Week 29: Carmine's Pizzeria

This week’s pizza adventure was a solo mission to check out Carmine’s Pizzeria.  The family was left behind in California on their summer vacation while I was left responsible for carrying the pizza torch over the next two weeks.  

Carmine’s Pizzeria in Lewisville is one of multiple locations in the Dallas area, and  according to their menu voted “Best Pizza in Dallas” by D Magazine.  After shuffling through our pizza coupon drawer, I grabbed the 14” for $10.99 coupon we got in the mail and headed out.  The location is in a strip center along FM 1171 cleverly marked by a “Carmine’s Pizzeria” van outside in the parking lot.  The restaurant is BYOB with enough tables and chairs to seat about 30 people, while they also offer delivery to the surrounding cities.  There was enough room inside if you wanted to bring the entire family along!

The Monday night business was pretty slow and I was able to place my order at the counter right away.  The kid taking orders was helpful and even allowed me to chose 2 toppings for my 1 topping coupon!  I was told the pizza would be out in approximately 10 minutes, so I grabbed a seat and cracked open my cold beverage that I brought from home.  As promised my 14” pizza arrived hot out of the oven in just about 10 minutes, at which point I began to analyze the goods...

The pizza was roughly the size of a Domino’s Pizza large, and about twice the price.  Rated “Best Pizza in Dallas,” I was optimistic that taste would exceed the value.  At first sight the pizza appeared greasy on top, enough to require a small amount of paper towel “dabbing.”  After the small pools of grease were eliminated from my slice, I started in on the Pepperoni half.  It was tasty but not excellent.  The temperature right out of the oven was too hot to really enjoy the flavor.  The sauce had a slight sweetness to it which I enjoyed.  Overall the Pepperoni slice was above average, but not by much.  The Italian Sausage half yielded similar results and rated slightly higher than the Pepperoni.  By this point I wasn’t overwhelmed by Carmine’s pizza efforts.  The one part of the pizza that was memorable, and possibly worth a return visit was the crust.  It had a unique texture to it, and almost had a “flaking” quality to it (Think Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough).  Next time I will be a little more adventurous with the toppings and possibly try one of their 10 “Designer Pizzas” listed on the menu. 

The Final Report: 6.0 out of 10

If you are looking for a step above the standard franchise carry-out, check out Carmine’s Pizzeria.  The $10.99 price tag was a little steep for a basic one-topping pizza, but for a couple extra bucks the “Designer Pizzas” looked promising.  I wouldn’t call it “Best Pizza in Dallas,” but its worth a try if your tired of the same old delivery pizza you’ve been suffering with for years.