Sal’s Pizzeria

Still the best pizzeria in town! I’ve been going to this place for a $ 2 slice of simple cheese pizza as a treat for myself and my son every once in a while (after band concert, etc. — my son prefers their pizza over Purity ice cream — and I can totally do $ 2!). I do not understand snooty reviews below, the crust is so good and the pizza is always hot, simple and delicious. If you compare their slice of simple plain pizza with other places’ greasy & stale ones, the difference is obvious — I don’t even bother to go to other places for the fear of wasting my money. And I wasted a lot in my share of time in this town. And plus I would go for this small place any day over Domino’s and Papa John’s, etc. all those ugly corporate box stores.
I am prompted to write this review because their dish really saved me this evening. I was feeling under the weather with my nose running non-​stop all day and I really did not feel like cooking for my teenage son and myself. We don’t usually eat out or order delivery but today I cave in and called and ordered their manicotti with eggplant and the plain pizza. Pizza arrived just in 40 minutes as promised. The manicotti was hot & delicious! It really saved me — upon eating the warm eggplant in delicious cheese tomato sauce, I was feeling a whole lot better, so much so that I am writing this review right now. Thank you so much Sal’s! I’ve never had manicotti before but I wanted to try a vegetarian dish so I went ahead. I am glad I did! I’ll try your other vegetable dish again if I get sick again.
A quick tip for those who are complaining about their salad. First of all, I don’t expect great salad from a pizzeria like this. I for one never ordered one from them before. But there is a simple solution: just walk over just five minutes from here to GreenStar past Greyhound station. That’s where you get fresh, local, organic salad. Look into deli section and salad bar. They have many different kinds of salad in glass case, and some packed ones in refrigerated section of deli, and then some more in salad/​hot bar. Of course you can raid produce section too. Now with fresh veggies from GreenStar you will have a complete meal together with some good hot food from Sal’s. That’s what I did today with delivery — I had celery and carrot sticks with hummus to go along with manicotti and pizza.
Long live Sal’s! Ithaca would be a terrible place without you!
PS: Their fried dough is a great treat, too — very simple and really delicious. Lots of sugar so go for it for occasions. but there’s something about that happy feeling when walking out of the door with a brown paper bag full of hot fried dough sprinkled with tons of powder sugar :)

The pizza is alright and the cooking staff is nice, but make sure you don’t get Melissa. She’s rude and will ruin your entire experience here.

I only had one cheese slice at the end of the night so my review is probably not accurate. I’ve been searching for the best slice and Ithaca and especially a NY thin slice. Sal’s is not it because they definitely had a thicker slice HOWEVER the dough is so damn good that it doesn’t matter. The dough had a nice crust yet the inside is a perfect amount of doughy.
The cheese and sauce on the other hand aren’t up to par but I attribute this to the fact that I had a slice later in the night and it was at the end of the pie. This is usually the case with slices at the end since they’ve been siting past their prime which is ~20−40 minutes.

Don’t order meatballs here!
should have just ordered pizza.
meatballs were bland– had no flavor whatsoever.
pasta and sauce were fine though.

Overpriced, paid $ 18.50 for the 12″ special. The dough was flavorless and floppy. The sausage was under-​seasoned, bell peppers and mushrooms chunks were too big… somehow making the pizza even more bland.
Fries needed salt and we paid over $ 3 for a Bud Light.
Not sure how the raving reviews below exist.

My favorite pizza in Ithaca! Delicious, cheesy, and freshly made– you can even watch them make your pizza while you wait. Took off one star because their salads are not so good… Unless you are a fan of Iceberg lettuce.

Delicious pizza, and well priced too! I’d be willing to drive back from Buffalo just for the pizza!

Reading the previous reviews on this site, my wife and I ordered a pizza and wings special with garlic bread. After having their pizza, the only conclusion I can come to is that those who call this the best pizza in Ithaca have never had pizza anywhere other than Ithaca.
Let me get the good out of the way first — the garlic bread was tasty, and the wings were surprisingly close to true Buffalo wings — and the only reason this review is above 1-​star. For my taste, they needed to be a touch crispier, but they were certainly more than adequate.
But the place is named Sal’s Pizza… And frankly, the pizza was drizzling shit. Undercooked toppings that slid off the base, a huge ring of doughy crust around the outside that severely limited how much of the pizza was covered with toppings, and the cheese covering the toppings in such a way that I initially thought a cheese only pizza was delivered (seriously — don’t do this unless you are serving Chicago deep dish — it’s terribly unappetizing).
My wife and I have had pizza from Seattle to Miami, from LA to Boston, and dozens of stops in between — and this is without a doubt the worst pizza we’ve ever had. In fact, neither of us could have a second slice. It’s a Frankenstein combination of the worst elements of Midwest pizza and New York style, without giving you any of the benefits of those styles. Feel free to get wings from here, but get the pizza from somewhere else.

Best pizza in ithaca! 2.50 draft shock tops! What more can you ask? Ordered Sal’s special.

This was our first time at Sal’s. We had the Sal’s special pizza. The dough was chewy/​gummy, no flavor. At $ 25 for the pizza, not including our drinks, we won’t be going back. Also, the restaurant was dirty and smelled. Although it was dinner time, there was only one other table. I should have taken that as a sign. While we were eating, The owner instructed an employee to clean the floor. The strong chemical odor was not appetizing.

We walked in to find the owner throwing some dough. This was awesome. My daughter loved it. We ordered a plain pizza and picked our toppings. We also ordered a half order of the chicken wings.
The pizza was crisp on the bottom and the cheese was REAL mozzarella. Ooey gooey and super cheesy. Delish.
Now I need to tell you, I am from Buffalo. Buffalonians are very sensitive about how our wings are made. These guys nailed it. Perfect. I could go on and on but let me just say that this is how they are SUPPOSED to be prepared.

Exactly what we wanted in a late night pizza. Crust was perfect, crisp on bottom, and fluffy good all the way up. Sauce flavorful, topics as ordered. We got the plain and built our own. They nailed it. Staff was friendly and helpful, even with less than 30 minutes before closing. Appreciate they were open until 10pm on Sunday when so many others locked up at 9pm.

Really good pizza. Crust like fine bread generous tasty toppings. A bit pricey but I think worth it. We observed other meals delivered and they looked delicious too. We will keep them in mind when we drive through town again

Ok. High points for nostalgia for a girl who went to college in Boston and survived on pizza. Oily light tomato sauce, cheese and chunked veg like the best Boston Pizzeria counter places. Dining room is cross between Chinese diner, country western bar, and an 80’s throw back D’Angelos. The draw for two tired parents was the promise of beer. Micro brews not available but a cold Shocktop in a frosty glass will do.

i’ve been here twice and my 2^nd visit was definitely better than the first. on my first visit i ordered some buffalo wings and a large pizza that was half plain and half sausage and onion, and a sub for my lunch the next day. the wings had a good flavor but they were soggy and not crisp. the pizza had a good flavor but too much cheese, it was really really greasy. the crust had a good flavor and an ok texture, but i don’t feel like it was stretched out evenly. the body of the pizza was too thin and then the crust was huge at the edges. the sauce was good but it was overpowered by the cheese and dough. the sausage was ok but nothing special in my book. the ham sub i got had a good flavor but there was very little meat on it, so i won’t be ordering a sub from them again.
my 2^nd visit was better overall. this time i got an order of honey bbq wings and a large pizza that was half plain and half buffalo chicken. the wings had a better texture this time and the sauce was good but very familiar, it’s the same sauce that pudgies and the haunt use for their honey bbq wings. as for the pizza, the dough was more evenly stretched this time and it made for a better eating experience. there wasn’t as much cheese on it this time, which i was definitely thankful for, but the cheese still overpowered the sauce, especially the buffalo sauce on the chicken half. the chicken they used was a sliced up boneless skinless chicken breast, which is a nice change of pace from other places using deep fried breaded chicken fingers.
overall, i would definitely rate this as one of the better pizza places in ithaca, but it does have some faults. this place is definitely better as a take out place because they don’t really have a big selection of slices, and also it can be a little pricey.

Still in search of our go-​to Ithaca pizza delivery (after trying out numerous options), we decided to give Sal’s a try a couple days ago. We still have several slices boxed up in the frig, which isn’t the greatest sign of pizza appreciation in our house.
I ordered a large veggie pizza (added feta and eggplant) and a large order of fries. The food arrived in a half hour, and was still quite warm. No parm or crushed red pepper came with the order or was offered (maybe they don’t automatically do that in Ithaca/​NY?).
The pizza was ok. The toppings and cheese were somewhat heaped in the middle, so there was a large outer rim of the pizza with only red sauce. The onion topping was in very stringy rings, and the bell pepper pieces were too large and jagged. So, with each bite, I either had a long string of unchewable onion or a huge, jagged chunk of pepper to gnaw on. The red sauce needs more seasoning and salt. The crust is too chewy (especially upon reheating). The crust is tasty enough, though. I hardly noticed the added feta.
The breaded eggplant that was added saved the pizza! It was delicious, and I could clearly taste it in every bite. If I give Sal’s another try, I might just get an enormous pizza with double eggplant topping! Man, that was yummy!
The fries were ok, also. Basic frozen fries. Needed a sprinkle of salt before they got packed up. A large order has enough fries for four people.

The most consistent carry out in the city. Sals has a myriad of fantastic options, and I have yet to have a menu item that isn’t delicious. The menu is very much an Italian pizzeria menu, but their subs and dinner entrees are all outstanding. I particularly enjoy the veal parm dinner, among my favorites! The pizza is outstanding, the wings are great… I could really just go down the line naming menu items. Point being, if I ever have trouble deciding on a place to eat, this is always a great default option!

This is a proper slice. Excellent sauce, excellent crust. Crispy on the bottom and chewy on the ends. One of the owners is from Sicily maybe that’s what makes the difference. Anyway they also make their own sausage. You want a slice of pizza in ithaca this is the place to go.

Fair
Slice joint
$ 2.50
For plain and has
Free delivery after 4pm.

Since I ordered on the phone, this is a review of their delivery, not the restaurant itself.
I was in the mood for pizza but had a fair amount of work to do so I decided to go for a delivery instead. There are a few places within walking distance of where I live but the reviews aren’t great and I figured I could get those any time, like when I’m walking home from class. So I decided to call for a delivery from this place.
I went for one of their specials, a large pizza and an order of chicken wings. Of course, I didn’t intend to eat it all in one sitting, but with all the homework and football this weekend, I figured I could spread it out over several meals. The pizza ended up lasting me for five meals. Call it disgusting, but I’m a lazy grad student who didn’t feel like going grocery shopping this weekend. You do get a little tired of pizza after the third one, but at least the pizza quality didn’t go down with microwaving.
Chicken wings were pretty tasty. I actually enjoyed them a bit more than the pizza. But I didn’t get a lot of blue cheese with it and you run low by the last few wings, and to be honest they weren’t that big. As for the pizza, the cheese and sauce were great and there was a good amount of both. However, I wasn’t a fan of the crust, which was really tough to chew despite being delivered fresh.
They said they would deliver within half an hour, but it ended up being closer to 45 minutes. Not sure if it was because the driver had difficulty finding parking near my area or if it just took them that long to get my order together.
Decent pizza overall but I think next time I’ll just step outside and get a pizza slice nearby instead of just ordering a crapload all at once.