Sunnyvale: A Slice of New York Pizza shop closes, replaced by Slice of Homage

Sunnyvale recently waved goodbye to a cherished pizza restaurant along El Camino Real, and will now say hello to … another pizza shop?

Yes, that’s right. Slice of Homage Pizza is replacing A Slice of New York’s former storefront at 1253 W El Camino Real. Locals can anticipate Homage to debut in the upcoming months, according to owner Steven Barrantes.

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“Quality and customer service is our number one thing,” Barrantes said. “We plan on continuing that here.”

A Slice of New York, which has another location along Steven’s Creek in San Jose, served pipping hot pies out of Sunnyvale for 14 years. The store dished out its last pizza slice on June 14, after years of staffing shortages and costly rental space made it difficult to keep operations afloat, according to owner Kirk Vartan.

The New York native said the decision to close was a hard one, but he’s happy that another independently-owned pizza shop will take its place. “It’s exactly what we wanted, other than us keeping it,” Vartan said.

Slice of Homage Pizza, which is famed for its Sicilian, New York-style, and Detroit-style pies, opened in 2020. The business has a storefront in downtown San Jose and operates a ghost kitchen out of Sunny’s Food Hall in west Sunnyvale.

Barrantes said Homage is doing well at the food hall, and staff can’t wait to go into “full restaurant” mode at the El Camino location. The store will be complete with longer hours, sit-down eating areas and new types of pizza.

“We just want to celebrate all styles of pizza,” Barrantes said “That way somebody can eat Detroit (style), or round or deep dish or extra thin or crispy. We have a little bit of everything for everyone.”

A Slice of New York’s was popular among Sunnyvale locals, who enjoyed the store’s thin-crust pizza, iconic paintings of the New York City skyscraper and life-size decorative subway car. Staff members saw customers grow up and help host numerous birthday parties and special occasions events.

But then came the COVID-19 pandemic. When the Bay Area’s economy took a turn for the worse in 2020, many small businesses struggled to stay open. Even years later, some eateries like A Slice of New York, never quite recovered.

“I can draw a straight line from Covid through the closing of our shop,” Vartan said.

The restaurant mostly struggled with finding and retaining full-time workers, Vartan said. Without a consistent staff, the location could only afford to open a limited three-day-a-week schedule. Finally in March, Vartan took to social media to announce the June closure.

“From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your incredible support,” he wrote. “Since opening our doors on January 1, 2011, we have proudly served this community for over 14 years — through economic downturns, industry shifts, and most recently, the lasting effects of COVID, which hit this location particularly hard.”

Vartan and Barrantes said they worked together since March to make the transition as smooth as possible. It’s important for both owners, Vartan said, to be able to provide Sunnyvale with an accessible and exciting pizza shop.

“(The shop’s) got plenty of life in it,” he said.