MMC Slice Shoppe — Restaurant in Sydney

“All it takes for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.” The same could be said in reverse, or rather coin a new phrase “All it takes for a good thing to come around is for awesome people to do somethin’ about it!”

NEW YORK PIZZA. A topic of contention for anyone trying to do the damn thing outside of the Big Apple, let alone half way across the world in Australia. Yet one familia – the one behind such local hits as Nineteen43, now in present day, Self Raised Bread and My Mother’s Cousin, have launched into the slices and squares game with MMC Slice . True story, the owners took a sabbatical to NYC and hit over 100 pizza shops, connecting with the community over there and sharing a little slice of ours. What they have brought back to this brick and mortar in Marrickville is, I’m elated to confirm, the REAL DEAL!

As someone who started my pizza fanaticism from trips pre-COVID to California and New York, every style can be as specific to the Pizzailo’s (*Chef’s) taste. But a defining characteristic of good-to-great pies is something that makes people nod their head while they’re consuming it while also feeling warm, referential and familiar all the same… kind of like hip hop music, actually. MMC Slice ticks all these boxes with the team wearing their influences and time put into this passion and livelihood on their sleeves. Add that to the pastiche of the shop (wall-to-wall NY homages, tavern fit out) and the small things – condiments, sodas in glass bottles, Dixie cups, and you have the complete experience without travelling 16,000 KM for it.

The dough jumps out immediately as a highlight. Light, fluffy, crispy and firm to the hold, there’s a balancing act that the MMC team have perfected since the pies from their OG shop. I have to imagine water and ratios has played a factor, especially with their elapsed time in the NY-pizza context, I’m curious as to whether there is custom water filtration being used to throughput to achieve this amazing dough and crust. Toppings are balanced super well and punch through in a complimentary way where each flavour is defined rather than clashing with other slices on the menu. The ranch and hot honey are choice sauces, having great levels of sweet, sourness and heat to cut the fattiness of the cheesier slices, the acidic umami of the tomato sauce and in particular, the pepperoni which lands perfectly too.

The square is a top reccomendation of the new offerings from Slice Shoppe. The textural variance from pillow-y up top to crispy on bottom nails the nuances of the grandma slice where the dough acts like a sponge for its sauce and toppings before adding that crunch that creates a depth of flavour and brain-nutting mouthfeel.

And yet after all that and meeting Chef, he says “it will be better even next time.” That’s real pizza culture in a nutshell – an ever evolving practice labour of love that’s as much for producer as it is for the...

I don’t like to have to leave a review like this but given we gave feedback after we paid and were basically scoffed at - I am going to. Summary - inefficient, rude service, slices served were old and/or overcooked, not worth the price - akin to kebab shop pizza.

To preface, i’ve been here before, close to when it first opened and found the slices we tried to be pretty good - it’s a good concept and the flavours are creative.

My second visit - first sit down visit - was bbbaaadddd.

A group of 4 and we each ordered a few slices + garlic bread. The restaurant was busy but not packed, with everyone around us enjoying mostly whole pizzas plus some tables with slices. The garlic bread arrived and that was super yum but then we waited like 40 minutes for the slices to arrive. We first noticed things were off when we watched tables around us who had ordered after us being served their food, but decided not to say anything, we assumed maybe they were cooking fresh pizzas and it’s busy. Also, this isn’t a restaurant where you have drinks and whatnot so I don’t find it acceptable to wait that long for a few slices of pizza. We then watched on as after FORTY minutes they picked up the cold, visibly old slices from the cabinet and heated them up (had been in the cabinet since we arrived). Look, I know how slice shops work, I know slices get reheated, but these were visibly old as f and it took them FORTY MINUTES before heating up a few slices and bringing out our order. Clearly the turnover wasn’t very high for slices that night so god knows how long they’d been sitting there - if the slices don’t sell within an hour - don’t serve them!? The round slice was actually rock hard, and 30% of the slice was crust that we literally couldn’t even eat if we dipped it in ranch. Wish i could attach the video i took. The squares were good, but honestly the whole experience dampened any positive aspect to the food.

Also - the size of the slices was all different, we got 2 of the white round and one slice was almost double the size of the other. Same goes with some of the squares, now this was fine for us as we were sharing anyway but I was honestly shocked a restaurant would serve slices with such a size discrepancy.

Upon leaving, we were so annoyed. after the cashier handed over an $80 eftpos machine and walked away, I had to interrupt to give the feedback. They literally scoffed at us, barely acknowledging that there could be any possibility that we didn’t enjoy our pizza.

I would never come back here, and would recommend anyone who does to just order a whole pizza so you know you’re getting something as intended (fresh) - they looked pretty good, but i wouldn’t know if they actually are because what i ate was a piece of cardboard. If you’re marketing yourself as a slice shop, put some actual care and quality control on...

1 star - Overpriced but good for social media pics only.

The hot honey pepperoni slice was easily the highlight; great flavour and crisp base. But at $10 a slice for a small square, it’s really hard to justify. Whole pizzas ranged from $45 to $50, which is quite steep considering what you get. Even the garlic bread was $15 for four small rolls, which felt excessive for such a basic side.

The pricing feels unreasonably high, especially when you can dine at some of Australia's top pizza spots in Sydney, many of which are award-winning and better-quality pizzas in the $28 - $36 range. MMC is not award winning either.

I also tried the Fungi pizza, which had nice flavour but was disappointingly light on toppings; barely any mushrooms and overall quite flat.

Overall, the place looks great on social media, but doesn’t deliver good value for money. Worth trying once for the hype, but not somewhere I’d rush back to.

Although the flavour was there for the pepperoni, pricing and value for money were the biggest factors in my rating.

UPDATE: After seeing the owner’s public reply (“stay home and eat tuna and rice mate”), it’s clear the response is unprofessional, especially towards genuine feedback. Others at our table felt the same way about the food and pricing, and after viewing similar replies to other reviewers, this behaviour seems consistent. Feedback from owner has been shared on social pages...