A slice shop from Miami's Bayside Marketplace has opened at The Gardens Mall. Ben's Pizza is now open in the mall's Garden Cafes, selling New York style pizza by the slice to shoppers on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens.

A family slice shop, not a chain

Ben's started in March 2022 at Bayside Marketplace, the waterfront mall on Biscayne Boulevard in downtown Miami. According to the restaurant's own history, it was founded by a father and son, Eduardo and Erick Passo. Erick grew up around his parents' earlier pizzeria, and when the two opened their own place they named it after his first son, Ben.

The locations page on its website lists two counters at Bayside Marketplace on Biscayne Boulevard. For Palm Beach Gardens shoppers, the new store means the slices are now a short walk from the department stores instead of a drive to downtown Miami.

Slices only, and the menu is short

The format is the point. Ben's sells pizza by the slice and nothing else in the pizza department, which means no waiting 20 minutes for a whole pie while you are halfway through a shopping trip. The style is New York, and the family describes the flavor as New York with an Italian accent.

The menu is small enough to read in one glance. Ben's Classic Cheese is mozzarella over San Marzano tomato sauce. The Fresh Mutz adds extra virgin olive oil and fresh basil. The pepperoni slice is topped with charred pepperoni cups, and the Meat Lovers piles crumbled Italian sausage and bacon bits on top of those cups. There are mushroom and Hawaiian slices for the less adventurous.

The slice worth trying first is the Hot Stracciatella: charred pepperoni cups with creamy stracciatella cheese, finished with a drizzle of hot honey. It is the slice that best shows what Ben's is going for: a familiar base with one ingredient you would not find at a mall food court.

The Miami menu also carries baguette and ciabatta sandwiches with names like Tribeca Effect and Brooklyn's Finest, built on fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and stracciatella, and a Nutella calzone for dessert. Check the counter for what has made the trip north.

Where to find it in the mall

The Gardens Mall, at 3101 PGA Boulevard, has more than 150 stores and restaurants spread across two levels, so the location matters. Ben's is in The Garden Cafes, near Chop and Toss and Juice N' Greens. The mall directs shoppers to park in The Garden Cafes lot for the shortest walk.

Hours are Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m., which lines up with the mall's own schedule. The phone number posted by the mall, (786) 557-6126, is a Miami number, a small reminder of where the business comes from. The Gardens Mall hours are shorter than the original counter's: Ben's at Bayside is listed as open until 10 p.m. every night, so the Palm Beach Gardens store is a lunch and early dinner stop rather than a late night one.

If you are making a longer trip of it, the mall runs a complimentary circuit shuttle between its stores and restaurants, which helps on a crowded weekend when The Garden Cafes lot is full and you have parked on the far side of the property. The concierge desk also hands out personal strollers, to use or take home, for a $25 donation that benefits Quantum House.

Why a slice counter matters at this mall

The Gardens Mall is the shopping center most north county residents carry in their heads, the place for holiday shopping, back to school runs and a parking lot that fills up every December. A family-run slice shop with a real point of view is a different kind of option there, and it fits how people actually use the mall, grabbing something fast between stores or meeting a teenager after school.

It also says something about who is betting on Palm Beach Gardens. Ben's is not a national brand with a real estate team. It is a Miami family business testing whether its slices can win over a suburban crowd two counties away, and choosing the county's best known mall to do it.

For residents, the test is easy and cheap. Next time you are at the mall, skip the long lunch, walk to The Garden Cafes, and order a pepperoni cup slice and a Hot Stracciatella side by side. If the crust holds its fold, the Passo family has found its second home.