Sal and Carmine Pizza

(212) 663-7651

2671 Broadway (nr. 102nd St.)
New York, NY 10025 40.7983 -73.9695

Get Map & Directions »

Neighborhoods: Upper West Side, Midtown

Hours:

11:30 am to 10:00 pm

Price:

$$

Last updated 8.16.11

Category:

Restaurants

Payment Methods:

Cash

Restaurant Special Features:

Cheap Eats

Cuisine:

Pizza

Editor's Tips

What People Are Saying About Sal and Carmine Pizza

Featured Review

Contributor

Contributor

The Scene – Raised in Italy, Sal and Carmine have been in the pizza business forever. They know their product is among the best, and they don't have to gussy it up by smiling at the customers, letting it suffer through delivery, or any of that nonsense. There are a few tables in the back, where pizza connoisseurs can be seen huddled over their pies. – – The Food – This is the pinnacle of the classic Neapolitan-American slice. It's worth the trip uptown, without question, just for the plain pizza. There's nothing out of the ordinary, just the most excellent, fresh…

Editor's Tips

The Extras:
Unlike most (if not closer to all) pizza parlors, Sal and Carmine's obstinately refuses to deliver. You can pick up a pie or a slice to go, but really it's best eaten fresh on the spot.
ambiance
100.0% positive
  1. “There is a small, cozy place behind the counter, where you can eat your pies in peace.”
  2. “It has the same decor, but the pizza has nothing to do with what made that store famous.”
dessert
91.66999816894531% positive
  1. “Tthe pizza is overpriced,and is hardly even a good pie,mediocre at best.”
  2. “The sauce is a fairly traditional marinara, with light overtones of olive oil and oregano, and of their toppings, the thick slices of sausage and generous helpings of pepperoni should satisfy the cravings of any meat lover, while for the vegans, their spi”
  3. “Great for a slice or to pick up a pie, Sal and Carmine's is the best pizza on the Upper West Side.”
  4. “I've lived here for six years and I've had pie in all five boroughs and this really IS the single best cheese pie slice I've ever had.”
  5. “My co-workers & I treked our way from Mid-east all the way to try this famous slice, we were utterly disappointed first with the shape of the pie, it wasn't round, but more of a football shaped, oval.”
  6. “They also make an incredible sicilian slice but they don't always have a pie ready you have to be lucky enough to get one.”
drinks
100.0% positive
  1. “Phone it in, pick up a bottle of wine, grab the pizza and head home for a great dinner.”
food quality
88.03999900817871% positive
  1. “Cheese and sauce are flavorful, crust is a tad too chewy for my taste.”
  2. “Fresh cheese, great sauce, excellent crust.”
  3. “don't know if the pizza at this place USED to be good, but I went TODAY (Jan 29, 2008) and it was one of the most disappointing meals I have ever had.”
  4. “Sal and Carmine's Pizza is one of the best pizza places in new york.”
  5. “was craving for a good pizza to share with my kids.”
  6. “The sauce is a fairly traditional marinara, with light overtones of olive oil and oregano, and of their toppings, the thick slices of sausage and generous helpings of pepperoni should satisfy the cravings of any meat lover, while for the vegans, their spi”
  7. “This is by far the best pizza out there.”
  8. “absolutely love this pizza.”
  9. “It has the same decor, but the pizza has nothing to do with what made that store famous.”
  10. “The best slice of pizza I have ever had!”
  11. “Sal & Carmine make their pies at their own pace, they never keep a stack of pies pre-made, so you always get a fresh slice.”
  12. “Tthe pizza is overpriced,and is hardly even a good pie,mediocre at best.”
  13. “And, yes, their cheeze pizza is ADDICTIVE.”
  14. “They hung in there, moved uptown, and this is still the best pizza by far that you can get in NYC.”
  15. “Highly overrated pizza.”
  16. “Avoid if you love pizza”
  17. “But where else can you get a slice of pizza with fresh ingredients that you can taste?”
  18. “Great pizza.”
  19. “Being from New Jersey (contrary to popular belief home to the worlds best pizza) I have been around great pizza my whole life.”
  20. “It is perfect, a perfect thin crust, a tangy tomato base, and a cheesy and salty mozzeralla.”
  21. “Sal and Carmine make the best pizza in NYC.”
  22. “It was the best piece of pizza I have ever had and my wife who really doesn't even like pizza thought it was outstanding.”
  23. “Anyway, its pizza is a nice nostalgic treat, as good pizza by the slice in NYC has become harder to find.”
  24. “after all they truely have the best pizza in town!”
  25. “New York city is littered with dingy little pizza parlors all claiming to have the best slices in New York, authentic sicilian, fres ingredi.”
  26. “But this pizza is perfect and savory.”
  27. “And the ingredients in general did not taste very fresh at all.”
  28. “Bar none, this is the best pizza you'll ever have the privilege of eating.”
  29. “The food is so good they won't even deliver, you're forced to come pick it up!”
  30. “Quite possibly the worst pizza in the city - greasy, salty, and chewy.”
  31. “the best pizza”
  32. “best pizza i've had in the city.”
  33. “The BEST slice of pizza in town!”
  34. “Phone it in, pick up a bottle of wine, grab the pizza and head home for a great dinner.”
  35. “the harmony between the bread and the cheese is just gloriously rich and mellow, with creamy overtones that roll out of the oven in waves of texture and overwhelm the olfactory senses even before that first bite kicks in, and the crust has an unmistakable”
  36. “If you dont like this, you dont like pizza.”
  37. “There was 1 old guy that hung around the counter eating a cheese slice and kept mumbling, "mmm, this is some good pizza.”
  38. “think this is the best pizza in the city.”
  39. “Sal's has always been the best pizza around - for those in the know on the Upper West Side, it's the only game in town!”
  40. “The pizza was always fresh.”
  41. “Great pizza In the classic manner”
  42. “the sauce was excellent but the saltiness of the pizza quickly overpowered anything good about the pizza.”
  43. “best pizza in the city”
  44. “They aren't too expensive and has good food.”
  45. “Great for a slice or to pick up a pie, Sal and Carmine's is the best pizza on the Upper West Side.”
  46. “This is the best pizza place in Morningside Heights, but hardly the best in the city.”
overall
100.0% positive
  1. “This is the best pizza place in Morningside Heights, but hardly the best in the city.”
service
33.3299994468689% positive
  1. “Most people in the neighborhood like to go to Koronet's for a slice.”
  2. “Everytime i try to grab a quick slice it is never quick and the counter staff is rude.”
  3. “The only thing I agree with is the rude service.”
value
70.0% positive
  1. “They aren't too expensive and has good food.”
  2. “But for my money I love Sal and Carmine's most.”
  3. “Tthe pizza is overpriced,and is hardly even a good pie,mediocre at best.”
  4. “It's doughy in the right way and not those huge squares other places try to sell you.”
  5. “The sauce is a fairly traditional marinara, with light overtones of olive oil and oregano, and of their toppings, the thick slices of sausage and generous helpings of pepperoni should satisfy the cravings of any meat lover, while for the vegans, their spi”
wait time
50.0% positive
  1. “agree their slice is decent, but I refuse to wait 15 minutes for a slice when their are so many other great places to eat in the neighborhood.”
  2. “Everytime i try to grab a quick slice it is never quick and the counter staff is rude.”
4 Star Rating: Recommended

01/13/11

Not bad

by Dona2009 at Citysearch

Liked the pizza, it tasted like a great pizza I had when I was a child in Brooklyn...

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

07/20/09

I love these guys

by disgustedtnt at Citysearch

I've been eating thier pizza since the 70s when they were simply Sal's Pizza next to the old Symphony Space on 96th Street.

When they moved over 20 years ago we all feared that this great example of New York pizza would be lost.

But not so...they are still as wonderful and at 47 I love eating thier pizza as much as I did when I was 12.

  • Pros: Best Pizza in New York
  • Cons: None
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

02/24/09

Best slice in the city! (or at least on the west side.)

by gduke10 at Citysearch

I live just around the corner from this joint, and every time I want some pizza, this place comes first. there is another place down the road called "cheesey pizza" and it lives up to its name. it WAY too cheesey for my taste, but at Sal and Carmine's, its always perfect! It mite a little salty but thats only noticeable to a few people. so if your uptown and craving a good slice, then go to Sal and Carmine's!

  • Pros: Great pizza, good selection of toppings
  • Cons: a on the salty side
3 Star Rating: Average

08/25/08

Not worth the $$$ anymore

by tanekamartin at Citysearch

Hi All,

So I live in the neighborhood and had heard about this place and did my research in advance by reading the reviews here on Citysearch (no, I don't work for Citysearch and they didn't pay me to say any of this). As I often passed this place going to and from the gym it was not big deal to stop and give it a try. I would agree with others who say it is NOT a place to rave about but you can get a decent slice (or two) to eat in or for on the go; not delivering is a bad business move on their part IMHO.

Stopped in for about the fourth time in the year and half I've now lived in NY and saw that inflation had affected their prices as well. Plain slices are now $3.00 and at that price this place is officially NOT worth the trip. Their plain cheese slice is not large enough nor delicious enough when NY is crowded with pizza joints. Long story short: if you're really hungry and just can't wait, fine, cough up the $3.00 but if you can wait your money is better spent elsewhere.

  • Pros: It's decent pizza if you live in the neighborhood
  • Cons: Prices have risen to $3 per slice, a mediocre slice
5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

03/11/08

Excellent slice - don't go looking for something fancy, like toppings. lol.

by JDwestside at Citysearch

First time message, response to previous writer

So you had a pepperoni slice and a broccoli slice? Bad choices. This place does one thing really well. The cheese slice. It is a hole in the wall with zero atmosphere but they serve that old time New York City slice that is so hard to find these days.

The pizza overall is very salty, and the pepperoni slice seems slathered in grease that leaked out of the meat. But the plain cheese slice evokes memories of childhood, that first slice of New York pizza you had with your dad.

I've never even tried the broccoli slice - it is hideous. The Sicilian style is decent.

The Details on Sal and Carmine Pizza

Place Categories:

  • best cheeze pizza
  • best sicilian slice
  • overpriced tthe pizza
  • best pizza place
  • excellent thin crust
  • rude friendly service
  • very fresh ingredients
  • flavorful cheese
  • good food
  • good spinach pie
  • authentic sicilian
  • just gloriously rich harmony
  • love sal
  • not friendly trendy look
  • love carmine
  • perfect mozzeralla
  • famous store
  • nice treat
  • awesome 11th st
  • like most people
  • decent bread
  • cold can
  • best homemade focaccia
  • great sauce
  • mediocre dough
Advertisement

Featured In

Recent Reviews In Manhattan

3 Star Rating: Average

Las Ramblas

170 W 4th St, New York, NY

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

Ayza Wine & Chocolate Bar - West Village

1 7th Ave S, New York, NY

5 Star Rating: Highly Recommended

Barolo Ristorante

398 W Broadway, New York, NY

Advertisement