Home Slice Pizza — Restaurant in Austin

We stopped by Home Slice Pizza on a busy Friday night around 6 pm, but we lucked out and found two seats at the bar. Despite the crowd, the atmosphere was lively and welcoming. Our server was quick to greet us, and the food came out fast. Sitting at the bar was a treat since we had a great view of the kitchen, where we watched the staff making subs, tossing dough, and carefully assembling pizzas.

As a native New Yorker now living in Austin, I was impressed by the East Coast vibes they’ve captured here. The space has that classic Italian restaurant feel with dim lighting, red accents, and quirky decor that brings the theme together. The subtle background music even gave me a flashback when I heard some Wu-Tang playing—a cool nod to the East Coast culture they’re celebrating.

Though we didn’t try the pizza, we could see it being hand-tossed and topped in a way that felt familiar, having worked at a pizzeria myself back in the day. The thin-crust pizzas coming out of the oven looked spot-on.

My wife ordered the “small” turkey sub, and it was far from small. The bread was excellent, with shredded lettuce, fresh tomatoes, and flavorful turkey. It was dressed with what seemed like Miracle Whip, I would have preferred mayo, but overall, it had that perfect mix of flavors and texture.

I went for the eggplant parmesan sub, which had an interesting presentation. They hollowed out the bread like a canoe, packing it with eggplant and layering Parmesan on top. It made for a cleaner, less messy meal, but it also changed the mouthfeel. It felt more like eating cheesy bread with marinara than a traditional sub. I liked it, but I preferred the turkey sub.

The one miss for us was the garlic knots. While they were fresh and well-baked, they were a bit too light on the garlic. They just tasted like plain rolls, even with the marinara for dipping.

On the fun side, they have a great selection of merch—lots of funny t-shirts and hats featuring the pizza-tossing character from their iconic neon sign out front on South Congress.

Overall, Home Slice Pizza nails the East Coast vibe, and the food was solid, with a few highlights and minor misses. Definitely...

Homeslice came highly recommended, but I found it to be overpriced and mediocre. Pizza is my all-time favorite food, so I consider myself to be a bit of an expert in the field of marinana, mozzarella, and crust. Homeslice is all hype.

First, parking is a mess. It's impossible to find a spot in the restaurant's lot, and you have to park way far away in an adjacent neighborhood. It only costs $2 to park, but still a pain.

The line for a slice was crazy, but we got in it. They moved the line quickly. Since it was our first time and we wanted to sample several things, we ordered a slice of pepperoni, a slice of cheese, and a small Italian sub. After jockeying for position, we finally got a place to sit after waiting almost 15 minutes. They have seating on an outdoor patio, which has to be unpleasant on hot, humid days.

It took a long time to get our order, and we waited nearly 30 minutes after ordering. An employee came out and screamed out name, and we had our noms.

Even at first glance, the pizza slices looked disappointing. Not only were they small, but they were clearly lacking enough cheese. So many bites had no cheese at all! Pizza needs plenty of cheese, people! The sauce and crust had absolutely no flavor. It needed some garlic, salt, oregano, something, ANYTHING! The pepperoni was particularly gross. It tasted like a wet dog smells. Barf. It went unfinished.

The Italian sub looked good, but was mediocre. The only thing it had going for it was the toasted bread. Other than that, you can get far better sandwiches just about anywhere except Subway.

For how pricey this place was, I can't believe the high reviews and ratings. Maybe Austin locals aren't picky about their pizza, but I would never come back to eat here. Ya'll are crazy to think this is a...

Home Slice is an Austin institution that’s well-known to Austinites across the city. As a dreaded Californian outsider who ate here on a trip to visit friends, I hope humbly that my review might add a thing or two to the mountain of previous diners’ notes.

The location is nice enough—fairly no-frills and easy to locate (though be sure you’re in the right store—a dine-in store and a smaller take-out branch sit side-by-side). The dim lights, red lamps, and laidback vibe are at least 30% of the Home Slice experience. The staff is quick and friendly—a no-nonsense crew!

First, the salads. The spinach salad is out of this world. It is amazing and I can’t recommend it enough! The pear Gorgonzola is also pretty good, though a bit more niche in terms of the general pizza eater’s palette.

The pizza is NYC-style and is very tasty. The sauce is a star here and really makes the pie—it’s perfectly balanced with a not-too-acidic, not-too-sweet level-headed flavor. The ricotta is decadent and the portions are generous. The sausage, ricotta, roasted red pepper pie is a great, great pizza. The vegetarian is a close second.

It’s certainly a worthy pizza operation and you should absolutely give it a try.

Note: the ceiling lamps distend to only a few feet above the table, making a slightly awkward dining experience for eaters who are above six feet tall. You can see what I’m talking about in the final...