Dagwood's New York Pizza

I used to go to this place a few times a week because I worked down the street.  Usually I'd get the calzones or a meatball sub.  The pizza was always fine.  Today I revisited Dagwood's for the first time in awhile.  It's a fun place and they have some decent lunch specials.  Also I didn't get  the cheese cake but it looked pretty good.

I ordered their X-large pizza which is only 16 inches it was 14 dollars, not too bad.   I went half green peppers this time to switch it up.  The first thing I noticed about this pie was it had a very light color to it.  With the green peppers it actually looked quite beautiful.  This color is for 3 reasons.  One is the majority of the pizza is white from all the cheese, not a lot of sauce peaks through, you only get a little red on the edges.  The sauce tasted very good, a light, sweet sauce but the cheese was a little too overwhelming.  The next two reasons for the light color are found in the crust.  One, there was a ton of flour on the bottom and outer edge.  So much that it became a big part of the flavor, flour is there more for cooking technique than flavor.  Lastly, aside from the flour, the crust itself was very lightly cooked and as a result not very crispy at all.  It as very doughy all the way through.  

This pizza is very disapointing to me, because it has so much potential.  The ingredients are very fresh and delicious. The sauce is good, the cheese in pure and the crust tastes right.  The peppers are good too.  The cooking style just needs to be altered a bit.  It needs to not be afraid of the heat, and get itself cooked like a real pizza.  Get that crust so crisp it almost cracks when you fold it, no bending.  A little cheese goes a long way, so don't over do it, let the sauce bring the flavor to the pizza, not the cheese, nor the flour.  Some easy fixes could make this pizza great.  However I doubt, even if they read this, it is something that they will change - so for now this is what it is.    

Dagwood's New York Pizza - 820 Wilshire Blvd. Santa Monica

Price: $$

Overall: