Mikey’s Late Night Slice, famous in Columbus’s Short North neighborhood known for great pizza is also nationally famous for not tolerating mean people in their pizza lines (see here). It has become a local landmark even though there’s not much to it.
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The red brick building on the left is another restaurant. Mikey’s Late Night Slice is the little wooden shack and the cheap chairs on a parking lot that was created by a historic building demolition back in times unknown.
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Mikey’s is like a real restaurant in a kind of “developing world” way, and you can’t help but smile when you see it.
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I mean, Mikey’s staff actually makes pizza in this shack. You wonder why they couldn’t afford a real building. Then you think, “I want a slice… I gotta have a slice… NOW!”
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Here’s the Mikey’s Late Night Slice “dining room.” It’s pavement and chairs from (I’d guess) Big Lots.
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Mikey’s Late Night Slice is basically a little “outhouse” building.
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Mikey’s Late Night Slice relies on the neighboring brick buildings to provide a certain Rustbelt ambiance that is irresistible to most folks who are jonesing for a slice of pizza in the middle of the night. The use of the little white Christmas lights helps make the scene festive. (Just not too festive.)
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The materials for the “shack” seem to be the original wood that has been painted over numerous times over its life without scraping first. And that’s, well, just fine.
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As you enjoy your Mikey’s Late Night Slice, just remember not to snivel whatever else you do!
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But when nighttime comes, especially LATE NIGHT– the real vision and beauty reveals itself at Mikey’s Late Night Slice.
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At Mikey’s, you can munch on your slice as you watch a movie on the wall of the opposite building of the dining room parking lot.
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Cartoons are always popular at Mikey’s these days. And that’s just fine, too!
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Even though there’s not much to Mikey’s Late Night Slice, it’s a simple-yet-amazing experience. I’m taking a photo of someone taking a photo of someone else. When people feel compelled to take pictures, something good is happening.
I love this place.
Uniqueness scale: 1 (weak) to 5 (strong)
UNCOPYABLE/100% ORIGINAL? SCORE: 2 (It’s hard to say if Mikey’s is easily copyable or not. Virtually any business owner could buy plastic chairs, pop up a shack on a parking lot, and show movies on brick walls. Another state besides Ohio and another local skyline could be posted on a brick wall. People love Mikey’s and I do too, but I’d say that kind of eatery would be possible to pop up in other Columbus neighborhoods or in any city virtually anywhere in almost the same format.)
LOCAL? SCORE: 3 (Ohio is there, and the Columbus skyline is prominent. Mikey’s very much Columbus simple yet fabulous. But I would recommend that if you are thinking about doing something like this, try to make it even more geographically rare, somehow.)
Mikey’s Pinterest Board:
http://pinterest.com/kyleezell/mikeys-late-night-slice/
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Feel free to use these or any photos on my blog, especially in presentations at planning commissions and other decision-making meetings! Help your community know what’s out there, what not to copy, and to figure out extra steps that can make it 100% original!
Be a Guest Blogger! My dream is for this site to become the place where planners, designers, entrepreneurs, and citizens look for inspiration. So if you know an amazing “something” where you are or where you’re traveling, consider sharing special business facades, amazing infrastructure (streets, lamp posts, etc.), remarkable parks, sweet houses (that add to the public realm), cool chain stores that celebrate the local experience, neat signs, special materials, and anything else that is built on the ground. Then be my guest as a featured blogger and help contribute to a growing database of ideas that shouldn’t be copied! Send at least 10 photos taken with love along with a short description of each to: Kyle@designinglocal.com Content must be edited and approved, and by sending the information, you are agreeing to transfer your photos and copy into the public realm. (Like all my blog photos and copy are!) Thanks for your help and I look forward to hearing from you!