You’re hungry, so we won’t dilly dally. Here are eight places to buy pizza by the slice in the Kansas City metro. Eight places, eight slices—enough for you to create your own super pizza.
Providence by the Slice
This Westport pizza spot focuses on the crust—“No crust left behind,” they say—and serves up three styles: a thin New York, a thick Sicilian with sesame seeds, and a deep-dish Detroit. (Our digital and media director Brittany Coale, a pizza encyclopedia on the side, swears by the Detroit style.)
Slices range from $3.50 to $4.25. Here’s the full menu.
Pizza Tascio
Pizza Tascio is a simple spot with six locations across the metro. Its slices taste luxurious but never pretentious. You’ll find everything from margherita pizza to upside-down pizza—and some cool sodas in the fridge, too.
The menu rotates, but one thing stays the same: You can get two slices and a drink for $10 all day.
Up-Down
There’s something glorious about playing arcade games (25 cents a game), swigging a soda or beer, and wolfing down a slice of extra-cheesy pizza. Up-Down’s got your fix through a hole in the wall in the southwest corner of the building.
The list of flavors includes, among others, cheese, pepperoni, and simply “meat.” On that one, you can hardly see the cheese through the toppings, but we promise, it’s there. Cheese and pepperoni cost $5, and specialty slices are $6.
Pizza 51
When it comes to freedom, Pizza 51 might be the best by-the-slice option in Kansas City. A lot of places have set by-the-slice menus, but Pizza 51 lets you create your own slice, made to order, no restrictions. It’s $4.99 per slice with 89 cents for each topping. A meat, supreme, or veggie costs $6.99.
Until 2 p.m., you can get a two-topping slice, a salad, and a drink for $10.65. For $12.30, make that a specialty slice.
Milwaukee Deli
You can absolutely load your slices up at Milwaukee Deli, a bona fide downtown favorite. If that sounds like Pizza 51, that’s because they’re partners. Same recipe, too!
Prices are a little different at Milwaukee Deli. Cheese slices are $4.50 (cheaper!), with each additional topping costing 95 cents (six cents more). After four or five toppings, the specialty slices are the better deal at $7.50.
Grinders
Grinders, “the loudest rockin’ pizza place in the world,” is our senior media consultant Katie Delzer’s favorite by-the-slice spot in KC. “Grinder’s pizza is tough to beat,” she says. “Their pizza even tastes better—if that is even possible—if you’ve been at a concert!”
The specials rock. At the Crossroads location, you can get the slice of the day for $3.99—normally the price of a cheese. On weekdays at the Stonewall location, you can get a two-topping slice with a side salad for $9.95 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Johnny Jo’s
If you’re talking about the best by-the-slice spot in Kansas City, Johnny Jo’s will inevitably come up. Maybe it’s in the sauce, with a Sicilian family recipe coating the San Marzano tomatoes; or maybe it’s in the mozzarella/provolone cheese blend. Its slices are $4 to $6, and by all accounts, they rule. Grab one (or two) next time you’re in Lee’s Summit or the Plaza.
Buffalo State Pizza Co.
Buffalo State Pizza Co., a proud purveyor of New York-style slices, has a pretty nice lunch special: any two-topping slice with a breadstick or salad, plus a fountain drink, for $9.50. If you make it a specialty slice, it’s $10.50. The special runs until 3 p.m. at the Crossroads location and 2 p.m. in Overland Park.
The base price for a slice is $5 with 95 cents per premium topping—think anchovies and prosciutto—and 79 cents per regular topping. Specialty slices are $7, and there are 17 to choose from.