Norm’s Pizza
Pizza restaurant · Downtown Brooklyn ·
Classic NY-style slices with sourdough crust and fresh ingredients
Classic NY-style slices with sourdough crust and fresh ingredients
"A slice shop is more than the sum of its parts. There’s the quality of the pizza itself, of course, but the best slice shops don’t always have the capital-B Best pizza. You should be able to pop into your local pizza spot and grab a slice anytime, without having to put too much thought or effort into it. The pizza shouldn’t make you think too hard. It should be substantial, and two slices shouldn’t cost you more than 10 bucks. A slice shop should be the kind of place that you want to come back to, not necessarily because it blows your mind, but because it’s comforting, convenient, and tastes good. That’s exactly what you get at Norm’s, a slice shop in Park Slope with a stylishly retro feel. If the pizza here tastes familiar to New Yorkers who once lived on dollar slices, that’s because this is another upgraded iteration of the ubiquitous 2 Bros chain. Like Upside, their higher-end venture near Penn Station, Norm’s does classic grab-and-go slices with high-quality ingredients and a bit of a twist. The chewy crust has the kind of layered flavor you only get from using sourdough. The white slice has more going on than just a bunch of cheese. Once you try the vodka slice, you’ll want to ask if you can buy a pint of the sauce and put it on everything. One thing we’ve noticed about the pizza at Norm’s is that it doesn’t travel particularly well, so your best bet is to eat it at the shop. This is actually a good thing, because Norm’s is first date-level cute. The interior looks like a vaporwave Pizza Hut, the kind of spot where the study beats girl would hang out after school. It feels fresh and familiar all at once, just like the pizza. Food Rundown Plain Slice The dough is the best part of a Norm’s slice, and the plain version really lets it shine. The crust is crisp on the bottom and quite chewy, in a good way. The cheese is gooey and stretchy, and the sauce has a nice depth. Vodka Slice Our favorite thing to order here. The vodka sauce has just the right balance of creaminess and tang, and it plays well with the sourdough crust. Pepperoni Slice Our other favorite. The ‘roni cups are deep, crisp, and not too greasy. They pack a little bit heat, which we love. White Slice A lot of white slices just taste like cheese on top of more cheese, which is kind of what a white slice is—but that doesn’t have to be all that it is. Here, you also get notes of lemon, pepper, and fresh and roasted garlic. Garlic Knots Garlic knots are actually our benchmark for a slice shop, because they're secretly hard to do right. Since we love the dough at Norm’s so much, it’s no surprise that their garlic knots are some of our favorites. Dunk them in copious amounts of sauce, as nature intended. Sicilian Slice The Sicilian pizza here is okay, but we’ve found it to be a bit inconsistent. On one visit, it was a bit too chewy and dry. We prefer the round pies." - Carina Finn
"As the younger sibling to Midtown slice shop Upside Pizza, Norm’s Pizza is adding plain and pepperoni Sicilian pies to its menu; like Upside, Norm’s sticks to a tight menu of classic slices made from house-milled flour and a sourdough starter." - Luke Fortney
"In downtown Brooklyn, Norm’s Pizza (345 Adams St.)—another of the brothers’ slightly pricier, more ambitious spots—also channels an eighties/nineties vibe and serves New York-style slices on red-and-white checked wax paper; like Upside, they use natural leavening and allow the dough to ferment, which here produces a crust that can be a touch one-dimensionally tangy." - Hannah Goldfield
"At 345 Adams St., near the Jay St. MetroTech subway, Norm’s Pizza is a tight, 400-square-foot slice shop that mirrors old-school ’60s and ’70s vibes with formica counters, mustard-yellow accents, and neon lights; the dough is made with house-milled flour and a sourdough starter, and the menu sticks to classic New York options — cheese, pepperoni, margherita, vodka pie, and a white pie — with prices ranging from $3 for a cheese slice to $4.50 for a margherita. I found the team (founder Noam Grossman and partners Eli and Oren Halali, who also own the ubiquitous dollar-slice chain 2 Bros.) worked with former Roberta’s pizzaiolo Anthony Falco on the menu to push the slice conversation forward; here the pepperoni are the higher-cost roni cups from Ezzo Sausage Co., and the white pie uses Frankie’s 457 EVOO, lemon-zest ricotta, and an in-house basil oil. Norm’s prides itself on being obsessive about ingredients and cooking, and it’s part of a broader citywide upgrade to slice shops — now open daily from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday and until 9 p.m. on Sunday." - Serena Dai
"A nine-seat slice shop at 345 Adams St. called Norm's will open in August as a smaller Downtown Brooklyn outpost from Noam Grossman with partners including Eli and Oren Halali; expect simple slices made with sourdough." - Serena Dai
