Wow I have to throw in my shock. I live in NY now, have lived in Tennessee and Michigan,and in every place I remember ordering pizza by the slice or by the pie. It depends really, the big chains don’t usually do it but every small local pizza place does it.
Often they have deals, like a slice of pizza and a soda for cheaper than normal.
The first pizzas I ever saw in Australia were made in massive ovens on sheets about 6’ by 3’. They were then sliced into big rectangular pieces which is what you bought - “a slice of this and two slices of that thanks.” Now only dingy places like service stations with warming trays serve pizza by the slice.
Rocky Rococo (small chain with about 40 stores) in these parts sells pizza by the slice (square ones). The only one I know of. Pizza Hut and the rest of the chains around here don’t offer it on the menu that I’m aware of.
By the way, it’s excellent pizza.
Rocky’s website.
Well, not “never,” but I know a guy whose brother works for one of the take-out pizzerias in town, and he reckons that 90% of their pizza sales are slices.
Yep. In fact, one of the places I go for a slice is called FDNY pizza. (It’s on the beach in Lake Worth. Quite good, actually.)
I don’t recall any pizzerias serving slices in RI, but my eating habits were quite different when I lived there.
This thread seems to be more suited to IMHO, as almost certainly all of the replys are gonna give you answers geared to each posters location.
For instance, I grew up in Arlington, Va. We had one authentic place, Gino’s, in about 1958. Pizza was not all that common in many US locations at that point.
Gino’s served it by the slice. A slice was so big, it served you well for lunch. But, over the next 6 years, as non-chain pizza places came about, I don’t think many of them served it by the slice. That’s only for my Arlington experiece.
Moved the thread to IMHO
samclem GQ moderator
If you go to a independant local joint (the only places really worth going to for pizza anway) you can get “by the slice” here in Seattle. The big boys are by the pie only.
I’m just north of Los Angeles, and I can think of 2 places within walking distance of work where I can get a slice.
Mystic, Nizario’s, Seniore’s, Blondie’s, Fat Slice, and Escape from New York come to mind immediately for late night after-bar slices in San Francisco.
Man, some people live where there’s no pizza-by-the-slice?
One of the first things I noticed upon moving to L.A. was that it was much more difficult to get pizza by the slice here than in the other, east-coast cities I’ve lived in (Yes, THAT was one of the first things I noticed… what can I say, I like pizza!). You CAN find it just by the slice, but it’s definitely rarer than in places like New York or Boston.
I can’t think of when I’ve ever bought just a slice of pizza, but you can buy it like that in Toronto, where I come from, and also in Tallahassee, where I live. The chains don’t do it, but there are shops where slices are their main business. Momo’s Pizza - Slices As Big As Your Head!
Very rare in Cleveland area. Sbarro’s in the mall is the only place I can think of right now, though I’ve seen it elsewhere. Too much waste is places that don’t do a lot of foot traffic.
I’m in California, too, and I know a few places where you can get it by the slice. Generally, this is done in areas where they get a lot of office lunch traffic, or shopping lunch traffic on weekends. Suburban chains and shops that get a lot of their business from home delivery don’t do it as much.
I’ll confirm this. (Also that place on Van Ness across from the Galaxy whose name completely escapes me. You could buy both traditional or Sicilian slices there.) As for Bay Area major chains that serve by-the-slice there’s Round Table (varies by store, I know the one in Palo Alto does) and Little Ceasar’s (at least the ones in Kmart do.) I recall at one time Pizza Hut used to have a salad/pizza bar where you could get individual slices, but it was usually all you can eat for a flat fee. Long-gone Shakey’s used to have a similar deal.
When I moved here to California from New Jersey, the lack of pizzerias was the first thing I noticed, in this town and the surrounding area anyway (not including SF.)
There are only 3 or 4 pizzerias in this town, and only 2 of them are worth going to, and both of those opened up within the last 2 years.
Only one of them serves pizza by the slice, and it’s not my favorite one.
My favorite one just opened up last year, and the guys are from NY. They don’t serve slices, but when I went in for lunch a few weeks back and told one of the guys their pizza was the best I’d had since moving here from NJ, he served me up a slice. 
I think most metropolitan areas in America have some sort of “New York style” pizzarias, which sell pizza by the slice. I can’t speak for more rural areas.
Personally, if I lived somewhere without a decent N.Y. style pizza place, I’d move.
I have to disagree with you on that one, SkipMagic.
Torre’s? They do a brisk by the slice business. Being connected to a bar and having a street truck doesn’t hurt.
Pyramid, Little Caesars, and in Lawrence, Rudy’s.
Lots of places do by the slice. It’s just more common to get a whole pizza.
I don’t know where in “Downstate Illinois” you are, but Garcia’s Pizza in Champaign-Urbana used to specialize in pizza by the slice, though last time I checked, they were down to just one location on Green Street in Champaign. In Chicago, the My Pie on Damen also sells pizza by the slice.
It’s more common for lunch than for dinner.
It’s not that you can’t get pizza by the slice in other areas. It’s that pizza occupies a different niche in the diet of New Yorkers.
New Yorkers are always grabbing a slice. It’s fast food for us. Where people in other areas might swing by McD’s or BK for a quick bite, New Yorkers who want a quick cheap meal will go to the pizza place.* It cracks me up to hear you guys talking about the 3 or 4 pizza places in other cities. In the greater NYC area, you can barely throw a mushroom without hitting a pizzeria. It’s kinda weird to be in another place, where grabbing a slice isn’t the easiest way to get some lunch.
Because of this, pizza is not seen as a “treat” by New Yorkers. It’s just everyday food. When I lived in other areas, getting pizza was seen as something special–like a “pizza party” would be offered as a reward for some good deed. To a New Yorker, that seems a little silly. Sort of like having a ham sandwich party. I mean, we order whole pies all the time, but it’s more of a “we don’t feel like cooking and can’t think of anything better to get” thing than any kind of a special treat. I remember in college, there was a pizza place in one of the cafeterias. Folks were so freakin’ excited about being able to get pizza whenever they wanted. I just didn’t get it.
*Disclaimer–I’m not saying that New Yorkers never eat fast food, okay?
You need a lot of foot traffic for “by the slice” to work - and NY has foot traffic. When you plan to drive from place to place (suburbs), pizza by the slice is inconvenient.