Food & Drink

The best $1 slice in New York

A dollar slice isn’t hard to come by in this city. A good dollar slice is a different story altogether.

The best dollar slice in the city has arrived, and it’s at Percy’s — a cozy pizzeria at 190 Bleecker St., in Greenwich Village.

For just one measly smacker, Percy’s offers up a tasty thin slice that crackles when you bite into it, thanks to the prowess of Italian pizzaiolo Giacomo Lattaruli. Not too salty, not too greasy, it’s lightly sauced and not overwhelmed with cheese or sugar. It’s a fantastic concept — let’s just hope it lasts.

“At a normal pizzeria, you have to sell about 50 pizzas a day,” to turn a profit, says Percy’s owner Jim McGown. “Here you have to sell 200 a day.”

“We’re not breaking even yet,” adds McGown, who also operates the well-respected — and relatively pricier — South Brooklyn Pizza in Carroll Gardens, Park Slope and the East Village.

Of course, Percy’s hasn’t been around long enough to establish a substantial customer base. Before it opened last summer, McGown had used the space as another South Brooklyn Pizza shop. He was using imported tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, extra-virgin olive oil — and charging $4 per slice. But the concept didn’t quite catch on; located smack dab in the middle of NYU territory, cheap falafel joints and dozens of other pizza stands (including the popular Joe’s and Artichoke, both within three blocks).

So in December, he cut back on fancy ingredients and slashed the price to $1. But this didn’t stop Lattaruli from making fantastic dough. And McGown searched for the best affordable substitutes he could find, including California tomatoes spiced with Italian herbs and domestic mozzarella cheese.

Thus, his dollar slice was born.

“I come here every day,” says Alper Beceren, 27, a model.

“After I eat the pizza, I do crunches.”

“I want to pay him $2,” adds Lee Eun, 78, another regular who owns a building around the corner. “He doesn’t want to take it. What can I do?”

For a few years now, the dollar slice has become a NYC mainstay due to the advent of mini-chains 2 Bros. Pizza and 99 Cent Fresh Pizza — two slice slingers who impeccably timed their arrival before the start of the recession. Both outfits churn out pizza that’s cheap and perfectly decent. And they’ve done well: At one Midtown 2 Bros., the lunchtime line is usually 20 or 30 deep, snaking through the entire shop while a team of five or so pizzamakers kneads, sauces, slices and accepts singles. The frenzy doesn’t let up until well past 2 p.m.

However, even with repeat customers, more people will have to discover Percy’s for it to be financially successful — including the late-night party crowd. (Percy’s stays open till 5 a.m. on weekends.)

“Traditionally, [materials] take up 20 percent of your budget,” says McGown. However, the dough at Percy’s costs approximately 90 cents to $1.10 per pie; tomato sauce costs another 90 cents; and cheese is just less than $2. This means about $4 for ingredients alone for an eight-slice pie.

This makes every penny count.

Upon getting her slice, a brown-haired, doe-eyed young customer asks for grated Parmesan cheese — but Lattaruli is unwilling to give it to her.

“I’m sorry, dear,” he says.

“The other guy gives me Parmesan,” she protests, referring to the pizzamaker who mans the place at night. She points to the spot behind the counter where the Parmesan is kept.

“He’s not supposed to do that,” Lattaruli says.

“Everybody comes in here and wants extra cheese. We’d have to rob a bank to stay open.”

“I’d pay for it,” the young lady volunteers.

Lattaruli is unmoved. “I’m sorry,” he repeats, and his customer leaves with her unadulterated slice.

“I think in five years, all the pizzerias [in New York] are going to have to decide to go cheaper or more expensive,” says McGown. And he may have a point — while the well-known and well-respected pizzerias still do fine, the neighborhood joints aren’t exactly thrilled with Percy’s and their inexpensive slices of goodness.

One of their rivals down the block “has just one customer,” says Lattaruli, noting, “They’re going to blow this place up.”

So stop by Percy’s while you can. Just don’t ask for Parmesan cheese.