The Corner Slice: The Best Slice on Eighth Between 30th and 31st
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It's all well and good to know where the best pizza in the city is—if you've got the time to travel there—but what if you need a decent slice right now? Slice'rs know that every street-corner slice in NYC is not created equal, so we decided to explore the possibilities literally block by block.
First stop, Eighth Avenue between 30th and 31st, a pizza paddle's throw from SE World HQ, and a prime hub for Megabus passengers, Madison Square Garden-goers, and Penn Station commuters. We found three slice joints here: NY Pizza Suprema, Amadeus Pizza, and the dollar-slice joint inside a Deli/Lotto store.
The Best: NY Pizza Suprema, $5 for 2 slices
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A perfect example of a classic New York slice, theirs comes nicely blistered with big bubbles in the crust and popping out from under the cheese. The sauce is fresh with a definite sweetness (though they insist there's no added sugar), and the cheese is tangy and pungent, a combination of dry Mozzarella and a longer-aged grated Parmesan-style cheese. Suprema is a beacon of quality street corner pizza. NY Pizza Suprema, 413 Eighth Ave (map); 212-594-8939; nypizzasuprema.com
Cheap But Edible: Deli/Lotto, $1.25 per slice
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Slices here may have started at 99¢, but with inflation and all, they're up a quarter these days. It's better than most dollar-slice joints. The slice we tasted was unsurprising in its averageness. Bland sauce and cheese on a moderately crisp crust, the ingredients are at least inoffensive and well proportioned. It's the kind of slice you'd happily eat without complaint if you weren't in a city that you know has better stuff to offer. Deli/Lotto, 403 8th Ave (map)
Run Away! Famous Amadeus Pizza, $5.45 for two slices
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To be honest, it should be renamed Infamous Amadeus. Undercooked, pale, limp dough, a thin layer of ketchupy sauce flavored with a massive overdose of dried herbs, topped with a thick blanket of bland, greasy, leathery cheese, this is the kind of stuff that could cause a revolt in the student population if served in the school cafeteria. It's aggressively terrible (Ed called it "a chain slice on a bad day"), and the most expensive option to boot! Amadeus Pizza, 408 8th Ave (map); 212-904-1112