To prepare for this fall's Best of Dallas® 2014 issue, we're counting down (in no particular order) our 100 Favorite Dishes. If there's a dish you think we need to try, leave it in the comments, or email me.
Pizza is one of the most abused foods Americans are subjected to. For generations we've taken a product birthed from glowing ovens in Italy and squeezed every last ounce of passion and dignity from it before stuffing it in a sweaty, dusty cardboard box.
It's gotten so bad that when Jay Jerrier opened an authentic Neapolitan pizzeria in Deep Ellum a few years back, many customers complained, basically, that it didn't taste enough like Pizza Hut. This is how far we've fallen as a pizza-eating society.
As Jerrier opened subsequent locations the complaints only grew. There's not enough cheese on it, some said. The crust is so soggy in the center, others complained, oblivious that Jerrier's pizzas were exactly how they should be.
Finally Jerrier acquiesced, opening a New York-style pizzeria called Zoli's in Oak Cliff. He traveled through the boroughs of New York with a team of pie-eaters, looking for the best pizza they could find, and he brought it here for Dallasites to enjoy.
Just make sure you ask that your pie spend a little extra time in the oven, so you can enjoy the blistered black spots that make pizza crust delicious, Old World or not. And you really ought to eat it there with a few friends and a few more cans of beer. Pizza is always better that way.
No. 100: Pastrami Egg Rolls at Blind Butcher No. 99: Chicken-fried Steak at Tom's Burgers and Grill No. 98: Pasta with Uni Butter at Nonna No. 97: Camarón en Agua Chile at La Palapas No. 96: The Wings at Lakewood Landing No. 94: Chicken Kebab at Afrah No. 93: Trompo Tacos at Bachman Lake No. 92: Fish and Chips at 20 Feet No. 91: Canelés at Village Baking Co. No. 90: Banh Mi from La Me No. 88: The Burgers at Off-Site Kitchen No. 87: The White Album at Spoon No. 86: Ramen at Tei An No. 85: Tacos at Revolver Taco No. 84: Stuffed Chicken Wings at Sakhuu No. 83: Korean Fried Chicken at Bonchon No. 82: Grilled Branzino at Tei Tei Robata No. 81: The Toddfather at Cattleack Barbecue No. 80: The Biryanis at Chennai No. 79: Shish Tawook at Qariah No. 78: Arepes at Zaguan No. 77: Goat Momo at Everest Restaurant No. 76: Steak Tartar at Gemma No. 75: Escabeche at Joyce and Gigi's No. 74: Spicy Fish in Oil at Royal Sichuan No. 73: Pupusas at La Pasadita No. 72: The Kathi Roll at Simply Dosa No. 71: The Chicken Wings at Teppo No. 70: Cheesesteak at Truck Yard No. 69: Chicken and Waffles at Jonathon's No. 68: Birria Tacos at Los Torres Taqueria No. 67: Bulgogi Cheesesteak at Say Kimchi No. 66: Suadero Tacos at La Banqueta No. 65: Brian Luscher's Post Oak Red Hot No. 64: Banana Flower Salad at Mot Hai Ba No. 63: Cinco Leches Cake At Mesero Miguel No. 62: Cabrito a la Parilla at El Ranchito No. 61: Reuben at Kuby's
