The Pizza Spot with Serious BBQ and a State Fair Award Is Ready to Score in Plano

Back in June of last year, we made a long journey to Van Alstyne in search of a brisket pizza we had been hearing about (notably from Texas Monthly's barbecue editor). We found a delightful little place called Texapolitan Pizza, and as we wrote then, it was definitely worth the trip. Unfortunately, a few months later, the place was closed down. Was it something we said?

Fast-forward several months, and we happened to find owners Stefan and Yolanda Nedwetzky again, this time in Plano near the intersections of Parker and Custer Roads. After a brief conversation that was basically “It’s not you, it’s me,” they convinced us to come back for another taste. It turns out that they planned to close temporarily so they could run their booth at the State Fair of Texas, but family circumstances made the return to the northern suburb too difficult.

The new shop features that same great pit barbecue on that same great crust as before but things are different. Now the pizzas are full-size: 18 inches. Stefan went into great detail about how he had to painstakingly change his recipe for his dough over and over to try to find the right combination of two different types of Caputo flour to make the crispy, crunchy yet chewy crust that is his calling card. Protein levels, hydration percentage, no potassium bromate; we got lost in the description. The dude knows a lot about flour.

The pies are all build-your-own style. You can choose from The Plano Cheese with red sauce or the Holy Cheesus, which is a white pie that you add your toppings to. Stefan’s mobile smoker sits in the alleyway behind the shopping center, where he still smokes all of the meats, including brisket, pork belly, italian sausage and bacon. We got to take a peek at the grill and at the brick-lined pizza oven in the back, where the magic happens. Having equipment like this is almost an unfair advantage.
We ordered the Plano Cheese with brisket on half and cup-and-char pepperoni on the other half. The big slices had a slight crunch all the way through with an airy, chewy crust that we could honestly eat by itself. The brisket really popped with a smoky flavor you don’t normally find on a pizza. After devouring that, we tried the pork belly with mushrooms, basil from the basil plant in the kitchen, dollops of ricotta cheese and Italian sausage on the white pie.

The pork belly was particularly good with the garlic oil and mozzarella and we would only order it on the white pie. We were later told that a little of the sweet heat drizzle would have accelerated the flavor even more, although we didn’t think to order it that way. Yolanda ended the meal perfectly by filling some cannolis to order.

The dining room is cozy with cool paintings of the guys from Tombstone and also a picture of El Presidente (Dave Portnoy) doing his thing; Stefan has a grand goal of a Barstool pizza review with a 9.1 score along with an autograph on his painting. We hope he gets it. Another great addition is pizza by the slice all day. We wish pizza by the slice were available in way more places than it is. It’s really the perfect walking food in the land of the endless strip malls.

Can’t make it to Plano easily? Look for Texapolitan Pizza at the State Fair of Texas again this year. They'll be easy to find on the map;  their crab and mozzarella arancini won a Big Tex Choice Award as best in the savory category. Lines may be long to get a taste. He will also feature a new pizza that will only be available at the fair. During the fair, the restaurant will still be open for dinner starting at 4 p.m.

As the restaurant grows, Stefan tells us that he hopes to expand his offerings to include Detroit-style pizza, specialty slices, new types of Austrian and German sausages, and much more. We will be watching and remembering that when it comes to pizza, “Everybody knows the rules.”

Texapolitan Pizza, 2129 West Parker Road Unit #306 Plano. Check website for hours, as it may depend on the State Fair of Texas.