Micucci Grocery

If you want to feel like you’re in a little shop in Italy, you must visit Micucci’s. They have quality specialty Italian goods. A great local feel. Excellent customer service Don’t forget to get a «slab» while you’re there.

I consider myself a New York-​style, thin-​crust girl, but let me say that Micucci’s Sicilian slab pizza can get it! After showing up once to find the place closed (I think I cried), I finally succeeded in getting my hands on a pepperoni slab last weekend, and it somehow managed to exceed my already sky-​high expectations.
If you’ve never had Sicilian-​style pizza before, this might throw you for a loop. The crust is extremely thick and almost fluffy, resembling an airy focaccia bread rather than a traditional pizza crust. It’s spread with a sweet tomato sauce and sprinkled with just the right amount of cheese. It’s a huge slice, enough for 2 people to share comfortably and bond over its beauty. My parents also tried the Luna bread and were instantly smitten.
To get to the pizza and bread, you have to wander to the very back of the store, where the staff slide out huge slices of the pizza, hot from the oven. They don’t sit around for very long before they’re eagerly snatched up. There’s a little counter that seats 6 – 8 people, so chances are you’re going to have to take your pizza to-​go, but there’s nice grassy places to sit on outside. Another tip for the tourist: You pay for the pizza up front at the grocery register, so if you’re eating your pizza there, you just tell them how many slices you had.
I won’t comment on the whole controversy with the original creator of the slab being pushed out. All I know is that he’s a pizza genius, and I am personally grateful for his art every time I bite into the slab pizza. I’ll be trying out Slab, his new restaurant, to compare in the future. In the meantime, if you’ve never been into Miccucci’s, this is something you must try!

This review is for the pizza only, (the rest of the place seems great). I know a lot of people love the slice at Micucci’s, but I’ve tried it a few times now and the sauce is just odd to me. It’s very cheesy, almost like spagetti-O’s bizarre «tomato-​cheese» sauce. I think if they used a simpler sauce with just crushed tomatoes, evo, little basil, etc, the pizza would be a lot better.

I come here every time I’m in town often just to browse! Incredible deli, the center aisle of Italian pickled and stuffed canned/​jarred goods is second-​to-​none, awesome hand made pastas and breads, and the famous hot pizza and subs piping hot in the back. A truly decadent Italian market that’s as fun to just browse as it is to pick out your harbor-​side picnic.

Nice selection of meats. Had no bread when we came at 330p. So had to use pita for sandwiches. Ugh! Sold out of all remade food too. Had a couple of pastas premise but really wanted something else.

We stopped in here for coffee and my head was spinning with the quality of italian foods they had to offer. The famous slab slices of pizza called out to us but having just had fried clams I couldn’t budge. We grabbed two sfogliatelle to go and a few hours later we were wowed by the perfection of the creation we ate. It had crispy layers on the outside and the best flavored filling I have ever had. If you live in the local area then you have to stop in here at least once a week. So many treasures await you!

Best slice I’ve had in Portland! The only reason this is not a 5star is because the serving style. It’s buffet style, which is not my preference. Other than that excellent!

This is my go to Italian market… love all of the specialty Italian goods… reminds me of the ethnic Italian markets of my youth…
Great Italian cold cuts and cheeses
Excellent selection of dried and fresh pastas… I can get my pappardelle pasta here…
Lots of quality olive oils
Great selection of caned tomato products… you can’t go wrong with scratch made sauce here
Decent Italian wine selection…
Just check it out… it even smells ethnic Italian
4 ½ stars

You MUST get a Sicilian slab of pizza tucked in the back room. Two hands required!
This is a full italian market. You can smell the fresh baked bread as soon as you walk through the door. Pasta, wine, bread, house made sauce… everything you need for an italian feast!

When I have lived outside of Maine, I have missed this place so dearly. It is the full package: quality, selection, service, local.
While definitely skewing Italian, there are many European/​Mediterranean specialty foods available. Plus fresh bread.
The wine prices are so competitive already, when there is a special it is unbeatable.

Best pizza in all of Maine! After stuffing your face with a Sicilian slab, you can head back into the main part of the grocery store to pick up some Greek and Italian goodies and some incredibly cheap seasonings, or even buy yourself a loaf of the bread they make the slabs on! Employees are very helpful, but they tend to be a bit busy so you may have to wait to get help.

Okay okay I know it’s unfair of me to rate these guys so low as they are the birth of the SLAB! But, I really don’t love this place.
First of all, selection isn’t everything. It’s really hard to get the attention of an employee here if you need a hand, and that’s really important to me. Also, the real inventor of the Slab was shoved out and opened his own restaurant, so I’d rather support that. If I want great Italian cuts and groceries I go here, but that’s really because there aren’t any other places to choose from.

The Sicilian slabs (pizza) are wonderful and make a perfect walking lunch if you’re cruising in and around the Old Port. A huge selection of pastas awaits you on the market side as do several choices of sauces, both a few you’d find at a populist supermarket and those true gems of Italian sauces that come more difficult to find. Prices are a bit higher than the regular supermarket but this is a specialty store after all, and they definitely know what they’re doing. Great selection of meats at the meat and deli counter and of course several speciality items to choose from off the shelf throughout the market. A total little gem of a market. Do yourself a favor and pick up one of their house-​made cannoli while you’re there. If you haven’t had them before, you’ll thank me for it!

Maybe it was just the hype, but I wasn’t all that impressed with the vaunted Sicilian Slab. Was it good? Yes, definitely. It’s delectable focaccia smothered with cheese and very good tomato sauce… how would it be bad!!! However, was it THE BEST pizza? Was it truly something I’ll crave forever? No, not by a country mile. I think if I lived there I’d enjoy a slice every now and then, but if you’re visiting and miss the place, don’t worry, you’re really not missing anything that terribly grand.

Delicious meats, cheeses, oils and hard to find specialties elsewhere. But who am I kidding, the Slab is the single greatest to go lunch/​dinner in Portland.
Try the perfectly made dough/​crust, the sweet sauce and the fresh mozzarella. It is remarkable.

Still has the same awesome selection of oils, vanilla bean and Italian goods but I really do think it’s great that Slab and Micucci’s are separate. The pizza is actually distinctly different. The sauce and cheese is noticeably different between the two. Although I don’t have the two infront of me to compare today, point goes to Micucci’s today as my mouth just thanked me a LOT.
I guess the next step is Slab v Micucci’s blind taste test. Anyone in?
Update:
So the blind taste test has happened! Amazingly most people could figure out who’s was who’s!
My fav was Micucci’s!

The new yorker was put in her place BIG TIME HERE…
I walk into this place. and I am just mesmerized by this sweet pizza smell… after trailing to the back we find a small window with these huge pizza slices availible for the taking… we buy some… we feast… we fall inlove… It was like bitting into tasty air, with a small crunch at the end of the bite. The dough was amazing. THEN came the sweet sauce! OH MY JEEEZZUMMM CROOWW. This was really impressive and was different! Just plain different. We grabbed some jars of sauce and frozen pizza dough to go.
I must go back there one day!

You’ve heard of the Freshman 15, right? Well, I’m pretty sure I gained the Micucci’s 15 after my two week stay in Portland. Now that I am back in the kale capital of the world, I would give just about anything for a bite of a Micucci’s Sicilian slab. Seriously, the reviews on here are no joke. This is the type of pizza you wake up in the middle of the night dreaming about and then eat everything in your fridge trying to forget. From the char of the crust on the edges, to the chewy dough in the center, every element is spot on.
It is worth noting, in case you are unaware, that this is a lunch thing. I’m not sure how late they usually have Slabs ready for pick-​up, but I know I’ve tried around 4 pm on a few occasions with no luck. In case you go crazy and buy too many slabs for one sitting (aka more than one), it reheats okay the next day in a toaster oven — but not great.
Also, be sure to look through the store on your way up to the register. I found some unusual items at great prices.

Well, the local hipsters have migrated to Slab, which I’m sure is really good, but if you just want a massive, yet light, slab of delicious pizza, you can still get one at Micucci’s. Whatever they now call the slab, it still rocks.
On this visit we also tried the deli counter for some cold cuts. Lots of great choices, good service, everything delicious. Try the finger peppers stuffed with ham.

05-​03-​2014
Too bad about the case of their former baker but man!, their pizza is so awesome.
We found ourselves driving from Boston to Portland, Maine for Micucci’ Sicilian slab! It is that good. And it is probably the best pizza in this part of the world! It is a JOY to eat this pizza and we will drive back to this place soon!
BTW. The grocery items are also worth checking.
When you’re in Portland, this is a must place to visit.