pizza-by-the-pound

I just passed small place here in NYC off Union Square called "PIE" which sells "pizza-by-the-pound". Its been around for a while, now, on 4t Ave near 13 St.

All the pizzas are laid out on long flatbread sheets and you pick the kind(s) you want, they cut it to the size you want (by inches) (and with scissors), weigh it and you pay by the pound (ounce, that is). Very interesting varities.

Is there a smimlar concept elsewhere?

There was another place in NYC called "Pinch" where they had similar sheet pizzas and you paid by the inch.Think they folded though.

That's an awesome idea. I haven't seen something like that. I would look for it the next time I go to NYC.

Pizza Lover

Hey NYNM,
In Italy ,at least in Rome...they sell pizza by weight..I think it's so much per kilo. You suggest a size to them,they cut a square ,weigh it and it's yours. Different pies go for different amounts per kilo! Greay way to try lots of small pieces....

Hey there NYNM,

I used to work near there, around Astor Place. I'd been there for lunch once and thought it was good. Can't remember what i had, but ahven't been back as I don't get to that area as often as I used to. How was your trip to Hatch, NM?

This is right by my office, never tried it though, but I may now as it sounds like you thought it was good.

I wonder if there are any pizzarias around road food america selling pizza by weight. As I said above, it's common in Italy. Maybe its time has come!!!!!

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

I wonder if there are any pizzarias around road food america selling pizza by weight. As I said above, it's common in Italy. Maybe its time has come!!!!!

Pizza By The Pound
600 North 32nd Street
Paducah, KY 42003
(270) 442-0067

Wow...this SHOULD be a chain. I'm surprised. Hope it'll catch on. It sure works in Italy.

The very thought of selling pizza by the pound is a deadly sin.

Why would it be a deadly sin?

I don't get that comment either. In Italy,the home of REAL pizza,the Italians have been selling the real thing by the kilo for decades.It's a great way to try pieces of many types of pie in one meal. I ate as if they were ordevours.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

I don't get that comment either. In Italy,the home of REAL pizza,the Italians have been selling the real thing by the kilo for decades.It's a great way to try pieces of many types of pie in one meal. I ate as if they were ordevours.

I guess you really "devoured" them, huh? pb

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

Hey there NYNM,

I used to work near there, around Astor Place. I'd been there for lunch once and thought it was good. Can't remember what i had, but ahven't been back as I don't get to that area as often as I used to. How was your trip to Hatch, NM?

Never got to Hatch - I usually stay up North (NM) but they do make great Green Chile Pizza in Santa Fe

quote:

Originally posted by NYNM

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

Hey there NYNM,

I used to work near there, around Astor Place. I'd been there for lunch once and thought it was good. Can't remember what i had, but ahven't been back as I don't get to that area as often as I used to. How was your trip to Hatch, NM?

Never got to Hatch - I usually stay up North (NM) but they do make great Green Chile Pizza in Santa Fe

NYNM,

Was there a particular reason you were going to drive from Santa Fe down to Hatch? There really isn't a lot to do there this time of year. Come to think of it, other than the Chile festival (of which I was very underwhelmed by) Labor Day weekend, it's really a one-horse kind of town.

quote:

Originally posted by saps

Why would it be a deadly sin?

Sorry, but I'm just one of those folks that don't give a darn how they do it in Italy. I can't help it, I'm born and raised in New York
and the thought of pizza being sold by the pound is horrifying. You get yourself a pie or a few slices & a Coke. Simple as that.

quote:

Originally posted by tamandmik

quote:

Originally posted by NYNM

quote:

Originally posted by billyboy

Hey there NYNM,

How was your trip to Hatch, NM?

Never got to Hatch - I usually stay up North (NM) but they do make great Green Chile Pizza in Santa Fe

NYNM,

Was there a particular reason you were going to drive from Santa Fe down to Hatch? There really isn't a lot to do there this time of year. Come to think of it, other than the Chile festival (of which I was very underwhelmed by) Labor Day weekend, it's really a one-horse kind of town.

Complicated! I never went to Hatch or especially plan to do so. I passed thru it one on a trip to Las Cruces and the Mexico and it seemed, as you say, nothing much. I was really responding to Billyboy's question.

However, do you know if there's green chile pizza in Southern NM too? I esp. like it with a cornmeal crust - they do that at Upper Crust Pizza in Santa Fe - they say President Clinton (the "old" one) once ate there.

The Upper Crust is awesome, IMO, NYNM. The closest we have to that, in terms of green chile pizza, can be found at Dion's, which has probably a dozen locations in Albuquerque, but just one here. When I was in SF in December, I recall seeing a Dion's on Cerillos Rd, heading into the plaza.

jimsock...it just seems such a strange comment....you're used to pizza by the slice or pie so anything else is"a deadly sin". I was born and raised in North Jersey and I don't consider something a little different from wjat I'm accustomed to a "deadly sin". Travelling to different places with different customs sure must be hard on You!!

quote:

Originally posted by jimsock9

quote:

Originally posted by saps

Why would it be a deadly sin?

Sorry, but I'm just one of those folks that don't give a darn how they do it in Italy. I can't help it, I'm born and raised in New York
and the thought of pizza being sold by the pound is horrifying. You get yourself a pie or a few slices & a Coke. Simple as that.

Do you still drive a car that runs on leaded gasoline?

quote:

Originally posted by jimsock9

quote:

Originally posted by saps

Why would it be a deadly sin?

Sorry, but I'm just one of those folks that don't give a darn how they do it in Italy. I can't help it, I'm born and raised in New York
and the thought of pizza being sold by the pound is horrifying. You get yourself a pie or a few slices & a Coke. Simple as that.

I have to agree. If I was in Italy, that would be one thing, nut not here in the US please.
Beside, in DC, pay-by-the-pound food is quick lunch food, it's not considered high quality. So, I'd probably, just on principle, think of a pay-per-pound pizza joint as being second rate.

There was a place in San Rafael, CA where you put on the toppings yourself from a cafeteria type line, you paid by the pound, then they baked it for you. It didn't last long.

Apparently for some folks, anything different is something to be feared. Maybe we should have stuck with dial-phones and ice boxes.

Believe me,it worked well in italy. More than 30 years ago(at least!) Italian pizzarias were laying out all their pizza styles for customers to pick from, back when Americans were still ordering from a menu list. Now I've noticed ,in recent years(in the Northeast,at least)our pizzarias are doing the same. So we can learn something from the Italians. By the way,when those shops 35 years or more ago laid out their square pans of pizza,they cut a slice to your specifications,weighed your piece on a small scale, and charged you...simple easy, and CHEAP!!! The catch was they were square pans,like our sicilian pies. We learned one idea from the Italians(decades later!) why not pizza by weight,the real reason the Italians started putting out all those pizzas.

If you go to a pizza place to get a few slices and a coke is the pizza any better or worse if you pay by the slice or pay by weight. It's the same pizza. If it sucks find a new place.

Well then, a small piece will make you realize it "sucks" for little money...get out and move on. If it doesn't suck,you get to try lots of different types...or just what you want! A no lose situation!!!!!

"What can we getcha today, sizzlechest?"
"Ahhh, lemme have 18 ounces of the meatball hero, 21 ounces of sicilian, (16 ounces w/sausage and 5 ounces w/ mushroom)....and I'll take a 6 ounce salad on the side."
"Ya want anything to drink with that?"
"Oh yeah....gimme a 22 ounce Coke...just a little ice."
"You want that meatball with cheese?"
"Yeah, parmigiana.....about 1/16th of a pound,please"
"Okay, comin' right up"

Yeah, and this place is really good, too, because they give me like 3 ounces of sausage on each slice, well, that's on a 14 ounce slice...the 5 ounce slices had more like 1 and 1/2 ounces....anyway,
this place......."What kind of dressing you want on that salad"
"Ahhh, I think I'll have 2 1/4 ounces of the Italian this time around...thanks"
"Alright...that'll be $23.85...hey, you come back in on Thursday and we'll be havin'
a special......134 pieces of spaghetti for $3.95.....and that includes like 4 1/2 ounces of meatsauce and a 1/6 pound meatball."
"Hey, sounds like a great deal....I'll see ya then!"
"Alright there bro, you have a good night.."
"Thanks...you too"

Yeah, that's a great idea.....why didn't we Americans invent it?

quote:

Originally posted by jimsock9

"What can we getcha today, sizzlechest?"
"Ahhh, lemme have 18 ounces of the meatball hero, 21 ounces of sicilian, (16 ounces w/sausage and 5 ounces w/ mushroom)....and I'll take a 6 ounce salad on the side."
"Ya want anything to drink with that?"
"Oh yeah....gimme a 22 ounce Coke...just a little ice."
"You want that meatball with cheese?"
"Yeah, parmigiana.....about 1/16th of a pound,please"
"Okay, comin' right up"

Actually that is a great idea. You got exactly what you wanted, nothing more nothing less.

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Well then, a small piece will make you realize it "sucks" for little money...get out and move on. If it doesn't suck,you get to try lots of different types...or just what you want! A no lose situation!!!!!

in that case, we can start doing that at all restaurants. buy everything by the pound.

Sorry, I don't care what the Italians are doing, I'm happy to buy a slice. I've never bought a slice that was so bad, I couldn't finish it. If that happens to someone, that person may want to reconsider their choice of eating establishment before going in. I've never been to an independent pizzaria and hated the pizza so bad, I couldn't finish it. I might not go back, but, if I'm going to have pizza for lunch, I'm not going out for lunch to "try" pizza, I'm going out to lunch to "eat" pizza. If I don't like the slice, I'm not leaving and going to another pizzaria to find a better slice.

The good pizzarias that serve slices, have had pizza out for viewing for as long as I can remember. I never ordered a slice from a menu and had to wait for them to make the slice. I chose a slice from a pizza that was in view - and I grew up in the NorthEast. If I ordered a whole pie, then sure, I might order off the menu, because then I'm not limited to just what they had laying out.

Aand who ever suggested that people aren't keen on the idea because those people feel that "anything different is something that should be feared" is ridiculous. I don't want to buy my pizza by the pound, because I feel a slice of pizza is good enough. People who want 1/2 slice and want to pay half price is going to end up jacking up the price for everyone else. What's next? 3" subs? 1/8 sandwiches?

It may be a novel idea, but I wouldn't frequent a place where I can't just order a slice and pay for a slice without them sticking it on a scale.

Besides, part of the experience of buying a slice of pizza is just that, getting a slice, Folding it over. It's not the same experience getting a piece of a slice. You lose out on the entire slice experience. At least with a round pie, maybe not so much with sicilian style, but with a neopolitan pie, you really lose out not getting an entire slice.

Oh please scorereader, be real.....
Pizza by the piece and weight is one little item...We're not talking about a whole menu of items. It's hard to describe...but these small counter pizza places in Rome work! There are traditional places too...but the pizza by place places are fun!!!, Convenient!!! fast!!! and cheap!!!

The have salid, and olive bars, in grocerys around Dallas that sell by the ounce. Works for me.

I hate geting a pizza w/ skimpy toppings. This could be the cure?
Joe

quote:

Originally posted by leethebard

Oh please scorereader, be real.....

I'm being as real as you.

I'm glad it works in Italy. It's a cute little novelty, but I'm not interested. It reminds me of CiCi's. Small little slices. Bleack.
Besides, pizza in Italy is quite different from US pizza. Some Pizza in Italy is like foccacia bread. So, I can see why it works in italy. But I wouldn't expect a slice of Ray's pizza to be paid for by the pound. I'm only using Ray's as an example of NY style pizza - there's better, but it's a good example of the typical slice emporium pizza in NY. IMO,, pay by the pound for this type of pizza, would be a bad idea. As I said, Sicilian style or foccacia types of pizza might be different. But, since I eat NY Style almost exclusively, I'm not buying into it.

Nothing against Italy, or those who like buying pizza by the pound. Just not my cup of tea. Like I said, it also may largely be due to the fact that I equate paying food by the pound/ounce to be second rate lunch food, due to DC being a haven for those kind of lunch places.

That is the point,Papajoe. In Italy these places make their own creations with so many different great topings,you want a small piece of so many that pizza by the Kilo was the way to go.I tried so many I couldn't have by the slice. Had an all Mushroom pie with more than 6 kinds of mushrooms. An all pepper pie with peppers in every shade of the rainbow,including purple....Each place had different combinations...it was pizza heaven!!!! I STILL say it's a great idea that would work in MANY locations here in the States.