I’d say the same holds true here, at least in the city proper. I’ve thought of a few more since my last post. There’s not one on every corner (lamentably), but it ain’t hard to find a slice here. Pizza’s pretty basic fare here. I mean, people like it- I’ll take it whenever I can get it- but it’s hardly a treat here.
voguevixen, I think that is/was Village Pizzeria, of which there are several. We also do have a Sbarro’s in Stonestown, and I’d imagine there’s slices in the SF Shopping Centre on Market. There’s a handful in the Wharf. Bella Pizza. Irving Pizza. A lot of them are in bar districts, for which I am quite thankful. there’s quite a few in Santa Cruz- the aforementioned Pizza My Heart (which also has a shop across from SJSU), Upper Crust, and a few others.
Oh, I didn’t say there weren’t any, just that they were few. Torre’s and Pyramid pizza (as well as D’Bronx and Original Pizza) all sell single slices, sure, but they fall under the “very few” heading. (As to what’s in Jayhawk territory: I wasn’t including them in KC’s metro area–which is good, because I’m not sure what’s up there any more. Is Rudy’s any good?). Mostly, though (with the exception of Original) they’re single-location places.
Little Caesars? I wasn’t aware of Casesar’s doing that (they’ve disappeared from a lot of locations up North of the river; and I rarely ever purchased any of their pies).
What you see in the area most often are the chains: Pizza Hut, Papa John’s, Pizza Shoppe, Papa Murphy’s (take-and-bake), etc…
Usually you can find pizza by the slice around either a) a close group of bars, or b) a college or university that is close to the town. Or a combination of the two. Todaro’s in Clemson has hands down the best thing to eat at 2am, better than Krystal or Waffle House. Foot traffic is important for their survival (ie Sbarros in the mall).
Where we lack in pizzerias here, we make up in taquerias. They’re the West Coast equivilent of pizzerias in the NY area.
Like I said, we have like 4 pizzerias here, but I couldn’t even take a guess at how many taquerias. Easily, easily over 100 in this town alone. They are everywhere.
Yeah but the crazy thing is it’s hard to get a good NYC style slice in North Beach (Little Italy for those of you outside the Bay Area).
One place finally opened on Broadway (Cable Car) but it’s crap. You can get a slice at one of the North Beach Pizzas (but they won’t let you sit down to eat it!!!) and or course you can get some fine rectangular deep-dish at Golden Boy. But you would expect there to be a lot better/more choices for a good slice in the Italian section of the city! Geez!
It’s not about being wadded tightly. It’s about grab and go. Anywhere that sells by the slice will sell you a whole pie, but what’re you gonna do with a whole pie when you’re on your way to a movie, or stumbling out of a bar?
At least around here, while pizza can easily be a sit-down meal experience, it can also take the place of grabbing a burger at a drive-through- quick and dirty food while you’re getting to something else.
I can’t say that I’ve ever seen individual slices sold anywhere but food-court type places. Oh, and Fazoli’s. I’ve never seen any good pizza sold by the slice. Personal sized, made-to-order pizzas, yes. Individual slices of premade pizza, no.
Also, I don’t think the issue is that people perceive pizza as a special food. It’s just a convenience food that most people don’t eat all that terribly often. Like Green Bean said, it’s what you order when you don’t feel like cooking or going out, and aren’t in the mood for Chinese. Schools and such offer pizza parties as rewards because kids get worked up about anything that’s outside the routine of their schoolday. Having real food from the outside (as opposed to cafeteria slop) and soda at school is a big deal to them because that’s not how school normally is. The kids would be just as excited if you took them to McDonald’s or Dairy Queen, trust me.
I live in West L.A., and there’s at least one nearby restaurant that serves pizza by the slice. You can even sit down at a table and have it–it’s a large tasty piece a little too big for hand-to-mouth eating, so they serve it with utensils.
Chicago-area denizen checking in:
Smaller places (places you’d stop in on your lunch break) sell pizza by the slice;
Bigger places (places you’d go for dinner) sell pizzas whole.
It’s not surprising that outside of urban areas there’s no market for pizza by the slice, because there isn’t enough “lunch-hour” traffic. (Exception: Sbarro in malls, where there is plenty of foot traffic, and everyone who stops in is looking for a “quick bite”.)
One of my favorite places to go when I worked near it was Bacci’s Pizza in Bolingbrook. $3.00 for “Pizza & Pop” (slice was so big I couldn’t finish it… much bigger than a Pizza Hut “Personal Pan Pizza”; and free refills. Tasted a bit like cardboard but can’t beat the price.) They have these all around the Chicago area and there are other pizza by the slice joints here too.
Now that I think of it, the advent of the “Personal Pan Pizza” might also have contributed to the downfall of “by the slice” joints in non-urban areas.
IIRC, the pizza place in SF Shopping Centre is called Villa Pizza - whatever it is, it’s a couple shops left of Panda Express, and they do sell slices. Head up Powell, and you’ll find a slice shop called Blondie’s tucked in next to/under Rasputin Records.
I’m from NY and always thought that pizza was always sold by the slice, except in chain pizzerias and in places where walk-ins are unlikely. Even here in State College, PA, selling by the slice is the norm.
I have to stand corrected about Cleveland. My boss ordered two sheet pizzas from P.Jay’s last night, and then sent a flyer with the order that said they are now selling pizza by the slice, too. And they will deliver it! (with a $$ minimum order)
But the question is do you eat your pizza slices with a knife and fork (the horror!) or is it that my Englishman is even more eccentric that the norm?
I expect it does come down to foot traffic…so I guess they worry that all those Republicans from hicksville wouldn’t know about it.
I recall Donny the Punk campaigned for Mayor of NYC on a platform that pizza slices should be covered by food stamps . Shame he won’t be there for the convension .
I grew up in Philly, but lived in Cleveland for over 20 years, and I’m telling you that what they sell there is not pizza. Except maybe in Little Italy (Murray Hill). In Philly you can definitely get it by the slice.
Rudy’s is great, lots of unusual toppings (you haven’t lived until you’ve had a spinach, feta and roasted almond pizza on honey wheat crust). They also have calzones and such.
There’s also papa keno’s, but I’m not a big fan. They’re pizzas are close to 4 feet across, so one slice is a meal.
wouldn’t know about it.
. Shame he won’t be there for the convension 
.