Sal’s New York Pizzeria

I went in to get a slice of pizza, and I requested extra cheese on it. When I gave my order to the guy at the register he went straight from the register, to the container they keep their cheese in, ran his hands all in it before he placed it on my pizza, and into the oven. He then proceeded to take my money, which was cash, and continued doing whatever he was doing on his phone. THE WHOLE TIME WHEN HANDLING FOOD HE DID NOT PUT ON ANY GLOVES OR WASH HIS HANDS!!! That is completly DISGUSTING AND UNSANITARY, especially if you are handling money!!! When I confronted him, his reply was that he uses tongs to remove the pizza from the oven… OF COUSRE YOU DO! IT’S HOT!!! I don’t know if he was trying to joke around, or if he is legitimately naïve and does not understand basic sanitary practices, but I will NEVER eat there AGAIN! As a food establishment they should be ashamed of themselves and their workers.

Sal’s New York Pizzeria provided a hot slice pretty fast. The knock on their slice of pizza — crust was good, the toppings were meh… The place needs a thorough cleaning.
We just needed a quick bite before we went on our way. Based on the experience — I will probably opt for something else.

So your in Southside, drunk, hungry, and wanting pizza. Where else do you end up but Sal’s. Sal’s pizza is always somehow so good when you are drunk but thinking about it the next day, not so much.
The idea Sal’s has is good. Big slices of thin crust pizza tossed in the oven to quickly heat, with different toppings to choose from and a cheap price. But it’s not really good quilty pizza, and it’s never hot enough!
Honestly if I ever am in Southside, drinking, and need some quick food this would be where I would stop. It’s become almost like a tradition so even though it’s not the best, I will still go. Here’s too all the drunk pizza eaters each weekend at Sal’s! Always entertaining.

Once my roomate and I moved to Southside, this became our number one pizza spot. I’ve gone to many «small pizza shops», including Antoons and Sorrentos of Oakland, but this is by far the best tasting pizza I have come across at a local small business.
It was great at any time of the day or a late night snack.
Sometimes, the area was a little shady, especially at night since this was a huge party area so I wouldnt go alone during these times or make sure nothing shady is going on around the shop on Friday/​Saturday night.
Aside from all that — really great pizza and thats all that matters to me!

I will never give this place another dime. Went here to buy my son a slice of pizza this evening. A guy was smoking in the doorway. He happened to be the worker. He asked us what we wanted and without washing his hands grabbed two slices of pizza and handed it to me. When I confronted him about not washing his hands he gave attitude and shrugged his shoulders. I said that was nasty and he didn’t make any attempt to apologize. If he doesn’t care after being confronted it makes me wonder if he washes his hands after going to the bathroom. This place is unsanitary and not interested in customer satisfaction. AVOID!!!

This place use to be good. I was just served by a guy that was strung out on heroin (no doubt) and couldn’t answer the patron’s simple questions.

Meh. I don’t think this is great thin crust. My friend mentioned hearing good things about it when we walked by, so we decided to split a slice.
We were told that the buffalo chicken just came out of the oven and is their most popular one out of the others that were out (cheese, sausage, pepperoni, some ombination of those, and a couple others). Out of their selection, the other pizzas didn’t look too appetizing.
The crust was kind of crumbly and stale instead of crispy and the topping was really sparse — like a drizzle of generic hot sauce and a few small pieces of questionable chicken. Not sure a slice is worth $ 3something.
Pretty acceptable drunk food. But otherwise, nnnno.
Jamaican patty… if I happen to walk by Sal’s again, I’ll give that a try.

I went in the Sals Monday night craving a Jamaican beef patty. I was told that sals is the only place in town that has a great Jamaican beef patty still open in the evening. So I walk in the Sals there’s one couple sitting there already eating there food and it looks delicious… now i sit at the front counter for five minutes… only to look at food i want to order and a guy in the back of the kitchen not taking my order… but playing on his cell phone…8 minutes go by and i still didnt get served… I love a great Jamaican beef patty just as much as the next person but terrible service is something I can’t respect I wish I could give them zero stars… I walked out with out getting served…

I was starving late at night, around 1 AM, and this place bailed me out. There seemed like a consistently replenished and somewhat varied selection. I got two slices of mushroom. It’s a real dive but the pizza was actually pretty good. Also, Sal is a character. I’d give it 3.5 stars if I could.

Stopped here on a Sunday evening for a quick bite to go. This place is a little divey, but Sal makes it worth the trip. I am giving 5 stars because the pizza was damn good and Sal. He was friendly and comical and he puts out a great product. We had the pepperoni and sausage pizza and the lasagna pizza. Both were extremely satisfying. So if you are in the South Side and looking for a late bite of pizza, hit up Sal’s. He’s open and you won’t be disappointed.

Extremely unsanitary place. Employees do not wash hands after handling garbage!!! Unacceptable! Immediately threw out my half eaten slice and will never be back here again.

This place is terrible. On St. Patty’s Day 2012, I was inside in line waiting to order a Pizza. The cook (not sure if he was the owner or not) picked two fights, with two separate customers, in a matter of 5 minutes. I caught the tail end of the first fight, where the cook came around from behind the counter, and chased a customer out into the middle of East Carson Street, threatening to kick his ass. The second fight was over a a case of the cook not knowing if a customer paid for a slice or not. The pizza cook was treating both of these customers like Soup Nazi. In both instances vulgarities were used by the cook and were boarder line harassment. I understand at 3:45 in the afternoon, on St Patty’s day, people can be drunk and stupid. This cook was so repulsive in his behavior, I decided to leave and not give Sal’s my business.

Many moons ago, as a recent college graduate, I took up residence in the South Side of Pittsburgh (South 22^nd Street to be exact). I enjoyed many a nights during that time at the plethora of watering holes. And as I would make my way home I often stopped by a local eatery for a late night snack. My favorite was DiSalla’s, a pizza shop that served up square pizza. It was by no means the best pizza but it was close to home, cheap and very tasty with alcohol. DiSalla’s, sadly, no longer exists. Pizza Vesuvio was another pizza place I enjoyed because it was also cheap and had nice big New York slices. It has since become Pizza Sola and way too expensive. Enter Sal’s Pizzeria.
My first trip was really just a fly-​by for a snack on my way to a show at Club Café because a friend had told me to try the meat pies. Yes, for $ 2 you can get a Jamaican meat pie. And for $ 2, it was tasty and hit the spot.
Yesterday I walked in and was told they had just opened so they didn’t have pizza ready yet, but that it would be out of the oven in 5 – 7 minutes. I was willing to wait. It’s exactly what you’d expect or want when you walk into a place like this — a slice of New York. Thin crust oozing with sauce and melted cheese as I folded it in half… and for only $ 2 (plain cheese)! It might just be the cheapest meal in the South Side. An unbelievable deal at an unbelievable price. The guy behind the counter even asked me how it was as I left. A side of nice with a cheap slice? I’m hooked.

Sal’s is shockingly good for such a dive. I mean, they give Pizza Sola some serious competition in my opinion!
Don’t be fooled by the dingy interior and décor. A slice at Sal’s will put you in pizza heaven, all for $ 3! These are New-​York style slices — in other words, larger than life and all built on a fairly thin crust. I’ve only ever gotten the cheese here and it’s always been fantastic (that’s how to judge a good pizzeria, right?). Their twilight hours provide ample room for drunk dining and bad (but delicious) diet decisions. Only downside to that is dealing with the obnoxious clientele at that hour.
Sal himself is also super nice, in that New-​Yorker-​running-​a-​pizza-​shop kind of way. While they could use a bit of housekeeping, their pizza is pretty darn good.

This is authentic NY pizza. $ 3 a slice… Great dough, delicious ingredients and non-​greasy cheese!

The pizza is good. The staff is friendly. Prices are comparable to other pizza-​delivery places. The best advantage to Sal’s? They deliver till 4am! Because I work night shift, I often don’t think about ordering pizza till after midnight, and that leaves me with only one other option, that I have long since tired of.
That would be reason enough to earn my food moneys, but when I was in South Side and stopped in to get a pizza to take home, I was struck by how quick the entire staff was to smile and laugh with the customers who were obvious regulars. I watched them discuss everything from national politics to women in the bar next door, all in the ten short minutes I waited for my delicious and well priced pepperoni pizza.

Note: They are open until 4 – 5 AM!!! Can you believe that?
The East Carson Street Pizza Gauntlet Part 2…
As RJ, my girlfriend’s brother pointed out, things seemed to get bigger as we continued on our expedition. Sal’s, our second destination, confirmed RJ’s theory.
Now THIS was a New York street pie and was possibly one of the most opulent LOOKING pizza ever. This was like Roxy Music in that it looked like the greatest band/​pizza ever until note/​bite one. Gorgeous, the different types of single cuts just laid about behind glass, waiting to be chosen, flirting, acting coy.
I chose the mushroom/​pepperoni pizza, my personal default.
I really wanted to love this pizza. The crust had a great texture like a Saltine wafer. The sauce had a rich, pasty trait to it. It looked damn fine in my hand. We all ate at a counter near a window and people stared. It was a fashion statement. I felt like I was wearing a ring on each finger, shirt buttoned down like Telly Savalas, turning heads.
I felt like somebody, man!!!
I kid, myself.
In terms of flavor, however, there wasn’t a whole heckuva lot of it.
I’ve discussed «bimbo desserts» here on Unilocal.They’ll kill you with their looks but will bore you to death with their personality, since it is nearly absent. Fellow Unilocalers, I bring you the bimbo pizza.
Not that I hated it. It just didn’t taste much like anything.
Let’s put it this way; she would get into Diesel no questions asked but would end up sitting by herself the entire night.
In that sense, she was perfect for South Side.
I know, I’m such a jerk about the club/​bar scene.
5 stars for appearance + a single star for charisma=3 stars.
Zeeno’s is, at this point, the one to beat. She may be a little chunky, but she’s fun and easy to talk to.