Dom Demarco's Pizza, how I learned to love thick

I grew up with Pizza Hut and only Pizza Hut.  Well, in truth, I grew up with Pizza Hut, school lunch pizza and frozen grocery store pizza. For the first twelve years of my life, these constituted the extent of my pizza experience.  I have a vague recollection of a red upholstered Godfather's Pizza in Rock Springs, Wyoming, but I don't recall the pizza.

With those three as my pizza foundation, it's a wonder I graduated high school and married a human woman, I guess my parents were stronger than the damage the pizza would have done. When I was a kid, the Book-It program was big (at least to me).  If we grade schoolers read enough books in a month, we would be awarded a certificate for a personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut.  The standard was usually 3-5 books.  The chart was poster-sized chart, one column for the names of the students and then dots to fill in to represent the books you read.  Note: I couldn't find a picture on google of the chart.  However, I found a picture promoting book-it that is presumably directed at adolescent males because, well, boobs:

Being a dyed-in-the-wool nerd, I typically read 5-10 books per month. I was so desperate to impress my teachers, that there were months where I would have to add in my own circles at the end of the chart, since I read more books than Pizza Hut even imagined a kid my age would read.  As a result, every month, my mom would take us to Pizza Hut where we would cash in my Pizza Hut coupon and have that personal pan pizza.  There was no other pizza place in my small, Wyoming town.  This was the standard by which I would judge pizza from here on out.

Pizza Hut was exotic, it was sophisticated and fancy to a small town kid like me.  Because of Pizza Hut, I thought pizza baked in a deep pan was the ideal type of pizza, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to the trouble to franchise it all over the country.  

Without going into more detail regarding my pizza journeys (and there is a lot more to say - I was a pizza cook and managed a pizza place in high school), I share the my Pizza Hut history so you know that my return to an appreciation for thick crust pizza is a coming home, of sorts.  Perhaps it will also lead to a renewed interest in reading books as well.

When I realized Pizza Hut was a chain that was not actually the pinnacle of pizza quality, I spent a few confused years not sure how to define great pizza.  I was still eating thick crust pizza both as a flavor choice and an value option - you get more calories from a thick crust pizza than a thin crust pizza - even in law school (shout out to 

The Pie).  Then, Oprah told me to go to Pizzeria Bianco. One of the first times I really waited for hours for a food item.  This artisan pizza with its thin crust and very high quality ingredients introduced me to the art of pizza.  By association, I assumed a thinner crust was a better crust.  For the next few years, I eschewed thick crust.   Sicilian style pizza was, to me, inferior and evidence of culinary laziness.  I discovered Rosati's pizza, a chain with excellent pizza whose thin crust was exemplary and was hesitant to even try their Chicago Style deep dish.  After a trip to Chicago, I began to consider the possibility of a good, yet thick crusted pie.  Rosati's led the way, followed by some authentic Chicago Style pizza in the Windy City itself.  Then, a friend, while attending a Weight Watchers meeting, was told (by a weight watchers worker) that the best pizza in town was Dom Demarcos.  One day we looked it up and went.

Well, it was amazing and, I forgot to take pictures. But, with the in-laws in town last week, we went back.  We so frequently forget to take them for amazing food and this time, it being my son's birthday, we had two reasons to have the best pizza we could find.  

We lucked into showing up during happy hour, so we had some appetizers. Let's get some eye candy going here:

 

Here is the Caesar salad.  My poor impulse control means that I couldn't take a picture before I had eaten some.  This was a very good salad.  Was it the best ever? Maybe. But, more importantly, this was a salad that my 15 year old son said "This salad is so good, it is the first salad I've ever wanted to eat."  High praise, indeed.  The dressing is really good and the croutons are very good.  To me, that's what a good Ceaser is.  'Nuff said.

 

My wife does not like spicy things, so we could not order the buffalo style wings.  We ordered the garlic parmesan wings.  Even though they weren't spicy, they came with the blue cheese aioli.  They were good.  Nice and crispy, not slimy or greasy.  Good flavor.  I don't love this type of wing, so I can't be effusive in their praise.  But I can acknowledge that these are well executed.  Shall we talk pizza?

Prior to this visit, we had only had the De Fara special, which may be their best pizza and is a great introduction to Dom Demarcos.  It was truly sublime each time.  It being my son's birthday, we let him pick which type to get.  He ordered the big apple.  I was worried, how could it be as good as the De Fara special?  After eating this pizza, it is possible that the De Fara is better (I'd have to do a side by side comparison to be sure), but the difference is negligible.  The fact is, that the crust is the star of this pizza and it is supported by a cast of amazing ingredients.  Put another way, Dom Demarcos has perhaps the best sicilian crust I've ever had.  It is crunchy, buttery, salty, tasty.  It reheats well.  Then, they put top notch ingredients on that amazing crust.  The fresh basil was good, (that's all I can say, I don't usually like leaves on top of my pizza, it's not Dom Demarcos fault), but the cheese and meats were stunning.  

What if you want really fancy pizza?  Not just a hearty, perfectly executed thick crust with meaty, cheesy goodness atop?  Well, if you are, for example, my mother in law, who has no problem with a bunch of damn leaves on her pizza, you order the mushroom and truffle pizza:

 

There it is.  A funky creation on a thinner crust.  Fresh mushrooms, truffle oil, cheese and arugula.  I had a piece.  It was delicious.  The truffle oil, of course, went well with the mushrooms.  

Dom Demarcos has history.  The menu says over 40 years of history.  The food is great and Dom Demarcos has swagger.  You can sense the confidence in the hosts and the servers.  They know what they have, they know that you will (if you are a person with any sort of reasonable taste) love it and want to come back.  I love it.  Go there and have a piece or two (then be sad you don't have a bigger stomach) and be happier than you were before.