A pizza near me search on the Upper West Side returns a long list of places that are fine, which is the neighbourhood's reputation and largely deserved. Mama's Too at 2750 Broadway, between 105th and 106th, is the one that people travel uptown for, and the reason is a format difference rather than a quality claim: it sells a square slab alongside a round slice, and the two are different products cooked on different principles.
Ask Karpo which slice is worth the premium today, when the counter is quietest, and what else on upper Broadway is open at the hour you get there.
The square is not a bigger version of the round
A square slab is baked in a pan, which changes everything. The dough proves in the pan, so the crumb goes tall and airy rather than thin and foldable. The cheese runs to the edges and caramelises against the hot metal, producing a dark, brittle, salty frill around the outside that a round pie physically cannot make. The sauce usually goes on top rather than underneath.
If you have only ever eaten New York round slices, that frill is the thing to try. It is the single most distinctive texture in the pan-pizza format and it is why people queue for it.
What the slices cost
Specialty slices sit in the seven-and-a-half to eight-dollar range — the cacio e pepe and the one called Angry Nonna run about $7.75 each, with the poached pear and the upside-down around $7. That is priced above a standard corner slice and it is honest about being a different thing rather than pretending to compete on price.
Two specialty slices is a full lunch for most people. Ordering four because they all sound interesting is how a $9 lunch becomes a $32 one, which is a decision rather than an accident, but it should be a decision.
Eleven hours, every day
The counter runs noon to 11pm, seven days a week. No split service, no closed day, and a genuinely late finish by uptown standards. That is a rare combination in Manhattan and it is the practical reason this works as a default rather than a special trip.
The quiet windows are early afternoon and the last hour. Evenings and weekends bring a queue that spills onto the sidewalk, and because slices are reheated to order the queue moves slower than its length suggests.
This far up Broadway
105th and Broadway sits between Morningside Heights and the main body of the Upper West Side, which is a stretch that most visitors never reach. The 1 train stops at 103rd and 110th, both a short walk, and Riverside Park is two avenues west — a much better place to eat a slab than a paper-plate counter.
Columbia's campus and the cathedral at 112th are a few blocks north if you want to build an afternoon around it. The neighbourhood rewards walking north rather than south.
How to order at a counter that reheats
Slices sitting in a case are not the finished product; the second bake is. That is why a queue here moves more slowly than its length suggests, and it is also the lever you have over quality. If you are not in a hurry, say so and ask for it well done — an extra minute in the oven firms the base and re-crisps the caramelised edge that makes the square worth ordering in the first place. A slice handed over lukewarm is a slice that skipped that step.
Eat it there or eat it within ten minutes. A pan slice with a tall, open crumb goes soft in a closed box faster than a thin round slice does, and the walk back downtown is long enough to undo everything the oven just did. If you are carrying it anywhere, ask for the box to be left open a crack rather than sealed, which keeps the steam from settling into the base.
Building an afternoon on upper Broadway
This stretch of Broadway is one of the last genuinely unglamorous shopping streets in Manhattan, and that is the reason to walk it. Between 96th and 116th you get produce markets, old hardware stores, student bars, a couple of cinemas and a density of counter-service food that reflects a neighbourhood that eats out constantly and cheaply. Nothing here is a destination on its own; the sequence is the point.
Two avenues west, Riverside Park runs the whole length of it, and the promenade above the river is the best possible place to eat something off a paper plate. North of here, the cathedral at 112th and Amsterdam is open to visitors most days and is large enough to lose an hour in, and Columbia's main campus sits a few blocks beyond it. Going south instead pulls you back into the parts of the Upper West Side that everybody already knows, which is the less interesting direction from this door.
Practical notes
Mama's Too is at 2750 Broadway between West 105th and 106th Streets, open noon to 11pm daily with no break. The square slabs are pan-baked with caramelised cheese edges; the round slices are a separate product. Specialty slices run roughly $7 to $7.75. Two slices is a full meal. Early afternoon and the last hour are the quiet windows. The 1 train stops at 103rd and 110th, and Riverside Park is two avenues west.
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Ask Karpo first
Want to know which slice is worth the premium today, when the counter is quietest, and what else on upper Broadway is open when you get there? Ask Karpo for current Upper West Side hours, an order that does not run away with itself, and a spot in Riverside Park to eat it.
