Jumbo slice facts for kids
A jumbo slice is a super big piece of New York-style pizza. You can buy it by the slice to take with you. It's really popular in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C..
The whole pizza pie that jumbo slices come from can be as big as 36 inches (90 cm) across. Each single slice can be more than 1 foot (30 cm) long! People have written about jumbo slices in local and national news. They talk about how huge they are, how many people buy them late at night, and the friendly competition among pizza shops. These shops often claim to have the biggest slices or to have invented the term "jumbo slice."
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What's in a Jumbo Slice?
Jumbo slices usually come in just two kinds: plain cheese or pepperoni. A single slice can be over 1 foot (30 cm) long. It can weigh about 1 pound (0.5 kg). People often fold these big slices to eat them.
The dough balls used for these huge pizzas can weigh more than 4 pounds (1.8 kg). Pizza sauce is kept in very large containers. The special cheese mix, which is usually mozzarella and provolone, can arrive in 900-pound (410 kg) shipments! One jumbo slice might have more than 1,000 calories. This was found in a study done for the Washington City Paper.
How Jumbo Slices Started
Koronet Pizza in Morningside Heights, New York City, started selling very large pizza slices in 1981. By 1990, Koronet's slices came from 30-inch (80 cm) pizzas. Students from nearby Columbia University really liked them. People eventually started calling Koronet's big slices "jumbo slice" pizza.
The first jumbo slice pizza places in Washington, D.C., opened on 18th Street in Adams Morgan. This area is known for its many places to eat and hang out. Jumbo slices are a favorite food for people who are hungry after being out late. On a busy weekend night, a jumbo slice shop can make about 800 pounds (360 kg) of pizza. Most of their sales happen during just a few hours on weekend nights.
The pizza shops in D.C. are usually simple inside. They have stools and counters, but not many decorations or customer bathrooms. Outside, the area can feel like a big outdoor gathering late at night. Police officers on bicycles often patrol this area on weekend nights.
Some people in D.C. are not big fans of the jumbo slice. They sometimes mention that the paper plates and leftover slices can end up as trash on the streets.
The "Original" Jumbo Slice Rivalry
The name "jumbo slice" was first used in Adams Morgan by Chris Chishti. He owns Pizza Mart, which has been in the neighborhood since the 1990s. In 1999, Chishti began making bigger pizzas. He did this by putting together standard pizza dough balls. His first "jumbo slice" was 18 inches (46 cm). Over time, it grew to 22 inches (56 cm), then 28 inches (71 cm), and finally 32 inches (81 cm). As the jumbo slice got bigger, Chishti bought larger ovens. He even tried making oval pizzas when his ovens couldn't fit bigger round ones.
Jawed Khan, who used to work for Chishti, opened Pizza Napoli in 1999. He started selling 30-inch (76 cm) pizzas when Chishti's were still 22 inches (56 cm). Khan also began using the name "jumbo slice." He told the Washington City Paper, "We came in with the biggest slice." Chishti then made his pizzas even bigger. He put up a plastic sign in his window that said "Jumbo Slice" to show he was the first.
In March 2003, a Pizza Boli's restaurant opened near Pizza Mart. It was owned by John Nasir, who used to be Chishti's business partner. This new shop put up a neon sign that said "Original Jumbo Slice." The manager, Kerry Guneri, said his slices were "original" like pizza made in Italy for thousands of years. Chishti quickly put up a very similar sign the same day. His sign said "Real Original Jumbo Slice." Chishti said he was just responding to the competition. In August 2003, Chishti put up another sign saying "First Oldest Original Jumbo Slice."
Other pizza shops in Washington, D.C., also claim to sell the "jumbo slice." You can find them on U Street and near Catholic University of America in the Brookland neighborhood. As of 2016, some Adams Morgan places selling "jumbo slice" include Pizza Mart, Jumbo Slice Pizza, Duccini's Pizza, and Bestolli Pizza. Bestolli Pizza used to be Pizza Boli's, but its sign still says "Original Jumbo Slice."
The term "jumbo slice" is also used by pizza places outside of Washington and New York. For example, Virginia Slice in Pittsburgh was inspired by the famous Adams Morgan jumbo slices.
Jumbo Slices in the Media
The jumbo slice is known as an important part of Washington, D.C., food culture. It has been mentioned in books. The competing pizza shops were even shown on the Travel Channel's Food Wars. Pizza Mart was chosen as the winner, with Top Chef's Carla Hall making the final decision. Local news has also covered the jumbo slice. They sometimes try different slices to compare them. In 2012, The Washington Post disagreed with a list from The Daily Meal that called Jumbo Slice Pizza the 12th best pizza in America.
