South Polk Pizzeria: Neo-New York Style Pizza and 'Only Winners'

Terrill Burnett at South Polk Pizzeria in Oak Cliff keeps his menu concise — a dozen pizzas, a couple of salads and wings — for a reason.

"I had this one chef tell me, 'We only sell winners,'" the Detroit native says, "and all of them [the menu items] are top sellers."

Burnett has been selling those winners near the intersection of Polk Street and U.S. Highway 67 for about a year now. Previously, he was a junior chef at Nobu and also worked in the kitchen at Knife, but a year ago he got an opportunity with a local developer, Monte Anderson, to open a place of his own.

With an almost-perfect Google rating, you might think Burnett has been tossing dough his entire life, but it was Anderson who suggested a pizza spot.

"I took a little MasterClass, it was a guy on YouTube, his name was Vito," says Burnett on prepping for the South Polk Pizzeria.

Burnett was drawn to one particular style of dough that was a cross between Neapolitan dough and New York style: Neo-New York. This renders a crust slightly thinner than a typical New York style, but not cracker-thin, with a nice bounce back to each bite.

"I just thought it was kind of different. I don't think I had that style before. So when I first started it, it was really just the process," he says. He enjoyed the novelty of it and seeing his days of labor — the dough rises for three days — pay off. The more he worked with dough the more he became fascinated with it.

"It's like a newfound love," he said. "I understand why people have a passion for baking now because it is different when you create something from scratch with your hands and you just kind of watch the transformation almost like science."

In addition to the house-made dough, he makes the pizza sauce and has a from-scratch ranch dressing. Burnett sources sausage from Jimmy's and diversifies his offerings with Halal beef, turkey pepperoni and vegan cheese, aiming to offer a variety to customers.

A year in, South Polk has a steady customer base. Burnett says his biggest challenge in the pizzeria's rookie year was constant change: "One week you think you have everything figured out and then the next week it's a totally different ball game."

All the pizzas use the same Neo-NY crust in either a 12-inch or 14-inch. In addition to Jimmy's sausage, go for the cup and char pepperoni — the smaller ones that curl into small bowls and char a bit along the rims after being cooked. The 12-inch is $14, and the 14-inch is $19. The Texas Sweet Heat in the photo above is made with those little meat cups, Parmesan and hot honey ($16 for a 14-inch).

There's a special for a 6-inch pizza and five wings for $14.99. And next time, we'll get one of the cake bowls: plain yellow cake or peach cobbler cake, each $9, but apparently worth every dime according to some reviews.

South Polk is mostly for pick-up and take-out, with just a couple of tables inside the otherwise utilitarian and clean space. You can order online ahead of time.

Next up? Possible expansion. Burnett wants a table-service restaurant in the area, citing a lack of them now in that part of Dallas.

Burnett hoped to run a Super Bowl special had the Detroit Lions made it. Maybe next year.

South Polk Pizzeria, 3939 S. Polk St. Monday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Sunday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.