People Visit One Place In NYC For The Iconic Slice That Put Dollar Pizza On The Map

With over 1,900 mouth-watering pizza joints in New York City, how does one stand out? Enter the dollar cheese slice, which first came onto the scene in 2001. However, it was put on the map in 2008 with the opening of 2 Bros. Pizza in the East Village. Owned by brothers Eli and Oren Halali, 2 Bros. initially offered dollar slices as a promotion to attract customers. However, with the economic recession in full swing, the dollar slice became the heart of its business model, and it triggered a slew of imitators by 2010.

2 Bros. popularized the iconic dollar slice, a necessity for many struggling financially in one of the world's most expensive cities. Affordable pizza places, like 99 Cent Fresh, opened near homeless shelters to serve low-income folks. Over time, they branched out and targeted the student and late-night crowds, who valued the cheap price more than the taste of the slice.

For over a decade, people from all walks of life enjoyed the dollar slice at the handful of 2 Bros. locations around the city. However, in 2021, 2 Bros. was forced to raise its prices at some locations to $1.50, due to inflation and the rising costs of ingredients and labor, all compounded by an absence of foot traffic during the worst parts of the pandemic. By 2023, the $1 slice at 2 Bros. was gone. At some locations today, a cheese slice is $2. However, it's still a bargain, and at least you won't have to wait for hours, the way folks do at the legendary Di Fara.

2 Bros. has locations all around New York, including the Port Authority, Flatiron District, and its original spot on St. Mark's Place. Generally, the locations have 4.2 to 4.3 stars on Google Reviews, and its St. Mark's location in the East Village is the highest-rated with 4.4 stars. When you're talking about a cheap slice, the expectations of quality are somewhat different than what you'd find at Una Pizza Napoletana, which Italy named "The Best Pizzeria in the World."

Some complain of the slices being "rough" and undercooked, which is possibly a result of electric ovens that don't cook through evenly. Still, plenty of folks rave about 2 Bros. being a great late-night option, thanks to the pizza joint not closing until 2 a.m. Customers do single out the original St. Mark's location, with one Google reviewer calling it a "pizza shop from the gods."

If you enjoy a slice at this iconic location and decide you want to try something on the other end of the pizza spectrum, consider heading to one of the Upside Pizza locations, owned by the same brothers who run 2 Bros. With high-quality ingredients like freshly made mozzarella and pizza dough, the slices cost more than $2. However, considering the 4.8-star Google rating for the Morningside Heights location, it's worth the extra few dollars if you can swing it. One Google reviewer calls it the "best slice in the West side."