Yes! It is downtown and truly a house of pizza. Travelling inland from our Sanibel space on the beach, Mrs. Pie and I took a journey to visit the fun downtown of Fort Myers. There we found a way cool collection of shops, palm trees and street art, as well as pizza at the Downtown House of Pizza.
My advance intel had labelled DHOP a must. Strangely enough, just a week before our trip, Mrs. Pie found this article where this dude talked about all the different pizza styles and said that the best NY slice he ever had was there. While you I did love DHOP’s slice, let’s just say that this writer needs to spend more time in New York City.
DHOP is just a block off the main downtown drag in a great corner location. It’s very pizza-centric with pie, salads, beer and deserts about all you will find. There is a big bar and giant pizza ovens galore. You can also pick your spot and sit out front, inside, or in the large outdoor patio out back. And, if you need some cash, there sits an ATM inside a classic red London phone booth.
Walking through the front door, the pizza meter in my brain was going off that I was gonna be pleased. Up to the counter I went requesting a plain cheese slice ($3.00) and Mrs. Pie chose a Caesar salad. After a short wait we took our wares out back on this lovely afternoon.
Obviously vexed by the writer’s platitude of the greatness of DHOP’s NY slice, they had their work cut out for them to live up to this kind of acclaim. While the slice looked picture perfect, albeit a little on the smaller side of things, in all fairness, I couldn’t go much further than calling it out for tasting good but being rather ordinary. There are at least a hundred places in Manhattan serving a slice just as good.
Forgetting this absurd claim, there is room for praise to about DHOP’s slice. The ingredients all seemed right although there was a pale look to the crust which is never a good sign. The ends looked like a piece of molding without any stain on it. My slice had more oil and was thicker than I prefer, but overall, it did taste quite good.
Summing things up, I’d eat here again if I was around, but I wouldn’t go out of my way. This is sad since this place is just way cool showing much a pride for those who love pizza. It’s just that their pie needs a little work.
PIZZA SNOB RATING ****Near Perfection
Downtown House of Pizza
1520 Hendry Street
Fort Myers, FL 33901
239-337-3467
www.downtownhouseofpizza.com