Couple's growing NYC pizzeria chain grabs success by the oxtail

NEW YORK -- You may have heard of Cuts & Slices, owned by husband-and-wife team Randy and Ashlee McLaren, and the long lines that wrapped around the pizzeria when the couple first opened up shop in Bedford-Stuyvesant in February 2018.

In 2024, the couple expanded from their small little shop in Brooklyn into their second location in St. Albans, Queens. Now the couple has opened their third location on Houston Street on the Lower East Side.

"I came to Ashlee with the idea and I was like, 'Should we open a pizzeria?' And she was like, what do we have to lose," Randy said.

In a city filled with pizzerias, Ashlee told her husband that there had to be something that stood out about Cuts & Slices.

"Usually you would see an Italian cooking and making pizza. That is who usually makes the pizza in New York City. So I was like, what are you going to do that's different," she said.

Randy says the trick to making their brand unique was coming up with a menu of things that they love to eat and toppings they love to put on their pizza.

The pizzeria ultimately went viral for their oxtail pizza, in which some people waited three hours to try.

"It was great to feel that our food is serving a community and that people are willing to wait for it and love it, and it didn't stop," Ashlee said.

With one eight-pie oven, the couple says they were getting a lot of great feedback from the thousands of people that lined up to have a bite of their food. At one point, they say Cuts & Slices was consistently selling out.

"They really didn't know what we were doing in that kitchen, we were creating magic," Ashlee added.

Some customers at their Brooklyn location who were vegan ended up eating their oxtail pizza, according to Randy.

With all their success, some people may assume that there's still a long wait to grab a slice at their shop. The couple, however, says that is not the case, and that at most it might be a five-minute wait and encourages people to stop by.

Among the couple's favorite slices include their sweet chili chicken pizza, curry oxtail pizza and two types of shrimp and lobster alfredo pizzas.

Some of Randy's go-to menu items are the jerk chicken black truffle alfredo pizza and the fried salmon black truffle alfredo pizza.

"So we get truffles imported. Every pizza is topped fresh truffle, fresh parmesan. The black truffle alfredo sauce is made with fresh truffle. It's just so decadent, it's amazing," he said.

There's even a $20 slice of pizza that people can order from the menu.

"If people come here ordering cheese, I'll just give them, I'm like pick another slice out of the window that you just want to try," Randy said.

In the end, Randy hopes customers visiting Cuts & Slices try something new beyond the typical regular pizza slice.

"I think we've all been brainwashed to think that only cheese and sauce belong on pizza. That's all we've known," he said. "But if you step out of the box for a second and try something new, I guarantee you will not be disappointed."