For a decade, 2996 McFarlane Road smelled like pizza. The longtime home of Harry’s Pizzeria has a new tenant, and thankfully, the ovens aren’t getting much of a break. Miami Slice opens its Coconut Grove location today, bringing its sourdough-crusted, New York-style slices to one of the Grove’s most familiar address. This is location numero cuatro for Miami Slice, which isn’t bad for an artisan slice bar that started as a pop-up back in 2019. The team has since expanded from Downtown Miami to Key Biscayne, crossed state lines to Las Vegas, and now landed in the 305.
The pizza menu should look very familiar to Miami Slice regulars. There’s the Margherita de la Casa, with red sauce, mozzarella and basil. The crowd-favorite Pepperoni Proper adds hot honey to that equation, while La Salsera goes creamy with vodka sauce and pesto.
My order remains the Leeks on Bacon, a gloriously rich combination of garlic confit cream and mozzarella. And then there’s the Mushroom Truffle, loaded with truffle cream, mozzarella and a mushroom medley. Slices are available individually or as 20-inch pies. Of course, leaving those sourdough crusts behind would be irresponsible. Miami Slice’s Kicks & Dips turn the final few bites into their own little course with jars of stracciatella, red sauce, vodka sauce, or the trust us and just order the three-cheese dip.
But here’s where Coconut Grove gets interesting. For the first time, Miami Slice Hospitality is serving food that is not pizza. The new location introduces Grove Exclusives, an ever-changing collection of dishes that takes advantage of the restaurant’s inherited wood-fired oven. On our visit, the Watercress Caesar came with parmesan and wood-fired croutons, followed by a Caprese with stracciatella, basil oil and balsamic.
The Wood-Fired Cabbage was doused in onion vinaigrette and balsamic, turning a humble vegetable into something smoky, tangy and made it easy to consume some greens. Then came the one not to miss: Beef Tenderloin Carpaccio with lemon-caper dressing. And yes, it comes focaccia breadsticks to chase whatever remains at the bottom of those Kicks & Dips jars.
That’s ultimately what makes this location more than Miami Slice simply planting another flag. You can still show up for a Pepperoni Proper and call it dinner. But now there are salads, vegetables, carpaccio and whatever else the team decides to pull from that wood-fired oven next. And I’m going to order all of it again. And again.
Almost forgot the sweet ending. Dessert kept the nostalgia going with a slice of Pistachio Pie and a warm Chocolate Chip Cookie, the latter immediately taking us back to Harry’s Pizzeria and its own dangerously good version by Hedy Goldsmith. Some memories are just baked in.
Open Wednesday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., with dine-in and carryout available. And don’t bother looking for a reservation. There aren’t any. Walk-ins only.