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Restaurant Ratings

The ratings are based mostly on the degree to which the food excites us, and a little on environment, service, and other considerations. I rate restaurants relative to all other restaurants in the New Orleans area. Here's what the stars mean to me:

starstarstarstarstar
Among the best locally.

starstarstarstar
Excellent and ambitious.

starstarstar
Worth crossing town for.

starstar
Recommended.

*
Acceptable.

No star
Unacceptable.

Cost Ratings
Each dollar sign indicates a ten-dollar range, including a normal meal for the restaurant (dinner, if they serve other meals), not including drinks, or tips. So, for example. . .

1$--$5-15
2$--$15-25
3$--$25-35

. . . and so on, with no upper limit. While this scheme may suggest mathematical precision, know that perception of price varies from diner to diner as much as the star ratings do. So consider this an estimate.

All reviews are based entirely on meals I have personally taken at the restaurant and paid for from my own pocket. I don't take free review meals, nor am I reimbursed by anybody for my restaurant expenditures.

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Slice Pizzeria

Pizza. Pasta. Sandwiches.
Lee Circle Area: 1513 St. Charles Ave.. 504-525-7437. Map.
Uptown: 5538 Magazine St. , 504-897-4800. Map.
Lunch and dinner continuously, seven days.
Very Casual.
AE DC DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
In a town without a lot in the way of great pizza, Slice is a standout. It makes first-class thin-crust pizzas in the New York style with an array of excellent toppings. The kitchen also makes a surprisingly large list of daily specials, sandwiches, and appetizers.

WHY IT'S GOOD
Even the first step toward convenience in the making of pizza brings it down. Slice uses none of those. They make their own dough, hand-toss it, bake it in a very hot flatbed oven that makes the bottom crisp, and buys top cheeses, excellent meats and fresh vegetables for the toppings. The offbeat daily specials--many of which don't seem they belong in such a utilitarian place--shows that the people in the kitchen aren't just following a formula. They actually know how to cook.

BACKSTORY
Slice is owned by the same people who have the two Juan's Flying Burrito restaurants in the area. Before it was a restaurant, the narrow St. Charles Avenue original location was a dressmaker's shop. The new Magazine Street branch was a tuxedo store that bears a resemblance to the first location.

DINING ROOM
A long, narrow room with a beat-up tile and concrete floor stretches from the sidewalk to what seems like the middle of the next block, interrupted by the entire kitchen, and ending in a bar. Tables run through the entire place. The open kitchen not only allows a good look at the proceedings, but lets the aroma make you hungry while you wait for the pasta or the pie.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
Bruschetta with tomatoes and basil.
Caprese salad.
Barbecue shrimp.
Mussels in basil and garlci broth.
Antipasto or similar, bigger nosh plate.
Greek salad.
Arugula salad with tomato and Pecorino.
Pizza (all kinds).
Calzones.
Muffuletta panini.
Barbecue shrimp poor boy.
Pasta aglio olio (N.O. bordelaise).
Four cheese ravioli.
Lasagna.
Salmon pesto pasta.
Gelato.
Tiramisu.

FOR BEST RESULTS
Get your order in (at the front counter; they'll find you and bring it when ready), and settle to the rear for a glass of wine or a cocktail. It will be awhile before a pizza appears, but that's a good sign. Ask whether they have a wine dinner going on. If so, ask about it; it's so ambitious that you may be tempted.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
The shabbiness may be a bit much for some fastidious people. (No cleanliness problem, though.) There's not really a good place to wait when the restaurant is busy.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES

This review was updated with new information on 12/28/2009.

A list of all 300 full, current reviews is here.