Thomas Jefferson and Martin Luther King Jr. both said, “All men are created equal.”
However, this same principle cannot be applied to pizzas: They are definitely not created equal. Some pizzas are so good you will almost forget every other meal you have ever had, while others simply taste like salty cardboard.
Given this range of possible outcomes, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I went to D&C Pizza, a family owned enterprise located next to a barbershop and beauty salon in a small strip mall on North Arlington Avenue.
Delivery is available, but most customers elect to pick up orders made over the phone or in person. The wait time for an order made at the counter is usually reasonable.
Waiting is done in an old, but neat, lobby with some chairs and plenty of colorful posters of local entertainment events so that you can keep up with what’s up in “Naptown.” You can also use your wait time to watch a television with cable programming (usually on BET), or play arcade games.
D&C customers know what it feels like to have anticipation build up as you smell that awesome food coming out of the oven. My order was a simple individual size pepperoni pizza.
Every bite of the pizza was satisfying, and it represented total perfection.
The thin style crust was crispy and flavorful, the layer of cheese was thick and a healthy dose of toppings was spread both under and on top of the cheese. This generosity has always been a major strength of independent “mom and pop” places like D&C, because a lot of the major pizza chain stores can be kind of stingy with cheese and toppings.
What makes D&C pizza awesome, however, is its tomato sauce, which has a bold and kind of sweet flavor. It tastes almost like homemade sauce with real tomatoes, not the cheap tomato “paste” used by many pizza joints.
As someone who once manufactured pizzas, trust me when I say, “the sauce makes the difference.” You can have the best toppings or crust in the world, but if the sauce ain’t right, you might as well throw that pizza out the window to the birds or give it to the dog.
Although best known for pizza, D&C offers other options, such as different types of sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, fish and side items like cheesy breadsticks, nachos, onion rings and potato salad.
Customers have their choice of “super” stromboli hoagie, perch, whiting, ham and cheese, catfish or pork tenderloin sandwiches. Complete dinners with chicken, pork or a type of fish are also available.
D&C prices are relatively reasonable, with one topping prices for pizza ranging from $5 to the individual seven inch, to $15 for the extra large 16 inch. Sandwiches can be purchased for anywhere between $4.37 and $6.54.
Numerous soft drinks and desserts such as lemon and chocolate bundt cake are available.
Regardless of what you buy, be prepared to return to D&C very soon to get more of it.
