Pizza is an Italian staple that’s so old, it used to be a Roman staple. Since then, through both conquest and migration, it’s traveled far and wide. Cultures across the world and the country have embraced the humble flatbread with cheese and made it their own.
Dallas restaurants represent enough styles that you can embark on a world pizza tour without boarding a plane. Here are some local spots we recommend hitting up on your journey.
Folding a slice of Serious Pizza in half is necessary for that New Yawker experience. It's also necessary for fitting the thing in your mouth.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
New York
New York-style pizza is characterized by thin, hand-tossed crust and wide slices you can fold in half. Serious Pizza, a Deep Ellum institution that now has locations in Fort Worth and Grand Prairie, exemplifies this the best with its seriously massive pies (up to 30 in.) that make you look delightfully ridiculous while schlepping them down Elm Street to wherever you’re parked at 2 a.m.Another local spot that proudly boasts a New York influence is Zoli’s Pizza, in Addison and Fort Worth. They do put their own spin on the formula. Carmine's (2006 San Jacinto St., No. 100) has been delivering authentic New York-style pies as well as their own "designer pizzas" (which include teriyaki, quesadilla and goat cheese) since 1975.
New York Pizza & Pints has locations across the suburbs and focuses on high-quality crust and sauce over flashy toppings. Like the name implies, you can order a beer with your pizza and all slices are served with a pickle on the side.
Chicago
Chicago deep-dish pizza is considered the antithesis of the New York slice (or the other way around depending on which you prefer). Many think only of this style from the Windy City, but don't dismiss the thin cracker-like crust of tavern-style pizza, which might be the real pizza of Chicago. We've got a whole list of our favorite tavern-style spots in Dallas.Chicago Pizza & Pasta (3701 W. Northwest Highway, No. 309) serves Chicago-style deep dish pies with popular toppings such as meat lovers, supreme and Hawaiian. The website comes complete with nearly identical photos of their offerings. We’ll take their word for it that the toppings are under there somewhere.
California
Pizza on the West Coast is marked by thin crust and nontraditional toppings that veer into gourmet and experimental territories. This is thousands of miles away from your simple New York slice both literally and figuratively.LA Gourmet Pizza (2709 McKinney Ave.) will make you a plain cheese pizza if you order one, but it would be a waste to not explore their sprawling signature pizza and build-your-own menus. The chicken Florentine (topped with grilled chicken, Alfredo sauce, spinach, red onions, Gouda cheese and walnuts) and Casablanca pizzas (pesto sauce, roasted eggplant, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, red onions, capers and pine nuts) are just some of the extravagant offerings here.
St. Louis
St. Louis-style pizza is distinct for its cracker-like thin crust made without yeast and for Provel, a blend of cheddar, Swiss and provolone that’s gooier and smokier than the more common mozzarella.St Louis-style pizza can be polarizing, but it has its ardent defenders. Those who live in the Dallas area luckily have 5th St. Pizza (111 N. Central Expressway, No. 102, Allen), a suburban spot that has earned frequent comparisons to Imo’s, the St. Louis-based chain that revolutionized its city’s signature pie. That’s the highest praise fans of this pizza can give.
Bryan Street Tavern is a spot closer to home and has a pizza called The Lou with Provel cheese (this happens to be a great sports bar also).
Detroit-style pizza is a big, thick rectangle, much like the cars Detroit is also known for.
Courtesy of Thunderbird Pies
Detroit
Rounding out the holy trinity of vastly different Midwestern pies is Detroit-style, which consists of a thick, rectangular crust cut into squares. It was developed in the mid-1940s by returning World War II veterans using car parts as pans, making it intrinsically connected to Detroit’s automotive legacy.Thunderbird Pies (7328 Gaston Ave., No. 110) “showcases the heartiness of Detroit-style pizza, with its thick crust and caramelized edges,” according to a representative of the restaurant. It’s also one of our Top 100 Restaurants, Keith Lee complaints be damned.
The restaurant Motor City Pizza in Lewisville is also a looker. We heard they even have Bells on draft at the bar, for the real ones out there.
Jet's Pizza (6411 E. Northwest Highway, No. 175) also prides itself on authentic Detroit-style pizza but offers other styles as well in case your family or friend group can't agree. The same goes for Big D Pizza (718 N. Buckner Blvd., No. 222), which also serves salads and sandwiches.
Naples
Italy predictably has several regional variations of pizza, but the Neapolitan style is one of the most popular. That’s probably because Naples is considered the birthplace of modern pizza and the port from which it traveled to the rest of the world.Cane Rosso, a local chain that prides itself on authentic Neapolitan pizza, focuses on simplicity and quality ingredients: San Marzano tomatoes and house-made mozzarella.
Partenope Ristorante, which has locations in downtown Dallas and Richardson, has frequently been named one of the best pizzerias in the country. The Italian food and beverage journalists who made this decision cited its classic Neapolitan dough and high-quality ingredients as what puts it over the top.
400 Gradi (2000 Ross Ave., No. 140) includes Neapolitan pizza among its robust Italian offerings and boasts about the authentic "leopard-spotted" crust on its menu. In addition to the more standard "quattro formaggi" (four cheese) pizza, 400 Gradi offers an array of savory toppings such as hot salami, crispy bacon, spiced honey and caramelized onion, all of which come on the Vesuvio pizza.
Pizzana (3219 Knox St., No. 150) updates the simple Neapolitan style by fusing the traditional dough (which the chef, Daniele Uditi, ferments for two days) with bold toppings. The vodka pizza, for example, incorporates vodka sauce, smoked fior de latte, smoked coppa, parsley pesto and Calabrian chile.
Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza (with locations in Turtle Creek, Mansfield and Grapevine) puts its own twist on Neapolitan crust by pinching the edges and filling them with cheese.
Sicily
Another prominent Italian pizza, Sicilian-style is square-shaped and spongy. It looks similar to the Detroit style but is heavier on the sauce and lighter on the cheese.Pizza Leila (2111 Flora St., No. 120) serves authentic, delectable little squares in a variety of signature topping combinations. There are traditional offerings like Grandma’s Square (which consists simply of mozzarella, tomato sauce and basil) and modern twists incorporating flavors that extend far outside of Italy, including Texas brisket, roasted elote and kimchi.
