Rocky Slims

No one answers the phone! Been trying to order delivery for the past hour. They claim to open at 11a!

So Sarah said she comes here once a week. After I tried the pizza, I told her I’d come every day. Well done.
Vodka pizza sauce, loaded with pepperoni and oven baked soft crust. You devour it in 2 seconds and fall in love with the memory. Cheers!

Between the food and service this place should be packed. A real hidden gem. Don’t miss the perfectly cooked roasted cauliflower.

HIDDEN GEM ALERT!!! GIVE ROCKY SLIMS ANOTHER CHANCE!!!
Rocky Slims has slowly become one of my favorite pizza joints in NYC. I’ll admit that in the first month or so after opening, they left a bit to be desired. However, with time they’ve really seemed to work out the kinks, lower the volume a bit, and focus on what they do best — THE FOOD! The menu is actually pretty different from what it was when it first opened in March.
The last two times I’ve been here I was served some of the best Neopolitian style pizza I’ve ever had. The sausage with eggplant, the pepperoni and the spinach pies are some of my favorites. All the vegetable sides are seasonal, innovative, and insanely delicious. Try the sweet potatoes, so yummy.
The meats on the menu are seasonal and change from time to time. Let’s talk about the chicken for a second. We recently tried the Piri Piri Chicken en Brodo. GOOD. GOD! It is hands down one of my top 5 chicken dishes PERIOD. The piri piri seasoning was so incredible flavorful, the mushrooms and fresh herbs were perfectly cooked, and the broth was off the charts and really tied it all together.
Go to Rocky Slims, just trust me.

Update! I went back and they are now giving a correct pour! Yahhhh. I had the pepperoni pizza and it was delightful and full of flavor.
I will be back for more :-)

Delicious pizza (I’ve had the Grandma from the takeout window and the mushroom and speck in the dining room), combined with creative sides and friendly service.
Glad to have this in the ‘hood!

A lunchtime fashionplate with the bestie at Rocky Slims in Kips Bay/​Gramercy. This place was basically empty for lunch, my friend joked she rented out the place for me. They play a lot of hip hop which I kind of dug. As per usual this summer, it was a sweltering day so I opted to wear our jade shorts and not much else. We were in dire need of caffeine so we ordered diet cokes and I had a nice white wine while she opted for $ 3 budweisers. So cheap! We split the pepperoni and bianca pizza and both were delish and more than enough food for two girls. I ended up taking the leftover pizza home which became another meal.
I can’t say much about the crowd as there were two businessmen in there and a few tourists. The slice shop next door gets more traffic and there is outdoor seating at both spots.

Stopped in on a Monday afternoon. Great service great food and awesome selection of beer. I ordered the brussels sprouts pizza with prosciutto and prohibition beer. Perfection.

Stopped here for lunch on a Sunday. Service was ok, it was quiet. The pizza though… Amazing! I had the spinach and asparagus white pizza. Dough perfect. Soft and chewy. Ingredients tasted fresh, generous with the toppings. Highly recommend commend!!!

Had the plain pie and the bianco pie. They were both good, made fresh on the spot with fluffy crust. The one downside is pies only come in personal size and they’re pretty expensive ranging from $ 17-​$ 19 each. Menu is pretty limited too.
Ambiance is very laid back and relaxing.

The Brussels sprouts were amazing! However, I was expecting an excellent pizza and I got a okay/​good pizza. The crust was excellent but the pizza was super super greasy!
Overall, I was a little disappointed by this place.

*Slice Joint Review Only*
I ate a healthy dinner, I went to the gym, I was walking from Union Square to Grand Central, generally trying to be healthy. And then I walked past Rocky Slim’s, a place I had been meaning to try for a while, and all bets were off. I needed a 9pm Wednesday night slice.
There was no regret either. These people really make an awesome slice! I was tempted by the white slice with black and white sesame seeds, as I have only ever seen sesame seeds at Sunnyside Pizza, and that place is the best. However, the plain pie looked juicy and fresh, so I went with that. WOW, what a really nice NY style slice. Everything about it was perfect, right down to the good quality ingredients.
I would really like to come back to at least try a sit down dinner next door, despite popular opinion. But mannnn they make a mean slice.

I came here for dinner with my father. We split a pizza which was different from the pizza next door at the slice shop. I prefer the restaurant’s version, which had a thicker crust and fresh basil on top. You can watch the pizzas being cooked behind the bar. We also shared the brussels sprouts and snap peas which were very good and went well with the pizza. The cocktails were ok, but very small for $ 15.

Ordered from the takeout window by the slice — 1 plain, 1 pepperoni, 1 specialty. Had high hopes but when I got home & opened the box, there was piece of bloody bandage on my plain slice! Went back to store to get a refund but no one was there to assist. This was Sunday night around 8:30p. I tried calling for the guy who had served me earlier but ended up just leaving the slice on their counter 5 minutes later and walked home. Really wanted to like this place since I live on the same block. What a letdown.
Oh and I had taken a few bites of the pepperoni slice before seeing the bandage, it was pretty good but nothing amazing. Pastafina on 3^rd and 27^th is just as good and I’ve never had an issue in 5+ years.

This place is a relatively new opening and seemed like it was worth a try based on local buzz, so I stopped by on a Friday night with a friend. Overall, I thought it was a good meal for a sit-​down pizza place, but I can name a handful of other local joints that I’d prefer over this place.
Like I said, I came here on a Friday night around 7, and we were promptly seated. When we left though around 8:30, the place was packed with at least a 45 minute wait, so I would suggest getting there early or making reservations. The space is cool with exposed brick and tin tiles. They have an awesome open kitchen/​bar, too, which includes a wood-​fire pizza oven.
The wine and drink list is pretty average. The drinks sound original but a little strange – popcorn bitters, really? I didn’t try it, so I guess I shouldn’t knock it, right? We ordered the mascarpone appetizer ($ 12), which was a dollop of mascarpone served with roasted cheery tomatoes and leeks and toasted bread. The appetizer was great. We also ordered a plain pie ($ 16), which was fine. Their pies are fresh and made in a wood-​fire grill. It was a little soggy from a combination of being too thick and too much sauce. It was good but not amazing. The portion was good to split with the appetizer; we each had two slices.
Don’t get me wrong, this place isn’t bad… it’s just not that great either. In my humble opinion, you’re better off walking a few more blocks to find better pizza.

TAKEOUT PIZZA REVIEW ONLY:
I haven’t eaten at the dine-​in portion of the restaurant, just the standing room only section.
The pizza is delicious. Everything tastes super fresh, I see the ingredients they use to make the food and it makes me feel better knowing they use higher quality ingredients to make my pizza.
The special isn’t bad, two regular slices + soda for $ 5. You really can’t beat that.
My only probem is they don’t even have hooks under the little counter to put your jacket or bag while you’re standing there to eat. Really easy fix and kind of disappointed that small detail was overlooked by their team…
And sometimes the music is just TOO loud. A lot of people want to take a break from their day and kind of relax and enjoy their food, maybe even take a few moments to think, etc… It’s a bit hard to do that with music blasting. It cheapens the environment.
Counter staff have been super nice every time I’ve been.
Please remember to give customers the hot peppers with the pizza slices. First time they were already on my plate when my order was ready, second time I had to ask for them.
I’ll be back for sure.

Rocky Slims should create a separate business page for their takeout slice joint next door, because the quality of those slices compared to the main restaurant’s practically inedible food and the worst dessert menu I’ve ever seen are like night and day.
I didn’t mind the loud hip-​hop music pumping throughout the night. But I did mind the surprisingly very pricey, surprisingly bad food.
— Sesame Bread ($ 10)
This starter was actually quite good, but one of the shockingly pricey items, considering it should really be the complimentary bread that doesn’t exist here.
— Romaine Salad ($ 15)
When the salad is one of the best-​tasting items (especially at a pizza joint), it’s a major problem. Topped with gorgonzola, pancetta and eggs, it was delicious, but once again: $ 15?
— Garganelli ($ 18)
Things went downhill fast once the pastas came out. As another reviewer correctly commented, this was so incredibly undercooked it barely resembled a pasta anymore in texture. There were some decent flavors, but the effort it took to chew through the hard noodles was too distracting to be enjoyable.
— Paccheri ($ 21)
The flavor of the pork ragu covering these broad noodles was better, but this one was also unbelievably undercooked.
— Mortadella Pizza ($ 20)
Moving on to slightly better things, the pizzas were next. With so many great pizzerias popping up every week now, things were already looking grim from the small, tired selection. There’s just a plain pie, a red pie (plain minus cheese — who would possibly ever order that?), a veggie pie, a sausage pie, a mortadella pie, and a tuna pie. We chose the only two that sounded appealing (i.e. those with meat). The Mortadella was really weird. It looked like somebody ran out to Gristede’s to grab some Oscar Meyer Bologna and just tossed a few slices on top of the pie. It’s a real shame too, because the crust underneath was pretty good.
— Sausage Pizza ($ 18)
This pizza was far better, and I would actually say was pretty good, but I was thrown off by all of the other bad stuff. With tomato, peppers, pecorino and mozzarella, it was pretty spicy, and the super chewy crust was very enjoyable.
— Roasted Pears ($ 12)
At this point I was at about 3 stars, but these desserts were just too bizarrely bad to justify a positive rating. This pears dish had practically no sweetness to it, and probably could have been a part of the regular food menu. The hard, crunchy pieces of pears sitting on top of some mascarpone were mostly flavorless and not appealing in any way.
— Citrus Salad ($ 10)
On the other hand, the flavors in this one were so overwhelmingly sour to the point of being practically inedible. There were slices of oranges, kiwis and some other indistinguishable fruits. I took a bite of kiwi that might have been candied or something, or maybe it still had rind on it, as it was chewy and hard, at which point I gave up.
To get the taste of those desserts out of our mouths, we went to the takeout spot next door, which is actually attached to the main dining room and can be entered through a door in the back of the restaurant. We tried one of each of the slices, which were all way better than anything mentioned above.
— Plain Slice ($ 3) with Pepperoni (+ $ 2)
— White Slice ($ 4.50)
— Grandma Slice ($ 4.50)
The plain with pepperoni was the best by far — a super crispy, thin piece that tasted like a classic NY slice. The white slice and the grandma were a little lacking flavor, probably due to a deficiency in cheese in both, but were still enjoyable.
Unless they turn things around and maybe switch up that menu drastically, I would avoid the restaurant, but the takeout slices are definitely worth a try.

I had to send the pasta back. It was way too undercooked and before you think «it’s supposed to be al dente» — no. This pasta was barely cooked. It was crunchy, literally and lacked complete flavor.
They put the flavor or might I add «black pepper» for the Treviso salad that costs $ 14 for very little ricotta and a lot of cabbage and a handful of grapes.
The plain pizza was plain. All you taste is the same sourdough flavor and nothing more. A waste at $ 17. Totally expensive and Vezzo or Garlic nearby have better pizza.
$ 14-​$ 15 for cocktails. This might be Kip’s bay or Murray Hill where the crowd is young, but this is out of our neighborhood price range unless if you have a serious mixologist feel like Raines Law Room, which you don’t Rocky’s.
Six people for 3 salads, 2 pizzas, 1 pasta we sent back and got taken off the bill, an oxtail (super small at $ 28), 6 drinks paid over $ 300. A rip off for an establishment that is blasting hip hop, and then being snooty about St Patricks day when it’s supposedly «Italian.» And the bathroom is all stereotypically Godfather like… Confusing and horrible. Avoid to save your wallets people!

Rocky Slims was great from beginning to end.
I sat at the bar. Marble counter tops (yes, yes, yes!). Cloth napkins and a water prep’d and ready for me to sip on. Server was very friendly and gave great recommendations.
I started off with a Jalisco Crossing to drink (a clean margarita– agave nectar, etc). It tasted just as I had been told: clean and crisp.
Rosso pizza. No cheese which was just fine with me (thanks for the waiter who let me know it didn’t come with cheese! Even though it didn’t say it came with cheese on the menu, it was so kind of him to let me know it didn’t come with it.) I wish they would have cooked more of the basil on the pizza instead of just using fresh basil after it had been cooked over the fire. The flavor was a bit more overwhelming than I had wanted. Still loved it a lot though. Lots of sauce, lots of sliced garlic.
The dress was casual and would be a great place for date night. Music was hip hop. Was pretty slow when I arrived at 615 but got busy very quickly and when I left an hour later, every seat was filled.
I finished off my meal with a Belleza Delicata. Sweet but not as big of a fan of that drink as I was the Jalisco.
Last minute treat was my check was delivered in a playing card box?! Very fun.
Thanks for such great service and atmosphere, Rocky Slims! I will be back!

Wow. That white slice.
So Rocky Slims has been open for only a handful of hours, but if the slice I devoured moments ago is any indication to the rest of their potential, this is a star in the making. But perhaps that’s an ignorant statement given the head chef here is a Roberta’s alum. By association alone dude is a local food celebrity.
Whether you’re looking for a robust sit down affair or a quick slice, they’ve got you covered. There are a few options for window takeout: plain, grandma, or white slice. You can add some bells and whistles (prosciutto, pineapple, pecorino, etc…), but the basal slices will set you back $ 3 for a plain and $ 4.50 for the grandma and white varieties. Sure the elevated slices will run you a full $ 1 more than the same pie at say… Joe’s Pizza, but I hate nickel and diming when it comes to fantastic fare. Though I do imagine this price point for a single slice will become a point of contention for some.
So far they’re off to the races. I’m fully looking forward to checking out the rest of their menu as soon as humanly possible.