In a decade, New Orleans progressed from being a mediocre pizza town to a pretty good one. As it did, the attention went to pizzas made either by major chefs like John Besh or Adolfo Garcia, or in minimal, far-off-mainstream joints like Pizza Delicious and Neely's. The presence of a wood-burning stone oven got so much respect that one wondered whether genuflection were required.
While all that was going on, Slice was baking conventional but excellent New York-style pizzas, in the medium-thin-crust style we actually love, with very little baloney (except as a pizza meat).
Before all those high-end chefs started opening pizzerias a few years ago, Slice was already matching or exceeding the best pizza around town. They still do, with minimal posturing. Here are thin-crust pizzas in the New York style with an array of excellent toppings. The kitchen also makes a surprisingly large list of daily specials, sandwiches, and appetizers.
The owners of Juan's Flying Burrito opened the Lee Circle-area Slice in 2006, in a former dressmaker's shop. The Magazine Street branch came to be in 2010, opening in an old neighborhood cafe with many identities before Slice. (The most famous was the Friendly House.)
The St. Charles Avenue location is a long, narrow room with a beat-up tile and concrete floor. It seems to stretch a full city block, interrupted by the entire kitchen, ending in a bar. Tables run through the entire place. The open kitchen not only allows a good look at the proceedings, but lets the aroma make you hungry while you wait for the pasta or the pie. The Magazine Street location has a more conventional setup, but is still a well-worn antique.
If the place is busy, get your order in immediately at the front counter. By the time the pizza is ready, a table will open. Settle in the rear for a glass of wine or a cocktail. It will be awhile before a pizza appears, but that's a good sign. Ask whether they have a wine dinner going on. If so, ask about it; it's so ambitious that you may be tempted.
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