In celebration of National Pizza Day (Sunday) we have assembled a list of our favorite pizzas around town. We suggest you start now and by midnight you might be able to finish up a slice from each.
Here is a list of a few of our favorites in no particular order. Peruse our list and offer your favorites.
Dough Pizzeria: Located in North Dallas at Preston and Forest, Dough is an outpost of the original location in San Antonio. These guys take their pizza very seriously and you will love their housemade fresh toppings. There is plenty more besides pizza to be found at Dough, including their baratta they make each morning and adron with greens and dressings. Unbelievable.
Zalat: From the owners of Dalat, the quirky but cool late night Vietnamese haunt on Fitzhugh Avenue, Zalat makes one terrific pizza pie. With two locations open until 4am and a third spot on its way, Zalat has this unusual but delicious mind meld of a New York slice and the Neapolitan pie. Fun flavors to entice those in need very late at night (try the Zalotes), but also some refined choices that are flavor savoring. We particularly enjoy the Crave with pepperoni, salami and black pepper. Order via text messaging, or use the old fashioned method of a phone call. The new downtown Plano location has seating and a full bar.
Greenville Avenue Pizza Company: Located on, well, Greenville Avenue (with another location in East Dallas being built at this writing and opening in April) GAPC is known for their delicious hand-tossed pies with incredible ingredients and delivery all day from 11am to 3am. You can order a pizza any way you wish, including a variety of slices with their own unique toppings. Wild, eh? We also get a kick out of their wings which are made from scratch, never frozen, with their own sauces – delivered. We are lazy like that.
Coal Vines: The restaurant started up in 2006 by the owners of Nick & Sam’s, Joseph Palladino and Phil Romano. Coal Vines serves up a happy pie with plenty of fresh chef-driven toppings baked in a coal oven. The taste is reminiscent of pizza you might find in Brooklyn with a crisp thin crust and a flavorful sauce. There is a nice selection of pizzas on the menu, but we always seem to run to the off-menu house-made meatball.
Nonna: Also opening in 2006, this Julian Barsotti restaurant is a fine example of a rustic Italian restaurant that also happens to serve a few pizzas. Although Barsotti studied authentic Neapolitan, this pie hardly qualifies under VSN standards. The full-flavored rich and creamy white clam pizza is undoubtedly one of the best finds in Dallas.
Louie’s: Long time Henderson dive that was featured on Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives with the spastic Guy Fieri, the restaurant has fallen in and out and back in favor with us. We appreciate the no nonsense attitude of the staff, which often times can waver into the down right evil and ornery zone, but perhaps this is the charm we should enjoy. The pizza is a straight forward extra crisp and very thin crust style with a spicy sauce and heaps of toppings including sausage made at Jimmy’s Food Store just a few blocks south across Ross. Sadly, Louie passed away a few years back but the tradition lives on.
Serious Pizza: A throw-back to a New York neighborhood pizzeria, this very thin and very large pizza is smattered with good ingredients and a hefty amount of sauce. Serious wins a prize in a few pizza categories including best last night pizza, and the largest. You may buy a single slice for about three bucks at 3am at this fairly new Deep Ellum dive.
Bryan Street Tavern: Another great Dallas bar pizza. The pies here are large, cheap and hit the spot late night while out on a drinking tear. This doesn’t take away from the fact that the pizza is really, really good. The sauce is thick with a good amount of kick, and there is no holding back on the amount of toppings they scatter across the thin dough.
Eno’s Pizza: Located in Bishop Arts in Oak Cliff, this is a cozy spot for a great beer and wine selection, along with one of our pizza favorites. The dough is rolled out painstakingly thin and cut in a bajillion squares, because Eno knows you always share and play well with others.
Olivelli’s: Although they do a grand Neapolitan-style, they also make that super thin pizza that kicks some serious pizza butt. Made in a grand tradition,using a century old recipes. Olivelli’s is one of the few pizzerias anywhere that makes both Southern and Northern Italian pizza.
Pizzeria Testa: Located in the northern expanse called Frisco and on Greenville, this pizzeria is home to a guy who was named the best Pizzaiolo in the world. The pies are certified VPN quality of Neapolitan and you won’t find a better example of this style in Texas, to be sure.
Pie Tap Pizza Workshop: The newest to the pizza game in Dallas, Pie Tap has two locations, one on Henderson, the other in the Design District. Lots of pie making going on with seriously good pizza and also local beers on tap.