South Beach Pizza by the Slice Until 5 am: Pizza Bar

Pizza Bar, at 1627 Collins Avenue in South Beach, is the counter people end up at when the clubs and hotel bars around them start to empty. It sells pizza by the slice in two sizes: a regular artisan slice from $6 and an XL slice cut from a 30-inch pie, starting at $10 for cheese. From Thursday to Saturday the doors stay open until 5 am, which makes it one of the latest reliable slice stops on Miami Beach.

The shop's banner reads "Since 2009" and "Tradition Reinvented," and its Our Story page says the place was born from a simple idea: take the foundations of Italian cooking and make them accessible, fast and unforgettable. In practice that means a compact room, a long slice case and an oven that never seems to cool down. A 2016 profile in the trade magazine Pizza Today described it as serving the beach's largest slices, cut from a 30-inch pie, and that oversized slice is still the thing first-timers photograph.

The same Pizza Today piece noted that, after the 7 pm to 10 pm dinner window, the weekend stretch from 2 am to 5 am drives the most sales. That tells you how the place lives: a steady dinner trade from hotel guests and beachgoers, then a second wave long after midnight from people walking back from the bars of Washington Avenue and Collins. The menu is built for both, with nothing that takes long to cook and nothing that needs a knife and fork.

The regular artisan slices are the better-made of the two sizes. The Artisan Margherita and the Artisan Pepperoni are each $6 a slice. A longer list of specialty slices, including Prosciutto with burrata, Fresh Tomato, White, Meatlover, Veggies and the Spicey Salami finished with vodka sauce and Mike's Hot Honey, are $7.50 each. The salami slice is the one to pick if you want sweet heat, and the prosciutto slice is the richest thing on the board.

The XL slices are a different experience. Cut from a 30-inch pie, an XL Cheese slice costs $10 and an XL Pepperoni is $11, with Tomato Basil and Meat Lovers at $12. One XL slice is a real meal for most people, and it is floppy enough that folding it in half lengthwise is the only sensible way to eat it. If you are sharing with a friend, one XL plus one artisan slice lets you compare the two styles.

Sides are cheap enough to add without thinking. Garlic Knots are $1.50 each and Pepperoni Knots are $3. Wings come at $10 for five or $20 for ten, and there are Mozzarella Sticks at $10 and Waffle Fries at $6. Sandwiches such as the Amalfi at $15 and the Portofino at $19.50 cover the hungrier end of the table, while sodas and water are $4.50 and beers including Corona and Peroni are $7.

If you are feeding a group, whole pies make more sense than a stack of single slices. Standard 18-inch pies start at $28 for Margherita and $32 for Pepperoni or White, with the specialty pies at $34. The 30-inch XL pies are the party option: Cheese is $52, Pepperoni $54, Tomato Basil $56 and Meat Lover $63. A 12-inch gluten-free pie is $16 for cheese or $18 with pepperoni, which is useful when one person in the group cannot eat the regular dough.

Ordering is simple. You choose your slices at the counter, and the staff reheat them in the oven before handing them over, a step that the reviews quoted on the shop's own site mention more than once. That short wait is worth it, since the crust crisps back up and the cheese loosens. Seating is limited, so on busy nights expect to eat standing at a ledge or out on the sidewalk under the hotel lights.

The website also lists three ways to order ahead: in-store pickup, delivery and dine-in with an order placed in advance through order.pizzabar.com. Ordering ahead is the smart move for a whole pie, because a 30-inch pizza takes up most of the oven. For a slice or two, just walk in. The most crowded moment tends to be the 2 am rush on weekends, so arriving a little before or after that window shortens the line.

Pizza Bar sits on the stretch of Collins Avenue between Lincoln Road and the hotel blocks of Collins Park, so a slice fits neatly into an evening on foot. One block west, the Lincoln Road pedestrian mall runs toward the bay with shops, cafes and outdoor tables. A short walk north takes you to the New World Center and SoundScape Park, where free outdoor screenings are projected onto the building's wall on selected nights.

Head east instead and you reach the beach within a couple of minutes. The boardwalk and the wide sand behind the hotels are quiet late at night, and eating a slice on a bench facing the ocean is a very South Beach way to end the evening. Further north along Collins, the Bass Museum of Art anchors Collins Park, and south of Lincoln Road the small Espanola Way lane is lined with restaurants and string lights.

Address: 1627 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL 33139. Hours: Monday to Wednesday 11 am to 2 am, Thursday to Saturday 11 am to 5 am, Sunday 11 am to 2 am. Prices from the official menu: Artisan Margherita or Pepperoni slice $6, specialty artisan slices $7.50, XL Cheese slice $10, XL Pepperoni slice $11, 30-inch cheese pie $52, garlic knots $1.50 each.

Ordering: walk in for slices, or order ahead online for pickup, delivery or dine-in. Gluten-free 12-inch pies are on the menu. Getting there: Pizza Bar is a short walk from Lincoln Road and the beach, and the free Miami Beach Trolley runs along Collins Avenue. Public parking garages cluster around 17th Street, and street parking on Collins is metered and scarce at night, so walking or a rideshare is easier after midnight.