Pizza by the slice is a revered tradition in New York and other intensely urban neighborhoods, but in spread-out Dallas-Fort Worth, it was never much of a thing — until recently.
However, we are currently enjoying a pizza-by-the-slice trend, propelled by the arrival of two high-profile by-the-slice purveyors — Prince St. Pizza and Slice House by Tony Gemignani — who've both opened locations in the DFW area.
Their presence among us has brought an awareness of the tradition of the slice (an awareness that has helped create a receptive audience for events like the recent slice pop-up by Dave’s Pizza Oven).
Other factors helping the slice rise: the "permissible indulgence" trend where you go for something decadent but in a smaller portion, and the legacy of the food truck where you're just there to grab a bite.
There's also the shift in pricing on pizza: Where DFW previously viewed pizza as a cheap item from a chain, diners now are more accepting of pizza as an artisanal product with a higher price. A slice lets them dabble without having to foot the $20-and-up price a whole pie commands.
Here's a list of places doing pizza by the slice in DFW, whether it's the authentic street-food-style nosh or else as a lunch option with maybe a salad and drink on the side.
Motor City Pizza
Hip pizzeria in Lewisville serves breakfast pizzas by the slice on weekends only — every Saturday and Sunday morning. Their Detroit-style pizza deep-dish crust can handle meats, eggs, and sauces without flopping. The Florentine Benedict pizza with bacon, spinach, mushroom, tomato, cheese, eggs, and Hollandaise is the most popular. Other options include Western omelet pizza, smothered sausage lovers pizza, eggs Benedict pizza, and bacon dream pizza, for $8 to $12 per slice. (They also offer the same pizzas whole.)
Poco Fiasco
Harwood District restaurant does it authentic New York-style with a pizza window where you can buy the slice from a generous menu of 11 varieties including not just pepperoni or cheese, but also spinach-artichoke, Italian sausage, or chicken bacon ranch, and at a killer price: $4 per slice. They also have offer The Poco Fiasco Lunch Special, Monday-Friday from 11 am-3 pm with choice of any slice, half salad, and fountain drink for $9.
Prince St. Pizza
New York pizza concept known for Sicilian-style square pies opened its first restaurant in Texas at 2820 N. Henderson Ave., in the space previously occupied by the original location of Fireside Pies. Prince St. was founded in 2012 by brothers Frank and Dominic Morano, using family recipes for their Sicilian squares as well as Neapolitan-style pizza. (Sicilian-style pizza is a homey take on pizza, served as a square or rectangle, with a thick focaccia-like crust, light and fluffy on top and crisp on the bottom.) The pizzas are nearly all available by the slice, as well as a whole pie, at about $6 to $7 per slice. But these are big slices. Prince St. also adheres to the New York tradition of late-night hours: until 11 pm on weekdays and 3 am on Friday-Saturday.
Serious Pizza
Dallas-based chain came to embrace the slice not because it was trying to emulate New York but because its pizzas are big, big, big. That includes big whole pies as well as some seriously massive slices of pizza — so large that they’re advertised as a “huge slice” on the menu for $5.75, and can serve as a meal for most, doctored up with toppings such as shaved ribeye, chicken, Impossible sausage, spinach, bell pepper, and more. Their slice is a regular part of the menu at both locations in Dallas' Deep Ellum and Fort Worth.
Slice House by Tony Gemignani
Fast-casual pizza brand by world-famous pizzaiolo Tony Gemignani opened its first Texas location in Frisco at 5995 Preston Rd. #102, in a storefront that was once a grilled cheese place. The restaurant offers four styles of pizza: New York, Sicilian, Grandma, and Detroit style, always available by the slice or whole. The benefit here is the ability to mix-and-match — you can get a slice of each and compare, and then take a whole pie of your favorite home.
Ozzi's
Ultra-buzzy new pizzeria is located way out on the southwest side of Fort Worth — hardly an urban area — but its inspiration, as well as its level of quality, comes from the streets of New York. That's where chef-founder Asdren "Ozzi" Azemi became immersed in pizzeria culture while working for more than a decade at restaurants across New York. After moving back to his hometown of Fort Worth, he opened Ozzi's where he's doing amazing things with pizza dough and crust, well worth a pilgrimage for any pizza aficionado. The pizza's available whole as well as by the slice ($4.25-$5.75), in varieties such as pepperoni or sausage and pepper. You can go ahead and get a slice — but odds are high that you're going to end up with a whole pie, too.
Yonx Pizza Bar & Co.
Indie mini-chain is bringing that NYC vibe to the area north of Dallas with locations in Wylie and McKinney. Yonx does New York-style thin-crust pizza in a standard 14-inch, a massive 24-inch "Kong" size, and by the slice, which can be ordered as a lunch with a Caesar salad for $10. Varieties include pepperoni and slightly gourmet options with New York-inspired names, such as Balsamic on Bleeker St., with garlic sauce, mushrooms, shaved ribeye, mozzarella cheese, arugula, and balsamic drizzle; Bronx Bomb, with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, meatballs, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese.
