ST. PETE’S DANCING MARLIN Bar & Grill SINCE 1994 EAT AT PETE’S A DALLAS LANDMARK! WISE UP, WE’RE OPEN FOR DINE IN, to-go & CurbSIDE! City of Ate from p13 ▼ PIZZA TAVERN-STYLE PIZZA I stpetesdancingmarlin.com Deep Ellum • 2730 Commerce 214-698-1511 CHICAGO’S FORGOTTEN SLICE AND WHERE TO GET IT IN NORTH TEXAS. BY HANK VAUGHN f asked what food Chicago is best known for, most people would likely answer deep-dish pizza, which was made fa- mous by Chicago institutions such as Gior- dano’s, Gino’s East and Malnati’s. These cheesy, gooey wheels have become synony- mous with Chicago, for better or worse, and can be found in most metropolitan areas now. This has become “Chicago-style pizza,” and it differs greatly from New York- style pizza, giving us a strong two-party sys- tem that would seem to appeal to everybody. But it’s not always been that way. For many Chicagoans, true Chicago-style Contemporary Indian Food WE’RE OPEN FOR DINE IN, TO-GO, CURBSIDE AND DELIVERY! pizza is not that thick slab that resembles a manhole cover (not just in appearance but also weight), but rather the super-thin pizza cut into squares (as God intended pizza to be served), often referred to as tavern-style pizza. While this style of pizza may have gone the way of the Whig party for tourists, it still remains the quintessential Chicago pizza for many current and former Chicagoans. Tavern-style pizza became popular in Chi- cago at the end of Prohibition when local bars started serving pizza that could be easily served on and held with a napkin. Instead of eight slices per pie, a round pizza cut in 2-inch squares can yield two dozen or more pieces. It takes minutes to prepare and bake, unlike deep dish that takes 45 minutes. Deep dish’s supplanting of thin crust in 12817 Preston Road, Suite 105 972-392-0190 indiapalacedallas.com INTRODUCE YOUR DALLAS FORK the popular psyche of the nation makes it a challenge for Chicago ex-pats living scat- tered about the country in search of a good tavern-style pizza. How does DFW fare in providing options to sate their Chicago thin- crust pizza cravings? Let’s look at three Dal- las-area restaurants that purport to serve this forgotten style of Chicago pizza. DL Mack’s 6501 Hillcrest Ave. Nestled in the Park Cities neighborhood, this new restaurant calls itself a tavern and serves what it calls “Chicago-style cracker crust” pizza. The tavern moniker is a bit of a misnomer, as this is pretty upscale for a tav- ern. In fact, when we went to try this place out, we discovered that reservations were pretty much required. The pizza comes in only one size, 16 TO THE TASTE OF NEW YORK! NY DELICATESSEN RESTAURANT & BAKERY 14 5 DFW LOCATIONS • CINDISNYDELI.COM 14 inches, and is a bit pricey at $18 for just the basic cheese pizza. We always get an Italian sausage and onion pizza, and this added an additional $5, but this pizza was extremely good. The sausage was in nice chunks as op- posed to the less-desirable loose ground va- riety, the onions were purple and sliced, and the sauce was well-seasoned. The crust was thin, though it could have been a tad thinner. All in all, it was a very satisfying pizza and definitely ticked all the boxes. A Taste of Chicago 14833 Midway Road (Addison) The pizza here was significantly cheaper, and you get what you pay for. It took a long time to arrive at our table and looked unap- pealing. It’s never a good idea for your eyes to make a verdict before your tongue gets in- volved. The crust was soggy, the sauce bland, the onions were not red and were diced, but at least the sausage was in chunks. My wife summed it up pretty well when she referred to this as “roller rink pizza.” To be clear, one doesn’t want to eat roller rink pizza unless you’re 8 and at a birthday party and have no choice but to try to get that down between the limbo contest and the third playing of “YMCA.” Needless to say, we’re not 8 years old. Chicago’s Original Pizza 1206 E. Main St., Suite #111 (Allen) This was a bit of a drive, in rush-hour traffic, no less, but it was worth it. Any place that has the gumption to name its establishment “Chicago’s Original Pizza” better live up to that lofty claim, and this place does. The owner is Tom Lease, a transplant from the ‘burbs of Chicago. This is really a takeout- only place, as the only seating is a single pic- nic table outside, so there was ample time to chat with Lease as we waited for our order. Evidently, he gets a decent amount of Chi- cago ex-pats trying to relive their Chicago grub days (the menu also includes such Chi- cago stalwarts as Italian beef sandwiches, Polish sausages and hot dogs). Lease related a tradition that I had never heard of, in which the delivery driver got to eat one of the round corner slices as a re- ward for his driving efforts. Apocryphal? Let’s hope so. In any event, this pizza was extremely good, even if we had to eat it while sitting outside in 40-degree weather. It was the right thinness, the sauce was tasty, the cheese perfect and the sausage perfectly chunked. They don’t offer red onion, only white, but at least that wasn’t diced. After eating one of the round corner slices as a re- ward for the long drive to Allen, we boxed up the rest and looked forward to a nice breakfast during our morning commute. In summary, Chicago’s Original was the best, followed closely by DL Mack’s. While A Taste of Chicago probably offers a fine deep dish, one should look elsewhere when jonesing for thin crust. DL Mack’s is more expensive but closer. Chicago’s Origi- nal is more affordable, but a bit of a drive. You can’t go wrong with either one, how- ever, and they should definitely be tried by D.L. Mack’s is bringing Chicago vibes to Dallas. Hank Vaughn any ex-pat Chicagoan who longs for those square pieces of goodness of their youth. ▼ EAT THIS DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE T WE FOUND RATHER AMAZING FRIED CHEESE STICKS IN OLD EAST DALLAS. BY DOYLE RADER here’s something comforting about fried mozzarella cheese. Aside from the delectable gooey interior and crispy, golden-brown coating, fried mozza- rella sticks — the good ones at least — also carry a sense of nostalgia. When I was growing up, the local Italian restaurant in my neighborhood served mas- sive, hand-breaded fried mozzarella sticks. I still remember them fondly. Sadly, that at- tention to detail and quality is hard to find in Dallas these days. So much of the city’s cheese sticks come frozen in a bag before hitting the fryer, but at least one local spot is crafting fried cheese with care: The Rabbit Hole Bar and Grill on Ross Avenue. Their approach to the American classic stands out. Almost everywhere it’s found on a menu, the dish is disturbingly uniform, the sad result of the homogenization of food through wholesale corporate suppliers. At Rabbit Hole, you’ll receive three monstrous panko-crusted sticks, fried to a perfect golden brown and dusted with Parmesan cheese. Inside, the cheese fills every crevice; no bites of just hollow breading. Split a whole stick in half and the cheese-pull is food porn primed for so- cial media. Each serving comes with a side of mari- nara and ranch. Bring a friend along to share with; one and a half sticks are more than enough for one person. At $8, it won’t set you back much. Try the habanero cheese sticks for a dollar more. Rabbit Hole is making cheese sticks bet- ter than they have any business doing. Stum- bling across it was such a gratifying moment. If you’re heading into or out of downtown Dallas by way of Old East Dallas, popping in for fried mozzarella is well worth the stop. The Rabbit Hole Bar and Grill, 3826 Ross Ave. (Old East Dallas). Open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday - Sunday. FEBRUARY 3–9, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | CULTURE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS dallasobserver.com MONTH XX–MONTH XX, 2014 DALLAS OBSERVER | CLASSIFIED | MUSIC | DISH | MOVIES | CULTURE | NIGHT+DAY | FEATURE | SCHUTZE | UNFAIR PARK | CONTENTS | dallasobserver.com
