La Bellezza Pizza

This place has unfortunately went out of business since at least a few months ago. There’s some grill spot there now instead: (

$ 5 for 2 cheese slices and a pop? And the pizza is actually pretty good? It’s not a fancy place, its not gourmet pizza, but it’s good old fashion, fold your slice NYC pizza.

I was starving and walking around NY and spotted this pizza joint. Quick stop and had a cheese pizza a la slice. Enjoyed it and recommend it :)

We ate here on our way from Macy’s to Times Square. It was great! There was nothing fancy about the shop but the pizza tasted fantastic. The price was very reasonable. We had the special, 2 slices and a drink for $ 5. Stop here for an authentic NY pizza!

First off, I am not sure why the sign says Labeleca and Unilocal has it as La Bellezza…
Good generic nyc pizza. Everyone knows the best pizza in nyc is in the outer boros… with that said, these guys do a good job bringing a consistent pie to midtown. It’s not fancy, it’s not gourmet, it’s nyc pizza. way better than the other options in the area.
Also, their chicken parm on a hero is great. be sure to tell the counter help you want it on garlic bread. prepare to be amazed.

Below average, but typical pizza by the slice and looked like it was sitting out a while

Sometimes the slices come out great and other times it’s just average. I think it has to do with the chewiness of the cheese. Sometimes it’s melt in your mouth and other times, it’s chewing and chewing a ball of rubber.
Do try their chicken parm. hero. I usually get a little extra sauce because their sauce is pretty good, tangy and tomatoey. Add some red chill flakes, all good.

As I get closer and closer to leaving NYC, I’ve been trying to cram a month’s worth of lunches in featuring «authentic New York cuisine.» I work near Times Square so my choices are a bit limited. However, I loved this pizza — it was exactly what I expected from a New York pizza place but at a fantastic price for Times Square.

La Bellezza = La Beleca. Its decent NY style pizza, with hearty portions, down to earth family run business, and easy on the wallet. I come here for work lunches, specifically for the Sicilian slices or the eggplant parmesan heroes. Well, and sometimes a meatball hero. Order the pizza on the left and order the heroes and platters in the back. Cashier is left front.
I always take the food to go because the seating is just some stools and the place isn’t really air conditioned well. Its a pretty charmless place, with some old school signage, big mirrors, no tables, and dim lighting. That said, the guys are nice enough to wrap the two halves of my sandwich up separately because I can’t eat it all at once and they tend to recognize the regulars.

The pizza is decent, nothing special.
The best value is the lasagna. It’s like $ 7 for a huge heaping portion. Once again, it’s nothing special, but it’s good for at least 2 lunches. The hot subs are pretty good.
It’s a solid lunch spot, but I wouldn’t be using this place as an example of good NYC pizza.

This place is an identity crisis on social networking. It has 3 venues on foursquare and two pages on Unilocal.Needless to say I don’t think any of them are entirely correct the place is now called, «Labeleca,» or so the sign says.
Labeleca totally reminds me of an old school Italian pizzeria, décor from the pre-​90s, or 90s perhaps. It’s certainly a neighborhood place, and is really really really nothing fancy. The service is for the most part apathetic but gets the job done but the food makes up for it. Dis-​counting the fact that it doesn’t look too clean from the outside, the giant pot of marinara (MADADNAD as us Brooklyn Italians say) cooking on the stove right behind the counter is promising.
I found Labeleca by Unilocaling «cheap,» in Times Square and the place is certainly that. The chicken parm hero is quite big and runs you $ 7.62 after tax. If you are on a portion controlled diet (raises hand in shame), it could definitely suffice for two meals. In terms of taste it’s better than your average for a more affordable price.
Eh, not bad right?

BELLEZZA HAS THE BEST PIZZA … ON THE BLOCK!
Best pizza in NYC? I highly doubt it.
Best pizza within a block from Port Authority? Absolutely.
I come through Port Authority twice a day, five times a week. Every evening, as I emerge from the subway and begin my one block walk toward Port Authority to catch my bus and get home for dinner. In a city of street carts and food trucks, I walk past many food vendors on a regular basis. But for some reason, I have the hardest time passing up this pizza shop.
From the outside, it looks like any other pizzeria as there is not thing about this place that stands out to WOW us with the décor. But just try to walk past this place when a fresh pizza comes out of the oven. These guys are always ready to serve as it seems every time I have stopped through there was a fresh pie on the counter and they were ready to dish out some slices. They always offer to toss it in the oven for me, but its not even necessary. As I was walking up to the counter I had my $ 2.50 for a cheese slice in my hand. All I need for him to do is drop in on a plate and I’ve barely broken my stride from making it to Port Authority to catch my bus.
I can’t explain it, but it seems that this hole-​in-​the-​wall pizzeria has managed to solve the elusive ratio of sauce to cheese to dough that only a short bus ride through the Lincoln Tunnel seems to confound everything west of the Hudson River. It seems like some cosmic irony that the last place for good pizza will sit outside the gateway to NJ. What makes the pizza so good? Who knows? All I know is that it takes all my strength to resist grabbing just a quick slice on the way.
Let the consensus of reviews speak for themselves. This place delivers a solid slice of pizza. And according to many other reviewers they also make other great pizza joint dishes too. Although I have no idea how I’ll ever explain that I’m not hungry by the time I get home after chowing down on their chicken or eggplant parm. Maybe I could head up there at midday to test them out. As crazy as it sounds it might just be worth it. At least it will be the safest way to satisfy my curiosity.

Unilocalers you led us astray!
We had a couple of regular slices in which the only discernible «flavor» was grease and with a crust so excessively crispy that it was unfold-​able. I was afraid that if I tried to bend the sucker that crust shrapnel would fly off and take someone’s eye out.
The slices went unfinished and the worst part is that La Bellezza has turned us off pizza (temporarily I hope).

Surprisingly tasty pizza! I walk by here all the time and never ventured in. Until one day when my boss suggested this spot, I figured why not? Since she is a picky eater and may I add, born and raised in NY. It looks like your typical NY by-​the-​slice pizza joint. But I wasn’t gonna make any judgements until I tried the pizza. I was pleasantly surprised! I had a pepperoni slice and it had the right cheese/​dough to sauce/​pepperoni ratio. I like my pizza: thin crust, toasted crust on the bottom and doughy on top, not too much sauce, generous on the cheese, and no dripping oil – tah dah! These guys nailed it. I will be back next time I’m in the mood for pizza (which isn’t too often).

YUM! stumbled in here with a few friends in search of «real» NY Pizza — big fat fold-​able slice of cheese pizza for $ 2.50 — IT WAS GREAT!!! I wanted two but was eating later. I ate it right at the counter in the small pizza shop.
GO HERE!

Eight years ago, I started working for a major American fashion house, and my office was on 7^th Avenue. Despite the level of luxury I was working with, my paycheck was the equivalent of three magic beans. That’s not a lot to exist on, even if you’re a light eater. So I thank Yahweh that La Beleca exists: delicious, traditional pizza and Italian-​American classics.
Don’t come here expecting fine dining and table service; this is a tiny store front, always hot, usually crowded, and it’s not the sort of establishment I’d linger at for lunch. No — get your food to go (or delivered as I do now). This is not the fancy pants thin crust artisan pizza that you’d expect from (insert names of hip joints here), but classic New York pizza, but done perfectly.
Portions are ridiculous and affordable — a huge tin container of eggplant parmesan & baked ziti is 7.50 and will feed you for two days (three if you’re dieting). Today, I felt like wilding out so I subbed in lasagna for the ziti and it was 8.00. Still a steal when you consider that people happily pay that amount for a pile of leaves tossed with olive oil & balsamic vinegar. I am not lying when I say that my coworkers are peering over my cubicle walls, sniffing curiously and eyeing my leftovers with a jealousy usually reserved for the contestants backstage at a beauty pageant.
There must be some little old Italian grandmother in the back, slicing up the eggplant using a mandolin and stirring her homemade sauce with a wooden spoon older than me. If not, then it is a faerie sprinkling wonderful all over the food (this is not a euphemism for R Kelly songs) because everything I’ve ever had here is just fantastic.
Working in the garment district sucks, but this is a delicious balm to wipe on my wounds.
Also, you’re probably reading my review and expecting a story about this place so here goes:
While I was still working at (fashion house), my coworkers and I would eat lunch in the office kitchen. I had noticed that whenever I had leftovers from La Beleca (which, up until recently, I thought didn’t even have a name), someone would help themselves to a huge heaping portion of them. This happened twice, and I was pretty incensed. I felt violated! Why not just rob my house and beat my puppy, you asshole?
So, the next time I had leftovers from La Beleca, I said to all of my coworkers, «Watch this.» I bent my head just over the aluminum tin and let loose a big wad of saliva into the eggplant parmesan.
«That’s awful!» one girl gasped.
«That’s amazing,» another responded.
Don’t mess with my meal, man. I will jailhouse shank you if you try to touch my food.
P. S. Nobody stole my leftovers ever again.

Best Pizza in NYC! If you are in the theater district and need to get between Port Authority and all the broadway shows, head down W 40^th for a quick slice!

I work around the corner and is nice to get up and grab a slice from here. I have experimented with their pizza with toppings, but prefer their cheese. Really good balance of crust, cheese and sauce. Definitely better than any simple pizza places in the times square area. It’s not fancy like John’s or Lazara, but you don’t have to wait an hour to eat it either. It’s a quick place to satisfy your plain slice needs. I also recommend the meatball hero without cheese. The meatballs are made right on premises. Don’t order delivery — the pizza tastes really different when it travels. Also, it’s really hot inside the restaurant from the oven heat and is never open late. All in all, it satisfies when you need something simple and quickly.

Great pizza at decent prices, served by some real gentlemen.
I think these guys have learned my order by now, it’s that kind of place.

After your jam yourself through the mess of people into this packed hole in the wall, you’ll be rewarded with what may be the best slice in the neighborhood. This place is a beautiful bastion of old neighborhood pizza that is sorely missing amidst the crap pizza that has infested the neighborhood.
They offer an array of delicious looking pizzeria classics, and their plain slice is perfectly thin and crispy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. It’s a shame tourists will be drawn in to places like Famiglias when they’re in Times Square, when La Beleca is so close. But it’s unlikely they’ll ever walk into gem, and get to experience everything that makes New York Pizza so special.
Oh well… more for me.