Upper West Side Pizza Champion Sal and Carmine's Mysteriously Closes

Sal and Carmine's — the Upper West Side pizzeria that serves one of New York's essential slices — is currently closed. Calls to the shop go unanswered and the Seamless page is down. The restaurant's homepage explains that it's not open for delivery/pick up right now, but there's no note about a vacation, break, or return date. A tipster writes in: "It closed for what looked like it's normal week in the summer. Then had a sign up saying 'going to a wedding will reopen on Sunday.' It never has. That sign is gone now and it looks closed for good."

According to Serious Eats, the original version of the pizzeria opened in the neighborhood in 1959. After co-owner/pizzaiolo Sal Malanga died in 2009, Ed Levine wrote: "Sal's slightly bready crust was crisp on the outside and tender on the inside. Therein lies the magic about Sal and Carmine's crust: It never gets hard, no matter how long it's been out of the oven." Here's a video about Sal's grandson, Lou, who kept running the shop after his passing:

The restaurant was seized by the state due to non-payment of taxes last year, but it quickly reopened.

Stay tuned for more updates on the fate of Sal and Carmine's as they become available. And if you have any information about a restaurant that's opening or closing in your neighborhood, please send your tips and photos to the Eater tipline — it's open 24/7.

UPDATE: It's slated to reopen tomorrow!