Why This Guy Is Meticulously Rating Every $1 Pizza Slice in NYC

— -- In what may be New York City’s most important project ever, one man is documenting every $1 pizza slice available in all five boroughs.

Francisco Balagtas, 30, started the project on a bet with a co-worker.

“I might have made claims to one of my friends like, ‘Oh I could probably eat this all the time,’ and he came firing back at me and said, ‘I don’t think you can,’” Balagtas told ABC News. “So we bet $100.”

So started Balagtas’ quest, which he documents on Instagram, to eat all the slices, of which he estimates there are approximately 200 to 250 in the entire city.

“A lot of them aren’t documented on any kind of food directory, so I have stumbled on places by sheer accident that I haven’t found geotagged or on Google or Yelp,” he said. “That pushed me to the format of how I have it set up right now with distinct photo and geotag locations, because if you go on the actual account and use the photo map, it looks cool with the locations scattered over just Manhattan so far.”

Balagtas applies the same fastidiousness to his ratings, where he uses a 1-to-5 system for crust, sauce and cheese.

“There has to be enough cheese that the slice is perfectly covered,” Balagtas explained of his high pizza expectations."You should taste sauce from the first bite all the way to the end, so no dry spots. And [it needs] a crust that’s crispy enough that when you do fold it -- and it’s not a New York slice if you can’t fold it -- that it’s crisp a little but still doughy enough that it’s not crunchy when you get to the end. But it should also be thick enough to support the weight of the cheese and the perfect amount of sauce. And you need flavor; you have to season it."

So far three slices -- Two Brothers in Chelsea, Port Authority Food Court, and Roll and Go -- have received a 4-4-4 rating, but none have been deemed good enough to grab an elusive 5.

“Obviously, I have a dream about this perfect slice, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist,” Balagtas said. “It’s definitely out there, and a few places have come close.”

Balagtas still has a long way to go on his journey, which he estimates will take two years. He’s even printed up business cards for the project.

“I’m not obligated to do it but I really want to do it, because a lot of people are taking interest in it and I’m providing a service,” he said. “I don’t think I’m ever going to be bummed to eat pizza. I’m starting to love it and love the idea of eating pizza and kind of exploring how many different ways you can serve one slice of cheese pizza. It seems crazy that every place can do it differently, but they do because every review has been different.”