10th Ave.; 917-262-0722
