New York Style Pizza in Dallas

  I’m preparing for an upcoming trip to Dallas, so I did a little research and found some decent-soundin New York Style pizza places.  I’ve decided to go ahead and expand my directory to include places I haven’t been to.  I will do my best to rank the places if I have enough information, and possibly link to other people’s reviews. 

   Anyway, my Review Page now includes a number of places in Dallas, gleaned carefully from a good bit of research on the Web. 

Finding Frankie’s Fun Park

I had someone tell me that Frankie’s has great New York Style pizza. I’ve eaten it before but I don’t remember it being anything special. It’s a kiddie park with go-carts, games, & lots of noise. But now I’m starting to doubt if we’ll make it tonight. But what is very cool is that I’m posting to the blog from my Pocket PC phone, sitting at the Olive Garden waiting for a seat. The plan is to have bread & salad & still have room for a slice of Frankie’s. We shall see!

Qualifier - Run by Italians (10%)

   This might be the most controversial of my qualifiers for good New York Style pizza, but I’m going out on a limb here to express what I really believe.  I understand that you don’t really need to be Italian to make a good pie, but I feel a lot better buying a slice from Mr. Antonino or Mr. LaBella than I do buying from Mr. Jackson or Jones. 

   I have heard that Italians put more love into their food creations– that could be what’s going on here, not sure, but honestly– who do you expect better pizza from?  Andolini’s Pizza, or Bob’s or Buddy’s Pizza?  I’ll take the Italians any time. 

Qualifier - Sicilian Pizza - 10%

   A good Sicilian pie can be hard to find, but when you do find it, it’s usually because you’ve found an authentic New York Style Pizzeria.  Generally, a Sicilian pizza is about 18″ x 18″, square, and cut into nine or sixteen square slices.  When I walk into a pizza place that has both traditional thin slice (Neopolitan) and also Sicilian, I know there’s a good chance of getting a good slice. 

Review - Amici’s

  I was just in San Francisco in September ‘05.  I can’t believe I didn’t find Amici’s East Coast Pizzeria while I was there.  I just came upon their Web site and it looks yummy.  http://www.amicis.com  I even went to a Giant’s game.  I must have walked right past the place.  I’m sure I would have loved some pizza.  Very frustrating…  I need someone to go there and scope it out and give me a ranking number based on the criteria found at http://pizza.wordpress.com/2006/01/22/what-qualifies-as-new-york-style-pizza/   Based on what I can find on the web, it looks like this place would grade out as an (80). 

Qualifier - Traditional Pizza Ovens (10%)

  A traditional pizza oven is one where you can put several pizzas in at a time, and a human is required to check on the pizza and remove it when it’s done.  The pizza sits on a deck with no pans underneath it. 

  The reason this is important is that, nowadays, people cook pizza in other ways.  Some cook theirs on a conveyer belt even.  Wacky…

Review - LaBella Pizzeria (100)

308 South A1A
Flagler Beach, Florida
(386) 439-5418

 

Okay, so the family is driving to Florida, south on I-95, and I decide we should take a little detour to go take a walk by the ocean, maybe dip our toes in the water.  So I look at the map and see that the point where I-95 is closest to the ocean is a place called Flagler Beach.  So I exit for Flagler Beach and 5 minutes later I’m at the beach.

And what do I find directly across from the beach?  The most incredible, genuine, New York Style pizza place you’d ever want to see– LaBella Pizzeria.  Incredible pizza, great atmosphere, meets all criteria for a perfect score.  You can read more about LaBella at http://www.labellapizzeria.com. 

Qualifier - Large Slices (10%)

A large pizza (18+”) should be sliced into 8 slices max.  What’s up with these places that cut their pizzas into 10 or 12 slices, or maybe even more? 

A medium pie should be sliced into 6 slices max.

I really can’t figure out why this is so important, but I really belive the pizza tastes better when it’s cut into big slices.  When I try to think rationally about this, I know that the proportions are the same no matter how many slices, but still, when you have big slices, it seems to be cheesier or something.  I don’t know why this is important, but I know this is important.

Why I Need Your Help

  Have you ever been in a distant land and had a craving for some GOOD pizza ?  I’m not talking about pizza from a chain restaurant or some kind of exotic pizza.  I’m talking about real New York Style Pizza.

  My hope is to provide a nation-wide directory of these places so that folks like you and I can rest easy when going to a distant town or city. 

   I don’t know about you, but I’ve planned vacations around visiting a good pizza place.  Does that make me crazy?  Am I alone?  Please help, by responding to this post, and letting me know of good pizza places that you know about.   

Qualifier - Pizza By The Slice Availability (10%)

   Pretty much this disqualifies all chain pizza places except maybe Sbarro which is found in a lot of malls and airports.  I grew up in New Jersey, where I could always grab a slice between meals, late at night, whatever.  I went to college in South Carolina and I’ll never forget my first night there, I was at orientation or something.  I walked down to the closest pizza place to get a slice. 

   It was 1981, and the place was called Domino’s, and I had never heard of it before.  Little did I know it was a successful national chain.  I went inside and asked for three slices.  The person behind the counter said they didn’t sell slices.  I was knocked for a loop.  OK, I’ll have a small pie, I said.  The response?  We don’t sell pie, only pizza.  That’s when I realized I wasn’t in Jersey anymore…

So…I contend that one of the key factors in identifying a good New York Style Pizza place is the availability of Pizza By the Slice.