Week 49: Olivella's

Next time you are in University Park be sure to stop into Olivella’s.  While it is not easy to find, it is certainly one you wont want to miss. After 12 months of eating pizza all over Dallas, it was refreshing to step through the doors of this small yet quaint pizza hot spot.    We have finally made it down to some of our last stops of the 2011 pizza adventure, and Olivella’s was one we had been scoping out for almost a year.  Sure we visited their other location NEO back in week 32, but we had to check out the original.

The restaurant was pretty full for a Thursday night, which was validation that Olivella’s was a local favorite.  While it was not too busy, we were seated immediately at the table for two by the front window.  I think you might be able squeeze 30 people inside the place, but it would definitely be a tight fit.  Our server was quick and before we knew it we were sipping the house red wine while enjoying the “Insalata Di Olivella” (Mixed Greens, Pear, Walnut, and Gorgonzola).  The salad was fresh and terrific much like the one we enjoyed at NEO.  With about 20 different pizza’s to choose from it didn’t take long to select the Metro size (Feeds 2-3) of 1/2 Truffle and 1/2 Pulcino E Porco (aka- The Dream).  

It was certainly not an intentional decision, however as it turned we actually ordered almost the exact pizza during our visit to NEO back in August.  The Truffle pizza came lightly drizzled with truffle oil, and was covered with mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella (no sauce).  The crust was a work of art and the perfect combination of thin crispy edges with a slight chewy center.  The Dream turned out to be one of my favorite thin crust pizza’s of the year.  While I am generally not a fan of “spicy” food, it was topped with jalapeños and surprisingly the heat wasn’t too overwhelming.  For those of you that can’t decide on one of the many pre-designed pizza, Olivella’s provides the option of over 30 toppings to match your tastebuds.  The pizza looked big when it hit the table, 2 hungry pizza lovers could easily polish off the whole pie!

Our visit was short but sweet.  The pizza cook time was lightning fast, and the tables continually stayed busy with pizza enthusiasts.  We could only imagine how packed the place gets on weekends when SMU is in session.  Overall the entire experience was terrific, the only downside we could think of was that if you had a party of 8-10 you would fill the entire restaurant.  In which case we would suggest going to NEO; although the vibe is more modern and trendy, the pizza and menu are almost exactly the same, but the restaurant is MUCH larger

Final Report: 9.0 out of 10

We could really get used to eating often at Olivella’s.  The pizza, while delicious, didn’t leave us stuffed on our journey back home.  If we lived in University Park we would probably visit daily between 2:30-5:30 when they offer a buy one Metro size, get one Metro size special!