After having a yawn of a slice over at Stage Door Pizza, I still had more time to kill and thought I’d seek out another before catching the train back to Jersey. Googling about on my iPhone, I stumbled across a place called Steve’s Pizza. What caught my attention was some tourist’s remark that if this place was good enough for the construction workers building the Freedom Tower, it was good enough for him.

Well, all I can say is that maybe those construction workers did not have a lot of time for lunch and had no other choice. Steve’s slice was simply nothing to get excited about.

Steve has a pretty vibrant location that is open 24 hours around the clock. He shares his space with somebody named Charly who serves ups burgers, burritos, grilled chicken and the likes. The pizza counter and oven are off to the left corner and take up only about 25% of the total space with the Charly operation taking up the rest. As prominently advertised on the signage, seating is available on the second floor for both.

I waited and picked up my plain cheese slice ($3.00) downstairs at the counter after it was warmed over for about two minutes, I then walked up to the second floor to find a spot to sit and eat at one of the several tables. Either Steve & Charly had a busy day or the cleaning crew was on strike, since the crowded upstairs dining room was quite a mess. (This can’t be a case of New Yawkers not busing their own tables now, could it?) About the only nice thing I could say about this room is that it had a great view out at some of the high rises in the Financial District.

Immediately, my slice looked unappealing with a top too cheesy-white to satisfy the Snob’s taste.  The heavy cheese also did not hold real firm on the bottom crust. The end crust also had some flaky meal on it that annoyingly got on your fingers and added nothing to the positive.

In addition to being too cheesy, Steve’s slice was also adrift in the taste department. It had something odd to its flavor to it that I just could not put my finger on. But, overall this was not a pizza disaster and its fairly decent construction and somewhat satisfying taste kept it from being a total failure.

Like I said in my last review on Stage Door Pizza, the bar in New York needs to be set high, and there are just too many mediocre slices around. Steve’s is not for the Snob. I’ve had much better slices in Tennessee.

PIZZA SNOB RATING ***1/2 Working on a Good Thing    

Steve’s Pizza
110 Trinity Place (between Cedar Street & Liberty Street)
New York, NY 10006 212-566-0003
[no website]