Does an inconsistent slice taste better when it's cheaper?

Well, today it did.

I headed home early and found myself near Santullo's. I didn't have a chance to have a full, proper lunch so I went in for a quick slice. As I approach Santullo's, I usually need to say a little prayer. Lo and behold, I found myself in the middle of Happy Hour. Have they always done this? $2 slices M-F from 4-6pm (dine-in).

Today cheese slice was perfect. Charred but foldable crust. Low grease to cheese ratio. And a "healthy" portion. Dazed, looking out over North Ave., I was loving life. Granted, I was hungry, but it was mighty fine. I may have liked it just as well if I'd paid the usual $3.25, but why do that when there's happy hour?

Santullo's Eatery
1943 W North


--Zee

They started the happy hour maybe two months ago. It's a pretty good deal. I still find the pizza to be reliably above average, if not stellar, so I'm happy with having it nearby. I'll still make the trek to candelite or maries, though, on a semi-regular basis.

Santullo's is bona fide NY style. Are the others?

No, not at all. But they're all very thin crust.

Many here don't consider Santullo's to be very good NY Style, if NY style at all, and I bow to their greater knowledge of the genre. I have no experience with real NY style pizza, so all I know is that santullo's is generally good, but marie's and candlelite are, to me, usually better, at least in the wider genre of "very thin crust pizza".

At the end of the day, some people make a perfectly pleasing pizza, and others don't....and some do some of the time. Santullo's is my go-to place for a slice b/c it's good when it's good, and it's within walking distance.

I was born in NYC (and my wife born and raised there), but I don't have unconditional love for NYC-style. Despite rumors to the contrary, it's not that hard to find a mediocre to poor slice in NYC.

--Zee

Mrs. JiLS and I stopped in here today, and we sampled a couple of slices. As I've noted before, my experience with New York pizza consists entirely with what's served in Syracuse and southern New Jersey, not NYC. However, I have learned (from this board and elsewhere) what all of them are aiming at, and clearly Santullo's at least intellectually knows what to do, even though they did a lackluster job in the execution today. The crust was in the New York, low to no shortening tradition, but I didn't think it was notably better than, say, Sbarro, certainly not worth $3.75(!) a slice. The crust had a bit of burn on the bottom and some of the characteristic bubbling up, and the cheese was in good proportion to the slice, if a bit oily. But the crust had very little flavor and the cheese was pretty "blah," too. I suppose if you got there for the $2.00/slice "Pizza Happy Hour," and you were hungry enough, it would really be a good deal, especially for the neighborhood.