Whole Foods Market 
10 Columbus Circle
New York, N.Y. 10019

At first glance, the pizza at the Columbus Circle Whole Foods looked quite good. I was even relieved to see one of the employees pressing the dough and layering it with toppings rather than pulling out pre-made pies from the back. (You never know when a restaurant is secretly serving you frozen food that’s simply heated and plated.)

Since I had some time to kill before meeting a friend this past week I decided to grab a few “slices” for dinner post-work. While there are several different toppings to choose from, I settled on Pepperoni since it looked like the freshest option on the counter. Other options included Turkey Bacon Chipotle Ranch, Chicken Florentine, Squash and Ricotta, Margherita, Cheese and more.

Unfortunately, the pizza was a bit of a letdown. The sauce tasted like marinara out of a can and the cheese was gooey and chewy, in the worst sense. The sauce and cheese was also layered way too heavily, though the dough itself was the most disappointing. The underside and outer crust was layered with flour and undercooked so it tasted very raw with toppings that were not strong enough to save it. And overall, there was no flavor beyond the cheese and marinara — not a hint of basil, oregano, thyme or garlic which would have been a welcome reprieve from the bland, boring marinara.

When you order, you have to order by the pound or eyeball what you think is reasonable. I definitely overshot it, saying I’d like a “generous” size and it turned out to be the equivalent of two large slices. Usually that’s a portion size I can handle, but when you’re eating pizza that is no better than frozen pizza and has a crust reminiscent of a stale cracker (without any crispness at all) a plate full is entirely too much.

My review can best be summarized as this:

So if you’re looking for a quick slice, stick to the dollar slice joints in the city. They’re bound to be better than what Whole Foods has to offer. That, or stick to the Whole Foods salad bar.

— Jamie Miles