New York 2 Chicago: Get the Pizza Without the Long Trip

Since moving down to the Akron area, I’ve been searching for a good slice of pizza. Thankfully, fulfilled that and then some. It is one of the best slices of pizza I can remember eating. A restaurant catering to both of the most famous pizza styles, NY2C should satisfy New Yorkers, Chicagoans and Ohioans alike.

My girlfriend and I arrived at NY2C at 7 p.m. and there were five or so other parties inside, some of them already enjoying their meals and . In the interest of fairness (and for the inevitable leftovers), we ordered both the New York thin crust ($10.75; $1.75 for additional toppings) and the Chicago deep dish ($11.25). Pepperoni was the topping of choice on the New York style and sausage and bacon topped the latter 'za.

There are more vegetable friendly toppings, but in interest of my column’s namesake, I decided to load up on the protein. Because NY2C slow-bakes their pizzas, the waiting time is a little longer than your typical Domino’s or , but boy is it worth the wait.

Both pizzas arrived one after the other and I was immediately drawn to the deep dish. NY2C starts with the crust, adds the cheese and toppings and then tops it all with homemade tomato sauce. The crust was perfectly cooked with some hints of char from the restaurants stone oven. The sauce was sweet, tangy and spiced perfectly and the topping added some saltiness to balance everything out. While NY2C’s version is a bit lesser in height than Lou Malnati’s, it lives up to its deep-dish moniker. Some might prefer to use a knife and fork for this style, but I dug in hands first.

After two slices of deep dish, I started in on the New York style thin crust. The slices are big enough to where you will need to fold them in half (New York style) for proper eating. This is a slice of pizza that would not feel out of place anywhere in the Big Apple. The crust on this pizza was much crispier (with the same elements of char) than the deep dish, but clearly that’s an element of the style. Much like the meats on the other pizza, the pepperoni helped balance the sweetness of the sauce and gave the pizza a more complex flavor profile.

With two sodas, two pizzas and a full belly, I left NY2C with $40 less in my wallet. A typical meal for two will cost much less than this (unless, of course, you’re like me and want to get both styles for comparison).

I’ve found the best slice of pizza in Stow ... and in this case, it was love at first bite.