Good pizza by the slice has always been a rarity in Fort Worth. There are some good sit-down pizza joints but nothing spectacular, certainly nothing like in New York or the other East Coast hotbeds of Italian food, where you can go up to a counter and get a slice of pepperoni pie, fold it in your hand, and wolf it down right there or out on the street.
Hysen Lushaj is from New York, and his family has been in the Italian restaurant game for more than 30 years. Lushaj and his brother came to North Texas 10 years ago and promptly opened Nizza Pizza near the University of Texas-Arlington campus. Two other addresses, in Mansfield and Weatherford, have been opened and sold during that time period.
A few months ago, Lushaj opened another Nizza Pizza restaurant, this one in the Cultural District on University Drive, in a spot that used to be a Long John Silver’s. The crowd here includes office workers, construction guys from the West 7th Street building boom, residents from the nearby apartment complexes both expensive and not-so, and families with young kids. In other words, a crowd that’s very “New York.”
The interior of the former fast-food joint is sparse but comfortable, with checkered tablecloths, drawings of the Goodfellas cast and the Chairman of the Board, and photos of the Manhattan skyline and old Yankee Stadium. Diners order at a glass counter and display case filled with stromboli, calzones, stuffed pizzas, and regular slices.
The Neapolitan pizza is classic New York style: thin crust, crispy edge, and soft middle, which lets you fold your slice longways like a real Yankee. The stuffed pizza slices are huge. The inside of the spinach, mushrooms, onions, and mozzarella version was a mouthwatering melding of fresh ingredients, freshly made marinara sauce, and grated parmesan. It was tasty, it was large, and, at under five bucks, it was very cheap.
Nizza Pizza also does pasta well and in a price range that is enticing for folks watching their coins these days – in other words, all of us. The cheese ravioli with pesto sauce was creamy and garlicky, with enough sauce left over for a good plate cleanup with the plain dinner roll that’s provided. The Fettuccini Alfredo was just the right balance of cheese and heavy cream. And the spaghetti with meatballs was done right: two big meatballs topped with that great marinara sauce over al dente pasta.
The pasta dishes are served in big bowls filled to the brim. Even the salads are on the filling side. The house salad is huge, with iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, sliced carrots, black olives, and sliced tomatoes, everything covered with a tangy tomato vinaigrette. The salad is just $1.50 extra if ordered with a pasta dish during lunch.
The key thing about Nizza Pizza is what you get (a lot of good stuff) for what you pay (not much). Lunch specials — example: a slice of pizza with one topping, a salad, and a soft drink — come in at about $5. The 20 different pastas cost about $6 at lunch and just a dollar more at dinner.
Service can be spotty, and the counter line gets a little long during peak times. But Lushaj moves the people through, shaking hands with customers one minute, and then, in the next, turning and yelling at his servers and kitchen staff to quicken the pace. All in front of the diners. That’s very “New York” as well.
Nizza Pizza, 401 University Dr, FW. 817-877-3900.
11am-10pm Sun-Thu, 11am-11pm Fri-Sat. All major credit cards accepted.
