The Art of Pizza

Seriously the best New York style pizza in kc!!! We are so picky about our pizza and this is hands down one of the best! Recommend getting a large cheese pie and it’s like heaven!

I love no-​nonsense food. Pizza, by definition, is supposed to be simple. Toppings, crust, and sauce all work together to make something greater than the components. And that is exactly what the pizza is like at Art of Pizza.
The style is definitely East Coast. Medium thick crust, with just the right amount of chew. Flavorful meats, especially the sliced, not crumbled sausage. Bright, not too sweet sauce. And the perfect amounts of cheese make this a great pie.
I have tried many of the apps and sandwiches too. All are very solid. Especially the meatball sub, which I officially declared the best in the KC metro.
Others have complained about the service, the truculent owner, or speed of the food. Although all of those things mean something in a review of some fancy place, to me they are missing the point here. AoP is a pizza joint. It’s not a Pizza Bella, (aka overcharge me for décor and small pizzas). It’s a pizza joint, like Sal’s in the movie Do The Right Thing. There’s love and care and just a bit of attitude in every pizza pie they make.
Would I go anywhere else downtown /​crossroads for good pizza? Fuggetaboutit!

My pepperoni slice had a terrific crust — crispy on the outside, yet moist and cloud-​like on the inside. The small house salad ($ 3 on Thursdays) had plenty of tasty ingredients, and was generously sized. The service at the counter was fast but somewhat glum, while the owner was helpful, and the interior was rather nice.

We stopped by here on a humbug & we were pleasantly surprised. The garlic knots were full of flavor but weren’t overpowered by the garlic. I appreciated that since oddly enough, one kiddo doesn’t like garlic. Even she enjoyed them. The pizza was pretty cool. One son got the meat head and it was pretty packed with toppings.
The staff seemed pretty nice. My son worried that the owner was angry but I think he was just people watching and has a resting face issue because he was really nice to us. We talked about the song Minnie the Moocher & I even won a quarter because I could name the artist, Cab Calloway.
It was a cool experience.

My philly was amazing, service on the other hand was awful. The bartender seemed annoyed to have to wait on me. I’ve been a server so maybe she was just having a bad day. I waited about 20 minutes just to be greeted and then before I even got my Tea she was like are you ready. I told her sure and then waited 45 minutes for my sandwich (which was amazing). oh well I’ll be back, not for the service but for the huge sandwich from heaven. Don’t worry lady you’ll still get my 25% tip, I know you hate customers, I know all to well.

The Art of Pizza is always our go-​to stop for lunch on Thursdays. Salads are only $ 3 on Thursdays so I always get a House Salad and either toasted raviolis or a calzone. Allow extra time for the calzones but they’re huge and worth the wait!
The food has always been perfect but the wait staff is very hit or miss. There’s one girl who works most Thursday lunch shifts that is the sweetest ever. Even when its busy she’s nice and chatty and fast. If she’s not there for some reason, the other waitresses aren’t quite as good.
Go there for a calzone!

Service is very bad. Food is not great. Not worth the money.
UPDATE: Just found a piece of plastic/​wire twist tie in my salad. Will not return to this place and advise other people to find a better place for their money.

That crust! It’s the stuff of dreams.
I’ve been back a few times and the people working there have been nothing but awesome to everyone dining in — couples on dates, families with kids, and big groups of friends. The one rude episode I witnessed months ago was an aberration, I feel lame for even bringing it up earlier. This pizzeria makes delicious pies and it’s so rare to find a place that feels comfortable and welcoming to so many different types of diners.

The owner is an asshole. Reading the other Unilocal reviews, Its almost comical to see how horribly he treats his customers. Part of me wants to like him for it bc of the consistency. large angry Italian men can be funny and mean. But this owner is just mean and awkward.
I ordered a large pizza for take out. They say 30 mins. I get there on time and they hadn’t even started the pie. During my thirty minute wait at the bar, the owner openly yells at his only staff member because a larger party in the dining area moved a couple of tables together. This confused a number of patrons, made things uncomfortable.
So 30 minutes goes by, I had already paid, the pizza is ready and I ask the waitress for ranch. She gets it, hands it to me
Then the owner snarls at me «Ranch costs extra!»
I froze. The waitress butts in and says «I gave it to him for free bc we didn’t get his pizza in on time. He already paid»
The owner then says in an unbelievably shitty shitty tone… in front of other customers! he singles me out and says,
” well next time you come in, ranch costs extra!“
I wanted to tell him to just stop, stop being so dang unhappy and don’t publicly embarrass me in front of other customers man.
There simply can’t and won’t be a next time bc his pizza, although tasty (i love all pizza) isn’t worth the risk of being openly called out for not paying for a miniature cup of ranch.
Lol As if I didn’t already feel bad enough for ordering an entire large pizza for myself.

I was only in there for under 10 minutes to pick up a to-​go order, and everyone on staff, include the owner/​manger was incredibly rude. Openly hostile to customers. I don’t care if the pizza is good or not, I won’t be back.

Stopped in for Pizza before walking back to the hotel. Guy behind the counter seemed to be a manager or owner. Either way he was very rude. I asked for a root beer and he said they weren’t cold. I asked if that was because they just got put in the cooler or if the cooler was turned off (I was wondering if ordering something else would be cold or not). He quipped, «it [broke], if you have any other [complaints] write them on a piece of paper.» I was taken aback but oh well I just asked for a cup of ice with my drink. Problem solved. Then strike two came: I overheard the server at the bar complaining that two guys made her remake her drinks after she gave one the diet and one the regular. They had already taken sips so no swapping germs. Sounds legit, right? Not to her. She couldn’t believe they couldn’t just swap drinks since it was only just one sip! Gosh… Hope they don’t have the same philosophy on cross contamination and bacterial infection back in the kitchen! Anyhow, the food hasn’t come yet but bad or good at this point what difference does it really make? Oh, did I mention the guy at the counter was sitting on a stool eating his own food the entire time working the register?
… Just got the pizza. Not gonna lie, pretty righteous pie!

Wow! I’m actually offended by the food here. This place served absolute bland, undercooked, canned crap… Charged $ 30 for it while all three at my party got sick. Also, nowhere does it say that you can’t order just a slice. At 7pm a family walked in. With the sign very clearly saying they close at 10pm, the owner said «you don’t think you’re getting food here do you?! We’re closing» — after a little bit of resistance from the family… They left unhappily.
My last review was too kind. Goes to show… If you have a bad feeling about a place, definitely don’t go back.
If there was any better way to warn people never to eat here — I’d waste hours spreading the word.
In fact, I think we’re going to repeatedly request that the health inspectors check this place everyday. Not even the dude of Hell’s Kitchen could save this place.

This pizza is delicious! The meat head was loaded up with delicious toppings. I think their crust is also very good. The place is smaller and yiu can get by the slice pizza till 6:00pm this is a great little spot for a good piece of pizza.

As a NYer, I will give my stamp of approval. If they had a way to get NY tap water, they would get five stars. Slices are properly sized, crust is thin, taste is authentic. The only problem I had was I ordered a two topping pie. Knowing the pie costs 15.95, I wasn’t sure how the bill came out to $ 25. Little pricey for a pizza pie. However, I will be a return patron cuz it is that good.

I was meeting my husband downtown on a weeknight to have a bite to eat before an event. Stumbled into this place and looked around, didn’t say a word. The guy behind the counter (the owner I’m hoping?) stopped the conversation he was having with the patron at the counter to inform me I was in the wrong place, your friends aren’t here, but please by all means look at your phone… It was the strangest, most rude encounter I’ve had in a restaurant possibly ever. So, no, I didn’t try the food because the guy verbally dressed me down and threw me out in front of probably a dozen patrons. But, yes, it appears that this guy is famous in his Unilocal reviews for rudeness. Big shocker for «authentic ny» anything. One thing he did succeed in is ensuring I will NEVER go back.

The Chicago beef was okay. Let’s just say it wasn’t Chicago, though. To to fair, can you even get Chicago beef in KC? Yes, you can. At Pizza Man in Lenexa. But even then they don’t dunk the whole damn thing in the jus like I like it to be done. So what you are left with is a Chicago French Dip. That’s okay. It’s still good, but not the same.
I need to come back and review on the pizza here. That will probably bump it up a star.

Peace out, portion control.
I stopped in for lunch at The Art of Pizza with my dad and boyfriend last weekend after moving down to KC. With all of the box carrying, furniture lifting, and cleaning we had been doing, the three of us had worked up quite the appetites. We had met our match with TAOP. I ordered their chicken parmigiana sandwich and it was practically the size of my face.
My sandwich was decent, but nothing to write home about. The one thing I will say, is for roughly $ 8 it was a ton of bang for my buck. The guys were happy with their sandwiches, although they sang similar tunes on the taste. Not bad. Not stellar. Great value.
I’m new to the neighborhood and definitely plan to give The Art of Pizza a few more go’s!

My experience at Art of Pizza reminded me of the legend of how the QWERTY keyboard layout came to be.
Back when they were first making typewriters, many of them used a keyboard that was in alphabetical order. But as users typed, the machines would jam. The keys stuck together because people were typing too fast, and the machinery at the time couldn’t keep up.
So in response, the designer changed the order of the keys, spreading the frequently used letters apart so that users would slow down. The typewriters of the day worked a bit better, so that system was popularized, and now today, even on our computers and touchscreen phones we are stuck using an outdated setup that is inefficient and makes no sense for modern users.
Anyway, Art of Pizza.
I’ve been here a few times. Most recently, for First Fridays.
Hungry and drawn to the place by a large sign out front that said «Pizza by the Slice», I went in to order. The man behind the counter said, «sorry, you need to wait for a table.»
I replied, «Oh, no, it’s ok — I’ll just take a slice to go.»
He said, «No. We don’t do that.»
«But your sign says pizza by the slice.»
«We sell it by the slice, but you have to eat here at a table.»
«But I don’t need a table, just a slice of pizza.»
Surprisingly angry, he responded, «Do you see all these people waiting ahead of you? They are also waiting for tables. This is how the system works, otherwise it is too busy.»
I was genuinely confused.
«Look, I’m not trying to start anything here, but every other pizza place I’ve been to that says it does pizza by the slice offers it to go.»
«When you own your own pizza place, you can do it that way.»
Right. So that was rude.
Turns out, that man was also the owner. As a pizza enthusiast, I’m all for having my food made by cantankerous old Italian guys, but come on. Looking at the long line of people waiting to sit at a table for their slice of pizza, I left. As did many people behind me.
Two months later, my sense of logic was being outweighed by my sense of hunger, so I decided to try again.
This time, a nice woman behind the counter informed me that no, they still don’t sell slices to go. When I delicately asked about it, she seemed a bit scared that the owner would overhear. Apparently he has it in his head that the point of sale system or whatever it is they are using can’t handle the volume. So they have people sit down to slow the line and reduce demand.
(Slice. Paper plate. Why is this complicated?)
I lucked out and got a table just after people had paid their bill.
So I sat down.
People came in behind me, now waiting.
A waitress came by.
Ordered slice.
Waited for slice.
And when it came, it was in a box. To go.
Because that makes sense.
I could have eaten it at the table like I was apparently meant to, but I decided to leave and let the people waiting who were actually going to eat a full meal.
I think the girl behind the register may have been trying to do me a favor, but the fact that she was afraid of being found out by the owner should really speak volumes.
The extra steps and ceremony were a waste of everyone’s time. It was embarrassing for everyone involved.
Streamlining this process to move the people who just want slices through the door would allow them to have the tables occupied by customers who will be spending way more on whole pizzas and drinks, and increase the volume of slices they can move. Which you think would be great for business.
Or just take down the «pizza by the slice» sign on First Fridays so that obnoxious customers like me don’t come in with their confusing questions.
As for me, I’m not mad at Art of Pizza, I’m just absolutely fascinated (which is why this review is so long). And I’ve learned something new about myself — I learned that my favorite pizzas are ones that are made with logic. Logic and pepperoni. I never knew that was a factor before.
The pizza itself was okay, not bad, nothing exceptional, and certainly nothing that would merit the laughably absurd experience. There are plenty of other pizza options in this town, whether across the street at PizzaBella or down at the plaza with Johnny Jo’s (which is the best New York-​style slice I’ve had since moving here from the East Coast).
We may not be able to fix the QWERTY keyboard, but we can at least fix this.
Upgrade your system. Sell more pizza. Make more money.
We’ll all be happier for it.

Working in the area and trying new places has been a treat. The Art of Pizza is probably my new favorite place that I have tried.
My first visit I went with the muffuletta. Never having one, I am not sure how it rates in the muffuletta category, but in the sandwich category it rates fanfreakingtastic! The sandwich was enormous. Seriously a great value at $ 7.95 as it will be multiple meals. Or in my case a great lunch and amazing feat of gluttony for the hound. The flavors were incredible. This is a sandwich that will make you ‘mmmm’ with each bite.
After talking to the owner, he scolded me in a nice way for not trying the pizza on my first visit. «You always try the pizza first when going to a pizza place.» Like I needed any encouragement to step back by, a few days later I was there trying the pizza. I went with a meataholic slice. Meataholic is an understatement. I have made my own pizzas and never filled them with the abundance of toppings that The Art of Pizza does. I felt like I should kneel and praise the glorious mounds of meat. (… just keep going, no commentary needed…) Again, for just under $ 5, this is a fantastic deal. The pizza dough was perfect and carried the heavy load of toppings quite well. A nice thin crust. The toppings are definitely the star here and not a mouthful of dough like a lot of places.
The service is friendly, although maybe a little hurried with only one person staffed to wait during lunch. The owner really takes pride in the food he sends out and is very friendly.
They have a patio I haven’t checked out yet, but would probably be great on a nice day or evening to enjoy some beers with your meal. They have some good specials, unlimited pasta on Mondays, daily slice, salad and drink combo, and others.
I am going to have to work on my self control working a block away from The Art of Pizza otherwise I would be there every day! Check them out!

My experience was the opposite of everyone else’s. I had great service and thought the pizza tasted like it came out of a Chef Boyardee box. If this is the best pizza in KC the bar is really low.
And oh yeah, I was the only one in the place after the lunch rush and the chef/​owner came out, picked up the last brownie that was for sale and started playing with it. He ran it through his fingers and then put it back on the tray to sell. I don’t think you could pay me to go back.