Midtown Lunch

A lot of places open in SoHo and Nolita but it’s often sad scanning their menus because more often than not everything on them is $10 or more, even at lunch. There are ways around that by going vegetarian or ordering nothing but a sandwich but sometimes it’s nice to eat somewhere a little nicer but still at ML prices. Rubirosa opened on Mulberry (btw. Prince & Spring) – an outpost of a beloved Staten Island bar pie purveyor – but sadly the cheapest pizza on the menu is $14 for a small and there is no mention of slices. But then I saw that they were named the best slice of 2011, and that there was a way to get a cheap lunch here after all.

You can order slices at the bar from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and either sit with other cheap lunch’ers or get them to go. Either way you’re going to have to wait about 15 minutes for food. And there are only two slice types to choose from: a classic ($2.50) with tomato sauce and one with vodka sauce ($3). You can also get toppings on yours and the guy next to me had one with pepperoni and mushrooms.

The vodka slice suffered a little in transit since they just put them in a paper bag but the slices were larger than I thought they would be and when I finally got to eat them they didn’t disappoint. Since they’re bar pies, the crust is super thin and crunchy so there’s no folding going on here. The sauce on both slices was great but I really liked the use of crushed tomatoes and the the fresh mozzarella. Despite the better quality of ingredients I still walked out of here paying $6, or about the same as I would at any slice shop.

Rubirosa, 235 Mulberry St. (btw. Prince & Spring), (212) 965-0500