The new Astoria eatery offers whole pizzas and individual slices.

The Pizza Spot brings a taste of the East Coast to The Lot at 10th and Duane Streets. The new eatery serves a small menu of slices, whole make-your-own and specialty pies and calzones, complementing the offering with salads, soft drinks and cupcakes.

Owner Chris Livasy has dreamed of a pizza-by-the-slice show in Astoria for a while. With a background in journalism (he was a stringer for the Los Angeles Times in a previous life), Livasy has been working in the hospitality industry for two decades.

Livasy was a longtime sous chef at McMenamins Gearhart Hotel and Pelican Brewing Co. “It was time to move on to a next step in life,” he said. The Pizza Spot opened in July.

“You’re going to work for somebody all of your life and then retire or you’re going to take a chance and stick your neck out there,” Livasy said. “I’m the adventurous type, I just saw an opportunity to work for myself. I was looking for a place to put a pizza parlor in Astoria and I was fortunate when this opened up.”

The community showed up, too. “I had help from a lot of people,” Livasy said. “A lot of people, some that I worked with, some Facebook friends, whom I hadn’t seen in a year or two came.” He added that he is thankful for the support.

Livasy also made personal sacrifices, managing to retain good humor about it. “I had to sell my vintage Porsche 914 to finance this place — a huge, huge step for a middle-aged white man.”

Livasy’s pies are East Coast-style with a thin, crispy crust. For toppings, he sources local ingredients.

As far as Thomas Fink is concerned, Livasy’s pizza is “the only pizza in town.” Not only is the pizza delicious, it brings back memories. A Pittsburgh transplant, Fink claims it’s the closest thing to East Coast boardwalk-style pizza he could find in his three years in Astoria. “I tried everybody. I’m here three times a week.”

The building was once a gas station, said Livasy, then an office building, coffee shop and art studio. “People come in and say, ‘I used to work in this building in the ’80s,’” he said.

Pizza has also created a good balance with other food options available in The Lot, one of a handful of Astoria food cart pods. “Everybody does he here does really good work,” Livasy said.

The Pizza Spot

The Lot, 395 11th St., Astoria

Open daily from Noon to 10 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays, 5 to 10 p.m. Tuesdays

@thelot_astoria