Review: Dovetail Pizza & Bar - Austin TX

In a town with lots of acclaim for its food and culture, some of the hottest buzz in Austin is focused on Dovetail Pizza and Bar, where six co-owners have brought together an eclectic menu featuring pizza (of course), pasta, and a take on Navajo fry bread.

Austin Monthly describes the pies as "tavern pizza" but the review that drew me in was a report that the pizza is my favorite hybrid: a cross between a Neapolitan pizza (soft, puffy, bakes in 90 seconds at 900 degrees) and a New York style pie (thin and crisp crust).

Three of us went for an early dinner on a blazing hot day in June. One member of our group is a longtime Austin area resident, and he described this Bouldin Creek location as an area that you would have avoided a few decades ago. But now the surrounding area has a pretty chill hipster vibe, and ample (if very tight) parking available.

Inside Dovetail Bar & Pizza

Dovetail looks like a vintage bar from the outside, but the inside has a fresh, open, modern look. Most recently, this space was host to the Indian restuarant Mumtaz Market; its history also includes a few Mexican restaurants -- El Chile Cafe y Cantina (since relocated) and La Reyna.

Expecting a pleasant cool blast when entering, we instead found a warm and humid environment. We quickly decided that cold beer was the quickest fix for that, but we sat for about 10 minutes with no attention from the waitstaff. We attempted a pitcher of draft beer by ordering at the bar, but we learned that the taps weren't working and the bottled beer had been refrigerated for about 10 minutes.

The Bittersweet

We settled for some nice but pricey (as we later learned) magaritas for $17 each. The helpful barman filled us in on the details of the broken A/C and the broken beer taps. The waitresses continued to flit by for another ten minutes until we flagged one down to make a pizza order. 

I regret that we didn't try the fry bread, but we were pretty focused on the pizza.We chose two pies to split - one conventional pizza with pepperoni ($19), and one called "Bittersweet" topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, provolone, kale, sweet and hot peppers, and wafer thin rounds of eggplant.

Pepperoni close-up

The pies arrived at the table simultaneously and they were visually stunning. While the oval shape and puffy cornicione were the most notable features of the pepperoni pie, the "Bittersweet" pizza was akin to a painter's palette with large aubergine rounds of eggplant, straight strips of green pepper, little purple-white circles of shallot or onion, and even smaller circles of spicy red pepper.

Artful slice

As always, the crust is the make-or-break for every pizza, and this hybrid crust was a winner. Golden brown, crisp underneath but still quite pliant, good enough to enjoy without any toppings. The puffy cornicione shared its shape with a Neapolitan style pie, but offered a more satisfying crunch outside with a great inside chew.

The undercarriage and hole structure

The pepperoni pie was my favorite, topped with excellent cheese and high grade "spicy cup" pepperoni. The sauce was tasty too, if a bit understated in the mix. All the flavors and the textures were in balance.

While I enjoyed the Bittersweet pie as well, I felt that the eggplant was too thin and became dried out and tough atop the pizza. It's hard to make a successful veggie topped pizza because many vegetables are too wet or too bland to stand out; eggplant presents a different kind of challenge. Having said that, one of our group took home a Bittersweet pizza and his wife said it was the best pizza she's had.

While our waitress disappeared again after dropping off the pizzas, the bartender (who got us our drinks to begin) was working hard to fill the service gaps; he came by to check on us while maintaining a busy role behind the bar.

Modern open interior

The pizza at Dovetail is hands-down terrific. A brilliant hybrid crust that embraces much of the best features of Neapolitan and New York styles; it stands toe to toe with the best of such pizzas, like those at Pizza Brain in Philadelphia. Crisp, pliant, tasty, and up to the task of supporting the excellent payload of top-end ingredients. The space is modern, open, and inviting. We had a great time despite the failed HVAC and the spotty service. I'd surely go back for more.