The 8 Best Pizza Shops for a NY-Style Slice Outside New York | Bon Appétit
"When Pizza Shackamaxon opened in 2018, it was simply called PIZZA. 'That’s all we serve,' manager Josh Phillips explains. 'The idea was we sell four things: plain, pepperoni, tomato pie, and a special. It hasn’t changed much.' Ultimately, the shop added on Shackamaxon (the street it’s on) to make it easier for customers to find it—but the operation hasn’t gotten any more complicated. A Pizza Shackamaxon slice is distinguished by its dough, which is fermented for 24 to 36 hours for a slight funk and a finished crust that’s golden with big bubbles and a nice char. The slices are large, cut into six sections from 20-inch pies. 'Two slices is a whole meal, easily, for ten bucks,' Phillips says. There is no sit-down experience here, and all of the blistered, oversized triangle slices and bright, squishy tomato pies are served out of a to-go window. Like Ehler, Phillips is wary of calling the pizza at Pizza Shackamaxon New York–style. ('No one in Philadelphia will ever say they make New York–style pizza, so we’ve always called ourselves New American pizza.') As is the case with most slice shops, the plain cheese slice is the best seller. Only once did a special—buffalo chicken—outsell it. Yet the slice that encapsulates what Pizza Shackamaxon is all about is its tomato pie, a Philly staple that departs from the New York approach. It’s a thick, focaccia-style dough topped with nothing other than tomato sauce made with crushed tomatoes grown nearby in Kingston, New Jersey, finished with extra-virgin olive oil and house-dried oregano, and served at room temperature in square slices. 'It’s the least frills of our no-frills pizza,' Phillips says." - ByEmily Wilson
