I travel around North America for a different job, and find myself in some really great and not so great locations.  Emailed to me one day was my next work trip to Odessa, TX. It was a spot on the Texas map until 3 years ago when Texas decided to start drilling for more oil in West Texas.  People out here with property have become instant millionaires within 6 months to a year.  Enough of that, but what it did bring was a demand for more restaurants.

One restaurant in-particular is the Cork & Pig Tavern.  It is a new establishment like most other building growing on the east side of Odessa, but with a really good exception … pizza.  Today I had the Gladiator pizza.  The Gladiator has Italian sausage, diced red bell peppers, oregano, mozzarella and tomato sauce. 

This place does their pizza right.  Fresh dough made daily in the back of the restaurant.  I have seen the pizza makers spreading dough out on the table and tossing it in the air.  Of course after this the toppings are added and the freshly made pizza is tossed into the wood burning oven.

The mozzarella is true and stretches like it should from my point of view and Italian sausage was spot on with seasoning and freshness.  You could definitely tell the vegetables were fresh by appearance and taste.  The only part of the pizza that was lacking was the sauce.  It had to be spread too thin to taste or maybe the Italian sausage over powered it but either way I would prefer to have some reminisce of the sauce.  The pizza its self was cook to perfection with a crispy, light flaky crust on the ring and the bottom.  The dough was freshly made and I was told there was no freezer which is very promising.

Overall I have been to Odessa, TX three time and have been to this place four times.  I will definitely have a pizza from here any time I am near Odessa, TX, and I suggest you stop to have a pizza too.  It’s absolutely worth it.

Cork & Pig Tavern in Odessa, TX gets 7 out of 8 slices