The Corner Slice: The Best Slice on Eighth Between 30th and 31st

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

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

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

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; amadeuspizza2.com

- Ed Levine and J. Kenji Lopez-Alt