Note- The menu on campusfood.com is actually for the Library Road location as this Danny's doesn't have a fryer, which means no sides.
File this under Places I Have Passed A Trillion Times, and that's no lie. I've lost track, seriously. During every trip to Century III Mall I have passed this place, wondering just what their food was like.
Today was the day. To The Lost Land of the Levitske Brothers I journeyed.
You know you're close by when you pass Baldwin High School, a school I wanted to go to when I was a young lad. I used to imagine it to be THE coolest school ever, one you'd see in an TV show or 80's film like "Ferris Bueller's Day Off". I could always picture a bunch of kids eating pizza in Danny's lot after school ( there's nowhere to sit inside) with that pizza box open on the hood of a car, Van Halen pouring out of the tape deck.
So we got takeout. I called the order in and got there and back in about 35 minutes.
I ordered a medium pizza with meatballs, a whole Italian hoagie, and a whole steak for the family.
This pizza serves as a stark contrast to my DeMino's experience the other night. The pizza is literally smothered in cheese, more so than any pizza I've encountered in some time. It hangs off of the sides of each cut. The cheese has a buttery taste to it and actually tastes even better after the pizza cools down to room temperature, which again, defies convention.
Another thing that makes this pizza unusual is the crust, which is soft, moderately thick, almost has the consistency and flavor of a pastry, and is somewhat light for a pizza. This isn't a typical heavy, doughy, floppy Pittsburgh pizza. And there's nothing wrong with a typical 'Burgh pie. Don't get me wrong.
They're light on the sauce as well, but what you get is a zest fest. That's the best way to describe it. I can only imagine what a witches brew this sauce is.
Not being a detective, I can't deduce every spice through taste alone. All I can say is that they must use at least half a spice rack. If they don't, then they at least make it taste that way. I'm sure they're not giving up any secrets.
My parents thought their steak hoagie was ok. Danny's apparently puts steak sauce on it. I didn't get to try it.
My Italian was definitely above average, though. The bread wasn't baked into a dried plaster, which unfortunately happens to a lot of Pittsburgh hoagies. In fact, the bread was still spongy when I bit into it, the veggies were crispy and fresh, the meat plentiful, the dressing pungent. It's not the very best I've ever had, but it's still one mean grinder that puts up a good fight.
So I'm glad I finally got around to trying this edition of Danny's (I keep forgetting that there's one in Bethel Park on Library Road). They didn't fall short of my expectations. Well, actually...
...I do wish I could step into the magic phone booth, go back to this month in 1983 as a teenager, after dark of course, just so I could eat this pizza on the hood of a Trans-Am with some good friends, a few cute girls, and Thin Lizzy's Thunder and Lightning album blaring out of the stereo, beyond the lot, and into the warm summer night air.
Oh how I envied teenagers as a 10 year old.
And I still wonder what's in that odd little multicolored building next door.
If you find yourself on Route 51, look for it. It's just a little stand of a place and can be easy to miss. Remember, if you're coming from the city, look for Baldwin High School (what in the hell? man they built it up!) and then the Old Allegheny Shoppe (which I also reviewed not long ago). That's how you'll know you're nearby. Get in that turning lane whilst driving yer 'Vette, if ya got one!