Serious Eats New York - newyork.seriouseats.com

I like the slice list, though I'm not so sure about Patsy's. The slices in the slice storefront are floppy and insipid, and if someone drove up to east harlem to eat them they would be sorely disappointed. I would put in a vote for DeMarco's, which is 90% as good as its parent Di Fara; the grandma slice at Vinny Vincenz, so good I eat it cold; and the coal-oven slices at Sac's Place in astoria.

Josh

I had to register to reply to the comment that De Marco is 90% as good as Di Fara -- a statement which I cannot comprehend or relate to on any level at all.

Di Fara could easily be the finest pizza -- slice or not -- available anywhere on earth, and certainly has no equal on this Continent. Domenic is a true artisan, and takes immense pride in his product. De Marco on the other hand, is nothing but an attempt by his kids to palm off their father's lifetime achievements and reputation, and sell a horribly inferior product based upon the aura created by him. The De Marco kids seem entirely unashamed to serve garbage food, made with little or no care, and served with little or no pride. Unlike every other pizza place in town without a pizza maestro to learn from, these guys have no excuse. They know how to make a quality product, but don't care to bother to do so. There is nothing sadder in this world than unfulfilled potential, and De Marco is the absolute personification of it.

I agree wholeheartedly with Ed's inclusion of Sullivan Street Bakery, but believe it should be higher on the list (#2). Sullivan Street serves a very high quality product in the true Roman style, which was totally unique in New York when they started. I do find it frustrating however, that they treat the pizza as something of an afterthought vis a vis the larger bakery operation they have, and do not take any efforts to serve their pizza warm. It would be nice if they could focus a bit more on the pizza, and took care to serve it at its best.

My only other quarrel with the list is that being a "10 Best" list, it necessarily includes 10 stores. It is an unfortunate reality that there are no longer 10 places in this City which serve a good slice of pizza, and the list is necessarily over inclusive. The pizza in this town -- like many food genres -- has become completely miserable over the years, and New York can no longer meet the burden of filling 10 spots on such a list.

I love Patsy's pizza, it is as good as DiFara no doubt. I must STRONGLY object to your exclusion of Grimaldi's in brooklyn heights. Their crust is an as close to perfection as one can get, easily as good or better then DiFara and Patsy's. Such an admission calls into question your credibility to say the least.; equivalent to a steak authority failing to include Luger's on their NYC top 10 list.

Jozerky: Regarding Patsy's, I have on rare occassion experienced a soggy slice at, although their pies never fail and the soggy slice an exception not a rule. Nine times out of ten their slices are just out of the oven in my experience and sublime.

As for Sac's, no way. Their crust is usually doughy and undercooked, the sauce clearly a canned prefab concoction. Their "fresh" mozarella polios or someother nonsense. In queens, you should try Alba's fresh mozarella pie on Ditmar's. Certainly not a top 10 pie, but certainly good in a pinch and heads above Sac's.

Sadly, I must now agree with Lester re: Maffei's grandma slice. A few years back when I first tried it, it was one of the best slices I ever had, and I thought the regular slices were really good as well. Now that the neighborhood is a mini-MPD, the quality has diminished greatly based upon my last several visits.

Rigoletto's on 70th & Columbus is really good (not too cheesy and always well done, my preferences).

I do not understand the affinity people have for Sal & Carmine's. My cuz (who is a pizza afficienado) and I checked it out recently. Extremely average.

Original Pizza II on Ralph Ave. in Mill Basin. G-d do I miss that place now that I am in Manhattan.

Keithrez

I would think they make the list based upon the subjective variable of taste. (i.e. I am not a cheese fan other than pizza, so the places with the really fresh buffalo mozz don't work for me, like Adriennes). I can def see why people rave about the place though.

Keithrez

Jozersky, Some people have a passion for politics, others for religion, but my passion is reserved for food, and its deteriorating state in this City and our Nation. I'm sorry if my attitude bums you out -- it is not my intention or desire at all -- but I am bummed out by people's acceptance of mediocrity, and even more by the elevation of that mediocrity to a position of respect and admiration. Personally, I have no tolerance at all for mediocrity, and less still for those who foist off inferior quality products with special bravado and hype. Such attitudes, in my own opinion, only serve to guarantee that the status quo is maintained, and the sorry state of our cuisine allowed to freely continue its disintegration.

So, I call it like I see it, and to me -- with apologies in advance to you -- De Marco pizza is "garbage." I mean this not only in the figurative sense, but also in the very literal meaning of the word, in that many a De Marco pie -- I have given them many, many chances -- has wound up in the garbage due to our unwillingness to consume it.

For whatever its worth, the sauce is simply not the same -- and as you probably know, Dom's sauce is not the same on a day to day basis due to his picking and choosing the best available ingredients on any given day or season -- regardless of what the kids might say to invoke Dom's aura. Rather, it is an expedient, commercial version of Dom's sauce. The cheeses used might have some overlap -- though they are not identical -- but this too misses the main point. Dom cares deeply about his pizza -- the dough, the yeast, the rise, the sauce, the herbs, the oil, the cheeses, the bake -- and the people running De Marco (who are often not his kids) just don't. As a result of all of this, every slice that leaves Dom's counter is a masterpiece of his creation, passion, and dedication to quality, and the pizza that leaves De Marco's will never be anything but a poor imitation.

Let's agree that De Marco is not the worst pizza in New York. De Marco strikes a special chord in me however, not simply because it is no better than average, but because it inhabits the space of the lowest common denominator while portraying itself -- and encouraging others to portray it -- as an exercise in greatness, and falsely invoking the aura of Di Fara. In doing so, the mediocrity that is De Marco is accepted, elevated, and even celebrated, while the high art that is Di Fara losses something in the process.

So, I would suggest that the use of the term “garbage” is not unwarranted vitriol, but if anything, speaks too softly in the face of the threat that the acceptance of mediocrity poses to our food and culture. The loss of quality food is a very real threat to our quality of life, and while some people might not think it worthy of invoking strong words, I simply don’t agree. By maintaining a sense of passion about our food, we have a chance to win the fight against mediocrity, and preserve the precious little food culture we have left here.

with all due apologies to EL:

list, like most, written with bias; & unfortunately loses ALL credibilty by INcluding sal & carmine's, & leaves all others on the "list" very suspect as to quality.

sal & carmines is a very average-to-below-average slice or pizza that one can purchase at any ANY pizza joint anywhere, on any block, & resembles a piece of cardboard with cheap cheese & canned tomato sauce!

as one of the above posters aptly points out: "what is the attraction of sal & carmines???"

Makanmata wrote:

"The De Marco kids seem entirely unashamed to serve garbage food, made with little or no care, and served with little or no pride. Unlike every other pizza place in town without a pizza maestro to learn from, these guys have no excuse. They know how to make a quality product, but don't care to bother to do so. There is nothing sadder in this world than unfulfilled potential, and De Marco is the absolute personification of it."

Incredibly and entirely arrogant commentary, even though I would agree that De Marco's makes a sub-par slice. What makes you think that, intrinsically, Dom's kids have the talent to make a pizza anywhere near as good as papa, even if they were trying?

As far as I know, Dom has absolutely nothing to do with this operation whatsoever.

Makanmata further ponticates:

"So, I would suggest that the use of the term “garbage” is not unwarranted vitriol, but if anything, speaks too softly in the face of the threat that the acceptance of mediocrity poses to our food and culture. The loss of quality food is a very real threat to our quality of life, and while some people might not think it worthy of invoking strong words, I simply don’t agree. By maintaining a sense of passion about our food, we have a chance to win the fight against mediocrity, and preserve the precious little food culture we have left here."

Thanks for this bullshit global culinary commentary.

Brooklyn: Di Fara's is a masterpiece, as is Totonno's. Joe's in Park Slope is atrocious.
Spumoni Gardens somewhere in the middle.

UWS: I like V & T Pizzeria near Columbia University on Amsterdam Ave. Also Sal & Carmine walking distance from Symphony Space on Broadway.