They are trying to stretch the dough.
As inflation soars, New York's iconic 99-cent pizza shop is reducing mozzarella cheese and marinara sauce to continue serving slices for just $ 1.
"There is no real New York pizza taste," said 30-year-old Jerry Johnson about Times Square's 99-cent fresh pizza. "They scoop up cheese, sauce, everything."
Eating a slice of dollars at 2Bros.Pizza on the corner of W.38th Street and 6th Ave. What is 38-year-old Luke Ericson? I said it wasn't enough.
"If I was making this at home, I would definitely add cheese," he said.
Customers are aware of the decline in quality, but others are happy that cheap meals are still an option.
"I eat slices here at least once a day. It's delicious and affordable," says a homeless shelter, who often goes outside the dollar pizza shop in Midtown. Alex Garai said. "It would be more difficult for me if they raised the price."
The Deck family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was on their way to Broadway. Shown recently for some dollar slices when they stopped by for lunch at 2 Brothers.
"In our hometown, this is a pretty good pizza, which is more than the price you can get at home for $ 5," said Casey Deck.
Despite its popularity, dollar slices are running short. Some stores have to raise prices, while others have a hard time maintaining bargains.
"If you raise the price, you lose customers," Quader said. rice field. Khan, who runs the best fresh pizza at Hell's Kitchen, still sells cheese slices for less than $ 1.
A Pakistani-born pizza maker and his brother took ownership of the store in December 2019, and since then it has been a supply chain issue, not to mention rising prices for cheese, sauces and flour. I've been bothered.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost per pound of cheese was $ 5.90 as of May, compared to $ 5.33 in 2019 before the pandemic. Natural gas soared from $ 1.04 to $ 1.57 per therm, one pound of flour went from 45 cents to 46 cents, and one pound of tomatoes remained at $ 1.82.
"My profits are much lower and it's hard to survive. You may have to close the store right away, "Khan said.
Big Apple's classic dollar slice shop began to flock around the Great Recession in 2008. The business model was all about volume, not profitability or high quality pizza.
Even before the current economic downturn, dollar slice shops had limited shelf life, says Scott Wiener, a pizza enthusiast who runs Scott's pizza tours.
"We are starting to reach all these points The 10-year or 15-year lease has expired, "he said. "That is, it's not just the cost of materials that's increasing. Rents are also rising."
Weiner said the disappearance of the dollar slice would hurt the city.
"Sometimes people say you live in a city where the rent is arms and legs, but you can feed yourself for a few dollars," he said. "It's a little beautiful. It's the New York City dichotomy. It's big and expensive, but there's a way to get over it."
