At Sam’s Famous Pizza, open since 1962 in East Harlem, someone who’s probably been working here since they were a teenager takes your pizza order with the least amount of words possible, and then passes you a big, glistening slice with a look that says both, “thank you” and “don’t dawdle” all at the same time. The crust leans pale and the molten cheese slides into the center when it’s folded, but when you stumble out of the 116th Street 6 train with a sub-$4 slice type of tunnel vision, a perfectly golden crust doesn’t seem that important. Sam’s is cash-only, but we’ve seen a couple arrive mistakenly cashless, and leave with a pie and a promise to return the next day to settle up. It’s the neighborhood’s slice shop, after all.