Sushi Parma, house-made mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto: Photo by Mark Davis
“This pizza is authentic New York-style, Italian pizza,” says Charlie Green, owner of Olivella’s Neo Pizza Napoletana. The restaurant’s Neapolitan-style pizza resembles more of a thin-crusted flatbread with sparse toppings, compared to the fluffy, 16-inch crust often used for sopping up ranch dressing that most Americans are accustomed to. Additionally, Olivella’s pizzas — each topped with a homemade sauce using tomatoes imported from Italy, fresh basil, and mozzarella made fresh daily — are baked in minutes inside a piping-hot wood-fired oven. Olivella’s menu also has a variety of pizza toppings to choose from for diners looking for more complex flavors. The black truffle pizza, for instance, comes topped with mozzarella, speck (an Italian meat that is smoked then cured,) mushrooms and truffle oil.
“The mixing of the flour for the pizza dough is key for making a good Neapolitan pizza,” says Green, who adds that Olivella’s crust distinguishes it from other local pizzerias. But Green’s lips are sealed when it comes to revealing the secret ingredients that result in Olivella’s thin, crisp crust — which almost magically holds up without getting soggy. “People like our pizza because it has a good backbone,” he says.
Green acquired a taste for thin-crust pizza early in life, dining at iconic New York pizzerias that used generations-old Italian family recipes. Years later, when he relocated to Dallas, Green didn’t see any pizza joints comparable to his hometown favorites, so he decided to open one of his own. To ensure that his pizzas were authentic, Green recruited the assistance of Salvatore Olivella, the great-grandson of the family that opened Trianon in Naples, Italy, in 1923. Green opened his first restaurant, named for Olivella, in Highland Park, as well as a second location downtown, before opening Olivella’s in Hillside Village in 2012. Green says he chose the location on Mockingbird and Abrams because of its roomy patio. Outside at night, white twinkle lights dangle overhead, creating an ambiance with a touch of Old World romance, right in the heart of our neighborhood.
Black truffle pizza at Olivellas. Photo by Mark Davis
Olivella’s
6465 E. Mockingbird Suite 525
469.730.2626
olivellas.com
Ambiance: Casual Italian
Price range:
Pizzas $14-$24,
entrees $9-$14
Hours:
11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Mon-Fri
11 a.m.-10 p.m. Sat
11 a.m.-9:30 p.m. Sun
Tp: From 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, buy one Metro size pizza and get a second one for free
More pizza pit stops
1 Pizza Getti
Pizza Getti is a family owned and operated pizza joint that’s been serving East Dallas for more than 45 years. The fresh pizza is the money maker, but the spaghetti gets rave reviews too.
3302 N. Buckner
214.320.2195
pizzagetti.com
2 Greenville Avenue Pizza Company
Bite into a slice of pizza with freshly made dough. A neighborhood favorite, Greenville Avenue Pizza Company, better known as GAP Co., offers pizza, calzones and wings.
1923 Greenville
214.826.5404
gapc.co
3 My Family Pizza
If you’ve got a craving for thin crusted pizza, My Family’s Pizza is cracker crisp. Lakewood’s lastest pizza joint is co-owned by the owners of The Pour House, and located right next door in the Skillman-Live Oak Shopping Center.
1919 Skillman
214.515.9009
pizzabymarco.com
