Sal's & Carmine Pizza

08/25/2008 Posted by tanekamartin

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

03/11/2008 Posted by JDwestside

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.

01/29/2008 Posted by normbreaker

I have NO idea what everyone is ranting about. I 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. The cheese and sauce was scant. The crust and dough were mediocre. The pepperoni was too salty. And the ingredients in general did not taste very fresh at all. I sat down and ate here after hearing all the to-do about this place at around 5:45pm today. The place was empty and in the entire time I was eating there, only 3 other customers came in to grab a slice. There was 1 old guy that hung around the counter eating a cheese slice and kept mumbling, "mmm, this is some good pizza." Are you kidding me? Was this guy crazy? I thought something was wrong with my taste buds or something. I ate a 2nd slice to be sure with broccoli. TERRIBLE. I was SO disappointed that I signed up for a citysearch account just to write this review--my first ever. Please, either someone tell me something was happening today and prove me wrong. Otherwise, don't waste your money here ladies and gentlemen. You will regret it.

12/15/2007 Posted by ashmannyc

Let me tell you. Us New Yorkers are pizza experts by birth. I have had all the slices from top to bottom and Sal and Carmines is the best i've ever had. There are others that taste great and are excellent as well. But for my money I love Sal and Carmine's most. They usually give you a crisp thin crust and the cheese is amazing. It's the sauce that's the secret and i've tried to get some ideas from sal and Carmine but of course they won't tell. They are always making the pies and yes they don't deliver never have never will. I keep telling him if you did you'd make even more but they don't want to. Carmine or is it Sal I always mix them up sometimes yells out funny phrases as your eating, like "Pizza Time" and he's always jawing about something. They have been on the Upper West Side for over 40 years making pies and I hope they never leave. 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. It's doughy in the right way and not those huge squares other places try to sell you. This is down home goodness only New York can offer. If your uptown and want to eat the biggest slice in the city head on up to 110th street and Broadway to Koronet, home of the "Wagon Wheel Pizza" It's a slice of monumental proportions but not as good as Sal and Carmine's if you ask me. God broke the mold when he made these guys.

Pros: The best slice you'll ever have

Cons: Its a ways uptown if you don't like traveling you might not want to go.

10/21/2007 Posted by jcooker

We checked out the pizza here because of some good reviews. What a joke.Tthe pizza is overpriced,and is hardly even a good pie,mediocre at best. Not enough anything on it,very plain.

Pros: the well tossed dough gives a good base

Cons: very plain, scarce cheese and sauce, overpriced

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

10/09/2007 Posted by chipstern

The zesty quality of their bread is intoxicating, especially compared to the shockingly bland library paste that passes for dough in most NYC joints. Their crust bubbles up and has a full-bodied flavor that possesses such a savory, almost buttery character that regulars often eat their slices backwards—starting with the outer crust that generally gets tossed in most so-called pizza parlors. Sal & Carmine’s is about the bread and the cheese, with generous helpings of the finest mozzarella, applied in handfuls of packing peanuts. The quality of this whole milk mozzarella is such that when baked, the natural oils emerge, and imbue the crust with even more flavor—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 Neapolitan character—slightly crunchy on the outside, but with airy, tender nooks and crannies that just melt in your mouth. 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 spinach pie is just perfection. But mostly, Sal & Carmine’s enduring glory is their plain cheese slice. And don’t overlook their superb Sicilian slices, airy and full-bodied like the best home-made focaccia.

Pros: Best slice in New York

Cons: Do not deliver

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

09/29/2007 Posted by charlus

This is the best pizza place in Morningside Heights, but hardly the best in the city. Cheese and sauce are flavorful, crust is a tad too chewy for my taste. Good soda selection (Dr. Brown's). Most people in the neighborhood like to go to Koronet's for a slice. Their loss, our gain. Place is usually not busy so it's not too hard to grab one of the few seats.

Pros: Quirky owners

Cons: Opens at noon. Slightly more expensive, but worth it (not exactly a con)

07/29/2007 Posted by greenr

I think this is the best pizza in the city. The plain is good but the spinach is better. One tip - don't let them catch you with a napkin on your pizza, taking the oil off, because they will tell you they don't like it.

Pros: PIZZA

01/25/2007 Posted by leetsauce

By far the best pizza I've ever had in my 16 years alive. It's nothing like any other pizza in the city where it all tastes the same. I have friends from Queens and the Bronx who come over weekly and demand that we go to Sal and Carmine's. Oh and this is the only pizza I've ever found that tastes good if you leave it in the fridge over night and reheat it the next day. I imagine that if I went to Italy, this is what pizza would taste like.

Pros: Consistently great pizza

Cons: There isnt a lot of seating

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

11/23/2006 Posted by chefinblue

I grew up on Sal & Carmine's pizza. Now that may make me jaded but in reality it just speaks to how lucky I was to be raised on the UWS and got to school a stone's throw from their original spot on W. 94th. Thankfully they relocated to W. 102nd street and the legacy continues. Hot, thin slices with just the right balance of cheese and sauce (what's in that any way?). One slice never seems to be enough and where else can you get a cold can of celery soda to wash it all down with? With the years slipping by and the work load taking it's toll, Sal and Carmine won't be around forever so get a slice today and know you're having a piece of New York history before it's gone..after all they truely have the best pizza in town!

Pros: *The* best pizza in New York

Cons: They don't deliver!