While a rainy day in Manhattan can be a challenge, with the aid of umbrellas and Ubers, my family trio still made the most of this wet Saturday. There is one thing about the New York area that is unlike other parts of the world. Most times when it rains, it rains all day. Such was the case this day, and we therefore stuck to indoor places such as museums, stores and of course restaurants. While pizza was in no one’s plans other than my own, I arranged a quick diversion to a place I had spotted in journeys past, Slice & Co. Pizza on the corner of Sixth and 14th.

My curiosity was piqued by their “brick-oven pizza” boast, not something generally seen in a place pushing slices. The other thing I noticed were their sandwich board signs out front advertising two cheese slices and a soda for $5.99. Well, after this sub-par pizza experience, my list of warning signs about potentially poor pizza now includes “Be beware of slices being sold at a bargain!”

Briefly abandoning my party at a restaurant on Fifth, I made the walk along 14th Street over to Sixth on what must be the world’s longest city block. I kid you not—it’s a quarter of a mile! Almost out of breath, I folded up my umbrella and entered the busy Slice & Co. corner location. Their small room had about five tables at which to sit and a counter displaying a selection of available slices. Ordering a plain cheese ($2.75), one thing I failed to see was a brick oven! In plain view behind the counter, what I saw looked like nothing more than a conventional pizza oven. Even stretching my head to gander a look inside, there were no bricks in sight.

Well, it didn’t matter because not even bricks could save this dismal slice from its shame. After a short reheat in the brick-less oven, it only took a glance to see that this slice was just one of those quick and cheap attempts at a New York slice. It was glaring white on top just reeking of a poorly blended heavy heap of that bad strain of Mozzarella going around town. I had to force myself to eat it.

After staring it down in hopes that it might just go away, I started with the drudgery of getting through all that tasteless cheese crying for some tasty tomato sauce to balance things out. This slice just was not very good. I don’t know whether it is more fitting to call it flat or dull or perhaps both. My slice was also oilier than most, and despite how little tomato sauce there was, it managed to be sweeter tasting than my liking.

The only thing that saved this one from the trash bin was a decent-tasting crust with a solid char on its bottom. It was crisp enough that I could do a full-length fold which turned out to be a necessity to carry aboard the weight of all that cheese. While these were plus points, that terrible cheese just made this slice a fail.

In a city with so many good pizza slices available, Slice & Co. is simply a no-go for the Snob.

PIZZA SNOB RATING *** Better Than Dominos
Slice & Co. Pizza
527 6th Avenue (corner of 14^th Street)
New York, NY 10011
212-255-6333
www.sliceandconyc.com