Top Slice Pizzeria — Restaurant in Saint Petersburg

Whenever me and my 'other half' want pizza, it is always a tug-of-war, because he is perfectly content with [insert eye roll here] Pizza Hut or Dominoes. I, on the other hand usually want something a little more "authentic," with fresher ingredients (though I do NOT like froo-froo pizza that tries too hard). I've tried several other places in downtown St. Pete and have found most of them fit into that chi-chi category. Enter Top Slice. I'd seen this place listed as somewhere 'newer' to the downtown scene; which explain why I (probably) hadn't heard of it. But wow! Was I ever glad I saw it mentioned, because it stuck in my mind, and when we were downtown last weekend, we wandered in after running a bunch of errands.

When you first walk in, you'll see it is a long, narrow joint, that I could just picture being full to the brim at dinnertime or late at night. There is a huge deli-style case on your left, filled with ALL SORTS of pizza. It's my idea of an adult candy store. And all of them looked mouth-watering, but I while the other half ordered one loaded with meat, I zeroed in on what usually ends up being my watermark: the white pizza. He ordered his slice, I ordered mine, and we ordered a garlic knot to split, because they looked like our idea of a fluffy, garlic-y, dessert. And the marinara they're served with is like none I have ever had before. If I could take home a bottle of that sauce I would be a happy camper!!!

The young lady who checked us out was extremely nice and very thoughtful, and smiled like she actually enjoyed her job - which was a pleasant change. We quickly sat down and our pizza arrived really quickly. When we mentioned we had also ordered a garlic knot, she left and came back with two, for "forgetting the one we'd ordered". SWEET! More brownie points for great customer service, though with the speed in which she came back with our toasty garlic knot(s), it was unnecessary.

The pizza was soooooooo good! The crust - which is usually the make-or-break component for us (when we're getting GOOD pizza), was beyond delicious. Crispy, and charred the "perfect" amount on the bottom. And did I say it was delicious? It was! As were the rest of the ingredients. And the garlic knots - they were a pillowy knot of incredibleness. Airy on the inside and golden-brown and glistening with garlic on the outside.

As we were leaving, we expressed our delight to the chef (who turned out to be the owner, Benny!), and told him we would be back VERY soon. He stopped to engage us and explain how, what made their pizza so very good, was the NYC water they used for the crust, that they have delivered, for that reason alone. I'd heard this before; that it's the NYC water that makes the pizza so good up there. Just like the Amarosa rolls in Philly. Apparently, using St. Pete water, just doesn't get the same "rise," bake OR flavor. Which I know believe, 100%. We talked to Benny for a quite a while, and learned he has another family shop in Ybor (which delighted the other half, since that's where his office is!), and one in Orlando. But this is his home base now. Thankfully, for St. Pete!

The only thing negative I will say about this place, is that there are a couple of table that are broken, and if they'd been too crowded, I would have been annoyed sitting at one of those tables. Mind you, that was before I realized the scrumptious pizza would make me TOTALLY forget trivial matters like a slightly broken table!!

I am thrilled to have found this place, and almost wish I could keep it to myself; but this gem is worth everyone knowing about!! Run, don't walk, to try this pizza. Benny says that soon the menu will be expanding and we look forward to trying everything he makes!! And the prices are completely reasonable!

Now to go get myself some more...

The pizza is okay. But here’s the issue:

The owner takes the tip money. If you come to this restaurant and pay with a card, any tip money left on a card goes to the owners pockets. If you leave a cash tip, that is the only way for the workers to receive any form of tip money and that is split between all who are working. In this day and age, everybody uses a credit or debit card which leaves your tip money you leave only supplying the owner with further money for his many vacations.

DO NOT leave a credit card tip at this restaurant. Unfortunately, if you don’t have cash it’d be better to not even provide a tip. Ultimately I’d say even going somewhere else for pizza would be better until the owner decides to properly compensate the employees for the tips THEY earned for their service.

Edit: The owner replied, of course denying this statement. But unfortunately, it was your staff that passed this information along. Along with this, I have actually seen a paycheck involving one of your workers that completely goes against what you are claiming. I told them to advise legal counsel,...

More like bottom slice. This pizza may be good for people who don't know what actual NY pizza tastes like, but it is not even close. I understand to not expect food to be the same in Florida compared to NY, but DO NOT state you are using NY water or taking water and converting it to NY standard water (or whatever you claim you are using). You are putting it in fellow New Yorker's heads that the pizza is going to taste like home which is completely false. Me and my buddy drove 25 minutes to this place because everything we read for Top Slice told us this is the place to try for the pizza we've been missing. What a huge letdown & overpriced. For the record, I've had better pizza here in Florida than this one using Florida water. Complete false advertising. I don't want to ruin your business, but I don't want other's to see your website & get screwed over like we did wasting time, money & gas for overpriced below...