We have never lived in better times for pizza. The last decade has seen a boom in artisanal pizza that has expanded beyond the boundaries of Neapolitan style. Now we see pizzamakers putting the same craft and care into NY-style doughs that traditional Neapolitan pizzaiolos have been for decades. This expanse has done wonders for the pizza scene—opening up a world of styles, textures and flavors that many diners didn’t know existed to begin with. We’ve even watched regional styles blend and morph into entirely new pizzas altogether.
New Jersey specifically has felt this boom. If you ask me, pizza has never been better in the Garden State (and it’s not like we really needed the help to begin with). Artisanal NY-style pizza, bar pies, Detroit-style pizza—you name it, and Jersey is doing it.
But, I have a minor complaint with the new-school pizza shops. The lack of slices.
I get it, slice shops aren’t always sexy. A slice sitting in a case doesn’t possess the same quality as one fresh out of the oven. Keeping a stocked slice display also requires a completely separate business model, so if a pizzeria is set up primarily for whole pies, it can be difficult to manage both. Maybe a pizzeria doesn’t have the oven real estate to do slices. Some pizzamakers simply don’t want to—that’s okay, too!
It’s not that I think these spots should be offering slices, it’s just that slice shops have a special place in my heart (my first job, shoutout Mainline Pizzeria in Little Falls) and I wish they were getting the same artisanal treatment as the other styles we see rising the ranks of the state’s best lists. I still think of pizza as a working class food—and grabbing a quick slice on your lunch break is a part of that.
At Long Last, Corner Slice Opens in Maplewood, NJ
So, you can imagine my excitement when I heard a new kind of slice shop, called Corner Slice, was coming to Maplewood. The pizzeria was originally opened by Mike Bergemann in 2017 in Manhattan, and they specialize in square slices. That’s right, no rounds. Bergemann announced back in 2023 that he would be moving the shop to New Jersey, and at long last, it’s here.
I’ve been waiting to try this pizza for well over a year—but would it hold up to my ridiculously high expectations? First things first, Corner Slice is nostalgia-driven. Neon signage, old-school red-and-black tile floors, bursts of color and stereo speakers suspended from the ceiling all stick out immediately upon entering. “This is all my own nostalgia,” Bergemann told me. “Without being fake about it.”
The more I talked to him, the more I got the feeling that Corner Slice is Bergemann’s life’s work. He points to a bright yellow sign that extends the entire inside wall reading “Pizza” in a bold gothic font. “Recognize it?” he asked me. Where have I seen this before? Why does this sign look so familiar?
He goes on to tell me that it’s the original signage from The Fireplace on Route 17 in Paramus—a legendary eatery that closed its doors in 2021 after 65 years. Bergemann, who is a Bergen County native, grew up eating at The Fireplace, and when it closed, he found himself distraught. “When The Fireplace announced they were closing, I was really upset,” he said. “Everything went up for auction, but this sign was in a weird back area, and there was no way to get it down, so it was gonna get knocked down with the building.” The quest for the sign was seemingly over before it began. That was until a collector in the area got the sign down and listed it online. Bergemann came face to face with the pizza sign yet again. He immediately made an offer, grabbed the cash needed, and drove up to Paramus to get the only sign that ever made sense for the shop. “When I was working in New York, I would always stop at The Fireplace on my way back to Jersey,” he told me. “So, it was really important for me to have it.”
Menus, the Corner Slice logo and other design elements are spearheaded by experienced graphic designer and Bergemann’s wife, Courtney Inge. All of these pieces come together to create a space that feels familiar, without being like anywhere you’ve ever been before—almost liminal in nature.
The pizza invokes a similar feeling. The first thing you’ll notice when you walk up to the counter is the variety of slices to be had—all square—displayed in the half-sheet trays they bake in. Every day, you’ll find eight staple slices to choose from: Plain, Upside-Down, Buffalo Chicken, Pepperoni, Garbage, Margherita, Vodka and White. Naturally, I got one of each.
At Corner Slice, The Dough is the Difference Maker
Though the case is stocked with slices daily, the journey to get there really begins three days prior. A lengthy fermentation process—headed by dough master and Mike’s brother, Pete Bergemann—starts with a mix of flours. Corner Slice’s dough combines high-protein King Arthur flour with a Central Milling blend of whole spelt and durum wheat. The dough is mixed at a high hydration and left to bulk ferment for a full day at a controlled temperature. The following day, the team portions dough and places it into olive oil-coated pans to ferment for another day. A final rise is done on day three before the pizzas are ready to be baked.
This laborious process produces a dough that is unlike any I’ve had before—certainly in Jersey. It’s crisp and airy with an audible crunch, though it doesn’t tear up the roof of your mouth like some crisper pizzas do. The bottom of each slice, or what some refer to as the “undercarriage,” has a crackly fried texture to it. Paramount to a Corner Slice pie: each slice has crust! Where other square pizzas often have middle, crust-less slices, Corner Slice bakes in smaller pans to alleviate this. Considering the middle slices of a Sicilian pie are objectively the worst, this is a welcome feature for me, a crust lover. Crust haters, such as my girlfriend, will also find themselves unable to resist the Corner Slice crust… That three-day process sure pays off.
This crust creates what Mike calls a “New York Square Pie,” describing it as “thinner than Sicilian pizza, but thicker than Grandma pizza.”
The Slice Case: A Breakdown
With the nerdy dough jargon out of the way, let’s get into a slice-by-slice analysis.
My favorite slice of the day was none other than the Upside-Down, which includes mozzarella cheese underneath a blanket of intensely flavored Jersey Fresh tomatoes. It is bright and simple, invoking memories of the first time I had a Mr. Bruno’s slice when I was a child, though this is decidedly better than Bruno’s—or L&B, or whatever you might think your favorite upside-down slice is. I find this simple outfit to be absolutely spectacular when paired with the Bergemann Brother’s near-perfect pizza dough.
The Garbage slice was another favorite, which is an ode to the garbage pies you find on classic pizzeria menus, traditionally employing every topping in the shop. I didn’t grow up eating this variety, nor is it anything I would normally crave, but this slice was addictively good. Corner Slice’s version has thin-sliced jalapeño, sausage, pepperoni, shaved red onion, and mushroom on top of a plain cheese pie. It was completely new to me and yet, paradoxically familiar, reminding me of the comically-topped pizzas you see in cartoons like The Ninja Turtles. There it was again: nostalgia. And this slice oozes it.
The plain slice eats similarly to the upside-down, albeit with a higher cheese-to-sauce ratio, and the pepperoni takes that same great formula and tops it with a layer of crispy and tangy cupping pepperoni. Many scoff at buffalo chicken pizza, and to those naysayers, I say grow up. Chunks of spicy buffalo chicken top a sauceless pie along with homemade ranch and chopped scallions.
An underrated slice at any pizzeria is the white slice, but, if you ask me, it is also the one with some of the largest room for error. A mix of cheeses top this simple pie, where the structured flavors and textures of the Corner Slice dough are really allowed to shine. Fans of white pizza will be elated with this offering. A Margherita slice uses fresh mozzarella and gets finished with a drizzle of a pesto-like basil oil offering a fragrant punch to the brightly flavored option. Finally, the Vodka Slice is quite delicious—simply topped with a slightly spicy and creamy vodka sauce and thin shavings of mozzarella cheese. Another standout from my visit.
You can expect to find the above slices daily, and if you come on a good day, maybe a special slice, too. Take the Muffuletta, for example. Corner Slice pays homage to the classic New Orleans sandwich to celebrate Mardi Gras by topping a pie with mortadella, salami, ham, provolone, fresh mozzarella and a spicy olive spread—a crucial characteristic of a Muffuletta. Additionally, to mimic the bread, the pie is baked on a sesame seed crust.
What I appreciate the most about Corner Slice—more than the dough or the toppings—is how they work to always keep the slice case stocked and fresh. Pizza never sits for too long in the case, assuring maximum freshness. They get a quick blast of heat in the oven and are served immediately. A small menu and dedicated operation assure the highest quality slice every single time.
Right now, it’s “slices only” at Corner Slice while they learn to deal with the daily lines out the door, but Mike assures me that whole pies are on the way. For now, he’s just happy to be back (and thriving) in Jersey. “It’s the best to be back in Jersey. We’ve spent every penny we had on this, so to have a good response from the public right off the bat has been amazing,” he said. “It’s what we worked for. I built my own dream place and I was just praying that other people would be into it as much as I am.” So far, that seems to be the case.
Peter Candia is the Food + Drink Editor at New Jersey Digest. A graduate of The Culinary Institute of America, Peter found a passion for writing midway through school and never looked back. He is a former line cook, server and bartender at top-rated restaurants in the tri-state area. In addition to food, Peter enjoys politics, music, sports and anything New Jersey.
