The other day I was meeting some friends for a long overdue catching up session. They ended up choosing some new place called Rice & Dough in Downtown Fort Lauderdale since it had pizza and also sushi. Yes the combination seemed kind of gross to me too, but since I never tried the pizza here, I was up for the challenge. Rice and Dough was a little hard for me to find since I am seldom on that particular side street in Fort Lauderdale. It was located on SE 2nd St. and SE 5th Ave. I parked across the street in some parking lot that had more potholes than I recall NYC having and headed over to check it out. Rick and Dough had a nice ambiance inside. The place was about half filled with a younger hipster crowd. Our Russian waitress came over to the table and asked us what we wanted. We decided upon two pizzas, with mine being plain (of course). I was kind of surprised my guests didn't get Sushi since they make fun of me for only wanting to eat pizza whenever they ask me to go out. I don't even recall which pizza they ordered but I know it wasn't anything I would have eaten. The pizza came out pretty quick, and the pizza maker was within my sight the entire time so I had the opportunity to make certain he knew what he was doing. The pizza maker seemed to make the pie with pride and the ingredients looked fresh from the distance. My first impression of the pizza once it was served was decent but I wasn't overly impressed with it. The crust had too much flour and in my opinion it was way too puffy. When I lifted the first slice up, it wasn't very crisp either. This is just my personal opinion, but I wasn't that happy with what I initially saw so far. When I took my first bite, I was pleased with the taste. Since the crust was a let down, I thought that the rest of the pie would be as well. This wasn't the case. The cheese was fresh and a quality blend. Although the sauce was too chunky for me to fall in love with, after wiping some of it off, it was a nice accent to the slice. From what my other friends tell me, the owners of Rice & Dough seem very nice and I would love to see them succeed here and help the city grow with different dining options. In order to stay around for a while, it is my personal opinion that they should stretch the dough out more and cook the pie a little better to avoid it being so flimsy. I would also personally make the sauce a little less chunky and add a tiny amount of sugar to it. Lastly I would suggest lowering your prices, since $15.95 for the "American" pie I got is way too high. Rice & Dough is a place I would certainly try again in order to make sure it wasn't just an off day for the pizza maker. I wish the owners the very best of luck with this new place, and just because it wasn't my personal favorite place as of now, doesn't mean you shouldn't go and give it a try. You might like the way the pie tastes. Rice & Dough in Fort Lauderdale gets  4 out of 8 slices. We will be back soon!