Corner Slice: Bedford Avenue and North 7th

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It's all well and good to know where the best pizza in the city is—if you've got the time to travel there—but what if you need a decent slice right now? Slice'rs know that every street-corner slice in NYC is not created equal, so we decided to explore the possibilities literally block by block.

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My sister lives in Williamsburg and has a massive and beautiful backyard (perfect for roasting pigs or frying turkeys in!), which means that Dumpling and I spend a good deal of time there. A lot of that time is spent looking for good pizza. Fortunately, there are quite a few options. For whole pies, you've got the excellent Fornino, which serves up a host of neo-Neapolitan style wood-fired options. For slices, you've got four options, all within a one to two block radius of the Bedford L-stop.

Best Overall: Anna Maria

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It's big, it's greasy, it's a little too cheesy and the sauce is a little too sweet, but the crust is always crisp and tender, and it always seems to hit the spot after a night out in Williamsburg. Those nights may very often leave you, shall we say, a bit peckish.

It's slammed from opening to close and you're just as likely to see the bearded crowd looking for hot pizza (the pizza is always fresh), as Latinos looking for hot home-cooked meals. The topping options are listed on the wall, but don't expect to see them in the case. They specialize in wackiness like avocado slices, chicken, and chopped romaine salad-topped pies. Stick with the plain slice.

Anna Maria Pizza (Williamsburg)

179 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 (at North 7th Street; map)
718-599-4550

Best Crust: Drigg's Pizza

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Driggs Avenue Pizza

558 Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 (at North 7th Street; map)
718-782-4826

The most old-school of the lot, this is the kind of place I'd be happy to call my corner slice joint. The crust—particularly the undercarriage—is great; darkly charred, flavorful and crisp. The weak links are the sauce and cheese, which are not as flavorful as they could be. If you like really thin New York slices, then this is the one for you.

Cheap and Not Half Bad: Eden Restaurant

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It's right outside the Bedford L station, so it's the first and last for many late night revelers coming to and from Manhattan. For $1.25 a slice, you could do a lot worse. It's superior to most of the dollar slice joints in the city (many of which are now $1.25 slice joints anyway), with a decently fresh-tasting sauce, tangy cheese, and a crisp, if bland, crust.

Eden Restaurant

166 North 7th Street (at Bedford; map)
718-387-0440

Skip it: Vinnie's Pizza

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They're ok for novelty slices like the quesadilla pizza, which Adam enjoyed at least on a conceptual level, but they've got to work on the basics. The crust is crisp but consistently pale and flavorless. Likewise for the bland sauce, which smacks of dried herbs and is covered in lots of mild cheese.

It's unfortunate because the guys behind the counter are always cheerful and nice; occasionally pulling of some sick acrobatics, like flipping pies from pan to plate. They just need to up their slice game.

Vinnie's Pizza

148 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211 (near North 9th; map)
718-782-7078

In all seriousness, it fell a couple blocks out of the range of this Corner Slice, but for the best slice in the neighborhood, walk a few blocks east to 33 Havemeyer and grab one from Best Pizza (Adam's review). If you've got the additional 5 minutes it takes to walk there, it's worth the extra effort.