One of the more talked-about pizza brands to emerge in New York over the past several years has set its sights on the neighborhood — and if you’ve ever found yourself debating where to grab a late-night slice on the Upper East Side, your options are about to get more interesting. The move marks a first for the brand on this side of town, and it’s landing on a busy Second Avenue corner.
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Upside Pizza has signed a lease at 1501 Second Avenue (at East 78th Street), according to a post by @TradedNY. The deal would give the slice shop its first Upper East Side outpost, adding to a roster that already stretches across Manhattan and into Brooklyn.Founded by Noam Grossman, who opened the original Garment District shop in 2019, Upside has built its reputation on a naturally leavened dough made with a sourdough starter and a 72-hour rise — an unusual approach for a grab-and-go slice joint. The pies bake in a brick-lined hearth oven, and the kitchen makes much of what goes on top in house, from mozzarella stretched each morning to sautéed mushrooms and house-pickled peppers.
Grossman, an Englewood, New Jersey native who ran operations for fast-casual chains before turning to pizza, launched the first Upside in a roughly 330-square-foot corner space near the Port Authority. He built it with input from a few familiar names in the slice world, including the brothers behind the 2 Bros. Pizza dollar-slice chain and pizza consultant Anthony Falco, formerly of Roberta’s in Bushwick. The early reviews ran hot, with Gothamist calling it one of the best slice shops to open in the city in years and singling out the high-end pies sold at reasonable prices.
The brand currently runs locations in Greenpoint, Nolita, Midtown East, the Garment District, Chelsea, NoMad, Morningside Heights, and the Financial District, several of which keep late hours that stretch well past midnight on weekends. Grossman has also grown the concept with offshoots, including the Soupside soup counter and Softside ice cream shops that sit alongside some locations. The look is part of the pitch, too — a bold, throwback aesthetic Grossman has tied to memories of ’90s pizza parlors as neighborhood hangouts, heavy on hip-hop and sports nostalgia.
ESF has reached out to Upside Pizza for an estimated opening date and will update this story when we hear back.
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