NYC’s Best Slice Pizza: The New Wave
NYC’s Best Slice Pizza: The New Wave
A comprehensive guide to New York’s top modern slice shops, with reviews of Mama's Too and Bar Birba, plus notes on Roberta's, L'Industrie, Scarr's, and elsewhere.
Subscribers can scroll down for the full list of the city’s best New Wave slice shops.
Happy Friday!
Here’s a nice long pizza guide for you. The area of focus is slice pizza, something I could eat every day. That’s how happy it makes me, especially if it’s a pulpy tomato slice, sprinkled with a little bit of parmesan.
Back in my Eater years, I’d spend a few days a week working out of a local pizzeria. For me, a slice shop was a better place to write at than any third-wave coffee shop with wifi. Or more recently, if you’ve walked by Fini at Barclays Center, you’ve probably seen this anonymous critic finishing up his next column!
Lots of cities have great pizza. But in New York, we measure our lives in slices. No one asks whether you picked up a whole pie on the way back from that bar last night. A slice is our Fahrenheit, our yardstick. When I think of Lenny Briscoe from “Law & Order,” I think of Jerry Orbach standing at his desk, shoving a slice into his mouth.
Now here’s the thing. For too long, slice culture languished as chefs put the bulk of their efforts into creating delicious pies at sit-down restaurants. But in the mid-2010s, a crack class of bakers and pizzaiolos at places like Scarr’s and Corner Slice started to do things differently. They experimented with custom milling, high hydration, longer fermentations, fickle starter doughs, and whatever else it took to shake this classic New York foodstuff out of its rut.
So began our city’s Great Slice Renaissance. Crusts became more light and digestible. Sauces became more tart and tomato-y. And sometimes, bakers started to finish their pizzas like Michelin-starred chefs, surrounding each slice like surgeons working on a transplant patient. One staffer applies the olive oil or hot honey, and maybe someone else sprinkles a bunch of parmesan and fresh basil on top.
Sometimes, it’s a bit much. But usually, it all means better pizza. What follows are a two larger observations on modern slice culture, followed by our full list of the best New Wave slice shops.
The era of $5 slices is here to stay
You all remember the joys of dollar pizza. Fine memories! Alas, the average price of a New York City slice is well into the $3 range, with flour and dairy costs having shot up around 30 percent since before the pandemic. And then, there are rising real estate and electric costs.
But lots of these New Wave slices are going to set you back even more than that; they often command $5 or more apiece. That means two squares and drink is more of an accessible luxury than an everyday snack, but hey, at least it’s all cheaper than Sweetgreen! The slice is still one of New York’s most democratic foodstuffs.
Slice shops are becoming more like cool restaurants
At Scarr’s on the Lower East Side, you can pick up a late night hotboi slice and enjoy it at the bar with a hazy IPA. At Bar Birba in Bed-Stuy, you can pair an ‘nduja slice with a glass of La Villana “Fuoriluogo” and eavesdrop on pretty folks out on date night. And at Roberta’s Penn Station, well, you can order a $110 lamb saddle for two. Or you can get a nice clam slice, take it to the rooftop, and wash it down with an ice cold martini as you stare out over the digital billboards of Midtown.
Pre-COVID, these experiences were largely confined to pie-only spots. But now, chefs are taking a more open-minded approach. They’re giving patrons natural wines and hip spaces to go with their pricey slices. As a cash-strapped critic, I appreciate this style of dining, where no one gives me side-eye for just ordering a slice and a lambrusco. No appetizers necessary!
New York’s 15 Top New Wave Slice Shops!!!
Here’s some of what you’ll find in our comprehensive guide:
Review: Why Mama’s Too West Village is so good!
What to get at La Flor (Hawaiian pizza!!!)
Review: Bar Birba is a fun model for square pizza and natural wine
Notes on Cuts & Slices, Scarr’s 2.0, L’Industrie, Superiority, and more
A few thoughts on NYC’s top pizza corridors
La Flor | Is this NYC’s lightest slice?
Key order: Hawaiian slice, cheese slice