My family and I got the opportunity to indulge in Downtown House of Pizza's delicious Italian goodness this past weekend. On the menu for us were: salads, pizza slices, dessert and drinks!
Have you ever been to Downtown House of Pizza, also known as DHOP? It is perfectly situated in Downtown Fort Myers, on Hendry, between First and Main. You can easily find it on the street if you look for the American Flag and their DHOP signage. Otherwise, you can find their back patio and seating area while walking around the fun Patio De Leon. Downtown House of Pizza offers casual Italian eats, like: hand crafted pizzas, subs, calzones, stromboli, salads, desserts, sides and beverages (including beer)!
When you're walking through the front door on Hendry Street, the first thing you notice is the floor to ceiling windows, which my kids love. You can watch them make their NY-style pizza dough from scratch, throwing it straight up in the air! You form a line as you walk in and tell them what you'd like to purchase: a slice of pizza, a whole pie, calzones, pinwheels, etc. They will make one fresh if there isn't already a slice ready. If there is a slice ready, they'll throw it in their pizza ovens to nuke the slice for you. Then, they place the slice (or pie) on the glass counter above the desserts and salads, for you to take.
Next stop in line is the cash registers. You can ask them for cups to get fountain sodas, or ask for a beer or seltzer. There are up to three cashiers working fast to check you out.
Once you've cashed out, you can sit at the bar right in the front area, walk around to the back dining area, OR stroll outside to the back patio, Patio De Leon. It's especially fun to sit out there at night under the stars, trees, and fun patio string lighting!
Want to know what we ordered?? I'll tell you anyways. We opted for two pepperoni slices, one supreme slice, and one cheese slice. They are already made to perfection, but the tables do offer parmesan cheese and pepper flakes to sprinkle (or douse) your pizza in.
We also ordered two Caesar salads -- one with chicken, one without .. the dressing was absolutely delicious! We opted for fountain drinks, though they do offer seltzers and TONS of beer to select from (they carry craft beers from local & regional Florida breweries).
The dessert was a wonderful finish to our meal. We got mini cannoli's and a cheesecake with chocolate drizzle on top. My 8-year-old loved the cannoli, and my 4-year-old loved the cheesecake.
None of the three-course-meal stood a chance to make it home. We took 1/2 of my daughter's pizza slice to-go, but it only made it to the car, where it was devoured en route home. We also took two of the mini cannoli to-go, but they were singing my name, and the rest is history. We would absolutely recommend Downtown House of Pizza (DHOP) to anyone looking for an authentic NY-style pizzeria in the Downtown Fort Myers area.
