Hometown Tourism: Home Slice Pizza

It is weird to think that Home Slice Pizza has only been in my “restaurants in Austin” repertoire for the past 8 years. With how many times I have visited them, I feel like they have been part of my Austin experience from the beginning. I’ve had birthdays, going away parties, job promotion celebrations, and weekday escapes taken there. It is my restaurant home… but more importantly, they make damn good pizza.

Like most local restaurants in Austin, it all started as a dream. As the economy took a downturn and layoffs were almost inevitable in various tech and magazine jobs, the owners Jen and Joseph Strickland took a chance – and it paid off big. Jen, who knew her taste buds well as a food editor for the Austin Chronicle, remembered her NYC pizza experience from her time at NYU and visiting family and attempted to recreate the amazingness. She even took the time and installed stone tiles into her personal oven to perfect the thin crust Naples-style pizza that makes me wake up in the middle of the night with serious cravings. Add their best friend and partner in crime, Terri, with her restaurant experience, and you have an awesome trio of unconventional business practices. …and it worked.

Located on the South Congress strip that is known for churning through local business start ups and failures, they quickly showed us that they aren’t going anywhere. On any given night of the week you are more than likely looking at an hour wait time to get a table here (and that is AFTER they took over the building next door to handle single slice sales!). Never fear! One of my favorite things about this restaurant is the back patio. Order a cold pint of beer and an appetizer on a warm summer night while playing a few games of ping pong and waiting becomes easy. The ambiance oozes Austin. Cool. Laid back. BEER.

When you do finally make it to a table, the menu comes complete with a “how to” in regards to folding your pizza and sticking it into your pie hole (har har). But really – this pizza was not made to be eaten with a fork. I sat in shock and horror as I saw some guy conduct this faux pas. He even got a Facebook update about it. JUST DON’T DO IT.

The menu is pretty straightforward and even offers local beer pairings to go with the “Tried and True” pizza menus.

Our suggestion? The White Pizza (Olive oil, garlic, ricotta, mozzarella, provolone & romano) with pepperoni and cherry peppers. Note that the cherry peppers aren’t listed under “toppings”. Though they have their own graphic encouraging you to add them to your pizza, they’ve stayed somewhat of a local secret. It is my favorite pizza. EVER. Really.

And even though their cannolis really cannot compare to the gloriousness that we had in Florence, Italy, I still give them a huge high five for, quite literally, making me smile the entire time I’m in the restaurant.

If you happen to be in Austin, check it out. Oh, and also give us a holler. We would love to join you. I just hope you aren’t squeamish as I voraciously attack the pizza and stuff it into my face while making obscene noises.

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Disclosure: We did not receive any pizza or money for this review. Just thought all you fancy people should know about the gloriousness of Home Slice. I like food.