Dough Bros - New York Style Pizza in River North

Dough Bros – New York Style Pizza Done Right

By Samantha Schoville

Nestled in the River North neighborhood, Dough Bros Pizza looks just like your classic New York Style pizza joint. Luckily, New York Style pizza is famous for a reason—because it’s delicious! So have faith that when you enter this small, somewhat sparsely decorated establishment, you are in good hands. They are the type of hands that know how to make pizza and subs the right way.

It’s easy to go crazy with the selection of $4 a slice pizzas. The price is right and the options quintessential yet refined. We ordered a slice of the artichoke-spinach which is done with a white sauce, aged provolone, and mozzarella. It was sunny and uplifting change from the deep, earthy taste of the wild mushroom slice. As I used to live in the Pacific Northwest (land of wild harvested mushrooms), I think I can comment on the subject; these were no bland, grocery store fungi, but mushrooms with true character. Additionally, the mushroom slice touts a drizzle of truffle oil, which feels like pure decadence. All of the pizza slices were large enough to fold over and eat as true New Yorkers do.

We didn’t get to eat all of the pizzas in the house, however, for we had to save room for the famous meatball sub. Now to be 100% honest, I haven’t eaten a ton of meatball subs in my life. That said, I imagine that this sub had everything that a person could want. For starters, it was about the size of my arm and came with huge meatballs tucked into the perfectly toasted bread. It was slathered with roasted tomato vodka sauce and topped off with melted buffalo mozzarella. Did I mention the spicy kick of fresh Giardiniera? It was worth the ride it took my taste buds on.

For dessert, the kitchen kindly presented us with freshly baked cookies that we managed to find room for. To be fair, we did split the cookies in half, as they were gigantic! We enjoyed a classic chocolate chip cookie that was still warm, as well as a double chocolate chip that tasted like a combination of brownie and cookie in one. Hands down, the classic chocolate chip is the kind that dreams are made of, and was our favorite of the two.

I imagine that if I lived closer to Dough Bros. it’d be the perfect place to grab a slice after drinking a beer or on a casual Friday night. It’s got a walk-up window that you can frequent if you want to do NYC pizza the NYC way. And with options for both vegetarians and meat-lovers alike, there’s something for everyone on the menu. Certainly, it is on my map to return to when I’m in the neighborhood. Unpretentious, ingredient-focused Dough Bros Pizza is worth the trip.