Downtown Deep-Dish? Big Al's Does Chicago-Style Pizza in the Financial District

You can buy Chicago-style deep-dish by the slice at Big Al’s in Downtown New York City.

The City never ceases to amaze in how it can pull back just a bit of its curtain to reveal to you humility and the arrogance of thinking you know it with absolutism. This is a thin-crust town, obviously, but a few years ago, Emmet’s made waves by setting up a deep-dish outpost just south of Houston in SoHo on MacDougal. Turns out, Emmet’s isn’t the only place in New York City (besides the Upper West Side, Bay Ridge, and Astoria Uno’s) where you can find deep-dish. The Financial District has been home to Big Al’s “Chicago-style” deep dish since 1975.

“The crust, high and crunchy, is more like a New York crust dressing up for Halloween.”

You’d be forgiven for not knowing where Big Al’s is. Thames Street is basically a Downtown alley, the kind of byway that movies could use as time-travel portals to decades past. Next to a shoe repair shop, Big Al’s Chicago Style Pizza is a tiled sliver of a slice shop dedicated to working stiffs and the occasional finance bro.

Big Al’s is open Monday through Friday 8 am to 6 pm and Saturday from 10:30 am to 5 pm (closed Sunday).

This is the kind of place where in 15 minutes, five customers come in specifying they want a fresh slice or to reheat extra crispy.

A customer’s framed letter congratulating the shop on reopening after 9/11 reads a bit like a bittersweet breakup note.

“Last time I came in my friend with then hat gave me a slice that was not so good,” one slick-talking salesman says to the guy behind the counter.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, it’s okay. Don’t worry about it. I’ve been coming for 20 years. You can’t get it right every time.”

And that’s the thing—on this dark street a block from Trinity Church and Zuccotti Park, it’s a locals’ place. Along with some shiny red plates mounted on the walls with Brando, Sinatra, and a “Mafia Application,” there’s a picture of the original World Trade Center and a framed letter from a customer expressing joy at learning Al’s reopened after 9/11. “I used to work in the Trade Center for Garban, but now we’ve located to New Jersey, so you won’t be seeing me too often anymore. I tell you, there isn’t any decent pizza in New Jersey...”

Big Al’s serves an above average New York City slice, which says something.

The plain slices have a cheesy swirl. There’s an actual rise to the cornicione, though a classic New York City one, not a fancy crumb. A fresh pie is hot enough to grab a slice without the reheat, such is the pie turnover even well past lunch at 2:30 pm. The cheese and sauce are almost too much for the thin crust, which doesn’t have an outright screen print but flashes the ghost of one. Tangy sauce, foldable crust, it’s an above average New York City slice, which says something.

On the fold, there’s a ghost of a screen print on the slice undercarriage but it’s hard to tell for sure.

Hard to believe there’s a more complete spice rack in any other slice shop in New York City.

There is also perhaps in the history of New York City slice joints, the most compete spice rack you could dream of—all the classics plus three rows of shakers that include curry, Sazón, bouillon, ginger, coriander, marjoram, sage, adobo, and a host of other spices that would make a Chopped contestant sigh with relief before opening their dreaded basket.

Then there’s the “Chicago-style” pizza. Big Al’s has two options: a plain cheese that looks just like a round Sicilian, and a fresh mozzarella-garnished pie with sausage, pepperoni, meatballs, onions, and peppers buried under a layer of chunky sauce.

You’re encouraged to sit down while your Chicago-style slice is warmed—the thickness means it’s going to take a while. The wedge is cut in two down the middle for the reheat to help speed the warming and to also make it easier to manage. You’re also pointed to the knives and forks by the slice cabinet but you can actually lift the slices without them falling apart.

That chunky sauce is herby too and dusted with a Parmesan finish. There are chunks of pepper and noticeable, wide slices of onion. It’s a saucy pie with an adequate cheese layer that doesn’t feature cheese pulls. The crust, high and crunchy, is more like a New York crust dressing up for Halloween. It’s about what a Chicagoan would expect from a New York City slice shop and the equivalent of the typical New York-style slice you could expect to find in Chicago.

Is there anyone from Chicago behind the shop? Have they been doing the deep dish since the beginning? They’re questions that put the team at Al’s in a bit of a defensive crouch.

No, yes, “It’s not the only style we do,” and “Our customers seem to like it... they’re really loyal, we’ve been doing it for 40 years and they keep coming back. We’re a family shop, you know? Not a lot of us left down here. These days, it’s mostly chains and big corporations.”

Big Al’s plain slice is worthy of a working stiff’s three bucks and would be a better memory for tourists than most other shops downtown. And while the deep-dish slice won’t make any homesick Windy City transplants feel any more seen, it IS another answer to the question, “Where can I find deep dish in New York?” — #pizzacowboy🍕🤠