Downtown Toledo has a number of outstanding dining options— including fare for pizza fans. An iconic pizza joint which served up great pies throughout the pandemic is Home Slice Pizza on St. Clair Street, a downtown staple for 15 years. For one of the best pizza experiences in the city, round the bases and slide in to Home Slice.
Close to home
Opened in 2006 by the Knight family, father Ed and son Michael became the sole owners six years ago. “Owning a pizza place never crossed my mind until I started working in the service industry,” explained Michael. “I fell in love with putting smiles on people’s faces,” he added. “Home Slice Pizza is a true local business. My father and I are both graduates from St. Francis de Sales and have lived here our whole lives.”
The dedication to the city segues into dedication to the product, a wonderful thin crust, oversized pizza with a certain New York sensibility. With an open kitchen beckoning those walking by on the sidewalk and a small dining area downstairs, the warehouse-feeling brick building leads upstairs to a welcoming bar with abundant stools and table seating, accompanied by an enthusiastic beer selection and full bar offerings.
Thin crust, and different
The allure of the pizzas on the first floor is the thin and flexible crust, which can be folded to facilitate the enjoyment of the pies. A wide variety of topping options, some traditional, some offbeat, all encompass Home Slice’s trademark flair. Pizza’s are available in 18”, 16”, 14” as well as a 9” personal size, four-slice pizza. Personal is great if you’re on your own, or want to experience a pizza tasting, to try some variety.
Nontraditional pie options include the potato pizza or spinach and artichoke pizza (personal size, $8.99). These pizzas harken to traditional bar food, delivered on their house-made crust. The potato pizza includes the toppings for potato skins, replacing pizza sauce with mashed potatoes, finished with bacon and cheese. The spinach and artichoke, reminiscent of the dip with the same name, is slathered onto pizza crust and topped with a blend of three cheeses. Both of these inventive pies elevate the appetizers which they are based on.
A Hawaiian Barbecue pizza was included as part of our specialty pizza order. If you think that pineapple has no place on a pizza, this might be the pie that changes your mind. Accompanied by ham, bacon, cheese and a pizza/BBQ sauce mix that ties everything together, this was our favorite pizza of the visit.
Also, not to be missed is another Home Slice original: Ethan Stew bread ($6.99). Like many pizza joints, Home Slice offers a cheese bread. But Ethan Stew makes it better by adding cheddar and feta to the pizza cheese blend. The result is remarkable, the tastiest and cheesiest cheese bread you can find.
For those fans of more traditional pies, the basic pepperoni pizza delights customers as simple, clean and a way to really enjoy the sauce and crust with only that salty, meaty adornment. If a pizza place is defined by a simple pepperoni pizza, Home Slice Pizza absolutely knocks it out of the park.
Other worthy menu options include wings, meatballs, sandwiches and salads, offering some variety. But with a name like Home Slice Pizza, our advice when on South St Clair Street is to try the pie.
Home Slice Pizza
28 South St. Clair Street
419-724-7437
HomeSlice419.com
