US News

A LOT OF DOUGH!

Think gas is expensive? How about forking over $4 for a slice of pizza?

Brooklyn’s legendary Di Fara’s Pizza is now charging $4 for a regular slice – the heftiest price of any pizzeria in the city, according to aficionados.

“It’s the highest ever for a single slice of pizza without any toppings – definitely in the city, probably in the state and anywhere else outside an airport or ballpark, where you’re at their mercy,” said Adam Kuban, who runs the popular pizza blog SliceNy.com.

But the rise in price last week from $3 to $4 isn’t stopping people from flocking to the pizzeria on Avenue J in Midwood for what they believe is a slice of heaven.

“I don’t care about the price. I’m hooked on this food,” said Rodolfo Rule, a 35-year-old security guard from Fort Greene who dished out $45 for a round pie and a square pie for him and his girlfriend.

“I can eat a whole pie by myself. This place is the best.”

Margaret Miles, who works at Di Fara’s for her father, pizza maestro Sal DeMarco, said the prices “should have been raised a long time ago” because the fresh imported ingredients they use are “costly.”

DeMarco, 71, imports his ingredients from Italy. They include two types of mozzarella, parmesan and San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce. He estimates that a regular pie – which sells for $20 – costs about $10 to make.

“I do this as an art; I don’t care about making money,” DeMarco said.

Kuban said it was doubtful that Di Fara’s would see a drop in sales because its clientele extends beyond Midwood to avid Zagat readers who will come no matter what.

He pointed out that business continued to prosper even after the Health Department shut the pizzeria down for three weeks after it failed an inspection last year.

In Brooklyn, most pizzerias charge between $2 and $2.50 for a regular slice, with Manhattan prices slightly higher.

The pizza chain Sbarro charges $3.67 for a slice at one Midtown location.

In Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, L&B Spumoni Gardens, another pizzeria that, like Di Fara’s, is known for attracting long lines, charges $2 for its slice and heralded “squares.”

Di Fara’s, a 15-seat shop that opened in 1964, is known for drawing crowds that sometimes line up out the door, with customers regularly waiting a half-hour for a single slice.

“Each pie I make, I concentrate,” DeMarco said. “I don’t rush.”

rich.calder@nypost.com