“‘JUST LIKE IN NEW YORK’ was all we had to hear to gallop across town and look for THE NY PIZZERIA (3354-D Chamblee Tucker RD., 770-457-4466) halfway between Chamblee and Tucker… THE NEW YORK PIZZERIA bakes a fine pizza in the plain style we associate with New York City. The no-frills cheese pizza passes with flying colors. The white pizza is even better. Both have a self-supporting, tender, well-risen crust. The thin layer of sauce and real cheese is pretty typical of the Big apple, where a slice of pizza is something you wold down in a hurry rather than fancy-schmancy gourmet productabout which you rhapsodize. We also tried a colossal slice of stuffed pizza oozing slices of pepperoni, Italian sausage, and little lumps of salty ground beef. THE NEW YORK PIZZERIA bakes pizza rolls, Stromboli and calzone. There are (also) some past specialties, including two pans of lasagna (plain & spinach) behind the counter.”

The true New York-style plain cheese slice is thin and flexible enough to be folded as small as the Times Metro sections for subway reading – and is as hard to find as an egg cream in a barbecue joint. It’s also satisfying enough on its own to be the perfect lunch.

The Pizzeria, in Chamblee, delivers the goods are reliable as Con Ed.

We were disappointed that, at 7 p.m. on a Friday, the Pizzeria was out of two popular varieties of slices we wanted to try: the tomato-less white pizza with broccoli or spanich, and the “stuffed slice”, with sausage, ground beef, and pepperoni.

But we immediately approved of the cheese slice, which was good enough to saunter down Broadway with. A slice of “the supreme,” laden with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and peppers, was terrific. We also heartily recommend the spinach calzone, filled with mozzarella and cramy spinach. Terri Gutwillig (the mom of this mom-and-pop shop) said her perfectionist husband learned his trade growing up in Cranford, N.J., and working in New York pizzerias.

“He makes his own dough and hand-grinds the tomatoes,” she said. Other menu items – iceberg salad, spaghetti and meatballs, the usual cola suspects – are just that. The place is too brightly lit, with ridged booths and formica tabletops. (All of which attracts a devoted family clientele.)

But the pizza, pallie, the pizza – it can change all kinds of preset notions. We recommend a steady diet of slices for John Rocker.

Verdict: Real New York-style slice, pies, calzones.”