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Derby City Pizza scores with pizza and pasta

by Robin Garr » Wed Dec 01, 2021 8:04 am

Derby City Pizza scores with pizza and pasta

Spaghetti with meatballs was exceptional, as good a dish as I'd expect from an upscale sit-down Italian eatery.
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Everybody knows that I’m a huge fan of pizza, but I have my standards! I like pizza best the way they make it in New York City, or even Italy: It’s good bread, flatbread, with toppings added proportionately, not overloaded.

You want a thin but substantive crust, and you want a puffy browned edge – the “bones” – dotted with plenty of browned leopard spots.

Or that’s what I thought until I picked up a pizza to go from Derby City Pizza in Clifton the other day. I rushed it home, opened the box, and discovered a delicious smelling pie with toppings all the way to an almost imperceptibly thin edge.

Dammit!

But then I pulled out a slice, took a bite, then another, then three. This pizza tasted really, really good. I might not entirely approve of cracker-crusted, no-edge pizza, but I have to say this: Derby City’s pie was so good that I would not hesitate to go back for another one.

A hefty order of spaghetti and meatballs was exceptional too, good enough that I would not have complained if I’d been served an identical dish at an upscale sit-down Italian eatery.

What magic is this?

Derby City Pizza is a local chain of seven shops – most of the others are sit-down eateries with beer and wine – spread across the Metro as far as Mount Washington. Its shops, decor, and shiny menus have the look of a chain with growth expectations, and indeed, owner Larry Davis told Business First in a March 2020 interview that he believes his company can be one of the top pizza chains if everything goes as planned.

Okay, I’ve tried it, and I’m impressed. Larry, if you can keep up this level of quality when your business spreads out to Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Atlanta and all our other surrounding regional cities as you hope, then fame and fortune await.

In a cheery bio that’s posted on his restaurant walls, printed on the menus, and spread on social media, Davis describes a journey that started in 1991 when he was only 15, working in a local pizza chain to help support his family. By age 23, he moved up to own three Louisville-area locations of a popular, unnamed pizza franchise. He ran a sports bar in Pleasure Ridge Park, and in 2005 he opened his first pizzeria.

Soxteen years later, his growing outfit seems to be doing things right. ...

Read the complete article on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/derby-city-pizza

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/

Derby City Pizza - Clifton
2331 Brownsboro Road
290-0677
http://derbycitypizza.com
https://facebook.com/DerbyCityPizzaClifton
Eight other locations. Full list with address and phone info at http://derbycitypizza.com/locations.

Noise Level: The noisy crowd at my table probably heightened the decibel level for the entire room, but conversation was never difficult during this late lunch hour.

Accessibility: The room is accessible to wheelchair users, but be aware that the narrow access ramp is several doors to the right of the restaurant entrance.
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Ron H

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Re: Derby City Pizza scores with pizza and pasta

by Ron H » Fri Dec 03, 2021 1:16 pm

I went to the one on Crittenden Drive one afternoon and while I only had a meatball appetizer, I remember being very impressed with the meatball.
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Re: Derby City Pizza scores with pizza and pasta

by Mark R. » Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:09 pm

We've got multiple pizzas from the 1 in Plainview and they are probably the pizza be like the best right now for that type of pizza although Coal's might beat them out depending on the day. The only issue we've ever had was that on occasion they lack consistency, it probably depends on who's making the pizzas that day. However, our experiences with their hot sandwiches hasn't been as good unfortunately. They aren't as good and at least in our opinion are overpriced for what you get.
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James Natsis

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Re: Derby City Pizza scores with pizza and pasta

by James Natsis » Fri Dec 03, 2021 9:19 pm

Derby City deserves a shout out. I picked up a number of pizzas over the years from the Crittenden and Mt Washington locations. I concur with the commentary of the pizzas being a little inconsistent. But I'm a St Louis native who has always enjoyed a similar type of thin crusted pizza found more commonly in St. Louis. I haven't tried anything else from them but have heard good things.
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Re: Derby City Pizza scores with pizza and pasta

by Nathaniel C » Mon Mar 14, 2022 7:27 pm

I got a to go order from the Express location on Brownsboro Road tonight. (Note: I had a lot of trepidation, as the Google reviews for that location seem to suggest a pattern of orders that get messed up and bad customer service in general, but thankfully, my order was correct and the person I interacted with was pleasant. My order was ready at the promised time and I later discovered that ToastTab had automatically sent me a text when it was ready for pickup.)

I ordered a small "The Champ" pizza. I have no issues with the edgeless crust. The ingredients seemed to be of good quality and there was already a modicum of what appeared to be Italian seasoning topping the cheese (I often whip out some generic Italian seasoning to dress up a bland pizza). I thought the pizza was light on the tomato sauce, and the green olives overwhelmed the other flavors at times. The crust was nice and crispy, and I only needed to add crushed red pepper to give it a little kick (as I frequently do).

I also got an order of lasagna. Continuing with the theme, this was also solid, but also did not stand out. The half loaf of bread that was included was the standard baguette, sliced in half longways, soaked in garlic butter and toasted, which many similar restaurants serve. I also added a side of pepperoncini to the order, which included about ten peppers in a small clamshell container.

Overall, a good value for the price, however, nothing was bad, but nothing was outstanding, either. Given the number of pizza/pasta restaurants we have available here, that's not enough to get me to come back. 3/5 stars.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Derby City Pizza scores with pizza and pasta

by Robin Garr » Mon Mar 14, 2022 9:01 pm

Sounds reasonable, Nathaniel! One side comment: "Light on the tomato sauce" is the way that most Italian and quality NYC pizzas are made. Just brush on a paint coat, don't bathe it in the red stuff. Now, I fully get that it's a matter of taste, but light on the sauce doesn't necessarily represent corner-cutting.

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