just outside Southlake, in Grapevine.  The place was empty, which made me nervous, but we decided to stay and try it out anyways.

Fireside Pies smelled great inside, and my eyes were drawn to the wood burning oven on display behind the rather large bar.  Although the place is dimly lit, the lights they do have shine directly over the table top, so you are able to see pretty well.  It is kind of deceiving actually, since I thought they had almost no light in the place.  The booths were comfortable and inviting,  and they even boast a beautiful outside dining area for the 3 months a year the weather permits their patrons to enjoy it.

Our server was extremely pleasant and told us about the specials.  They didn't really matter to me, since I knew what I was there for.  And that was pizza!  Normally a place will show its plain and least expensive pie on the top of the page as a way to show the base of all the other pies.  Fireside Pies did not do this, and I found it hard to initially locate the plain pie I want.  I eventually discovered that the main reason for my inability to locate the plain pie at first sight was because Fireside Pies calls their regular pizza a "straight pie", so as not to confuse it with the homosexual pies they serve.  Are gay people allowed to order a pie like this?  What an odd name for a plain pizza.  Why can't places just call it what it is.

When the pizza arrived, I was pretty impressed with my first bite.  The crust was crisp and tasty, and layered with a delicious sauce.  This sauce was one of the better sauces I have had in a very long time.  It wasn't too thin (which I usually like) and was actually a pretty heavy sauce.  The crust had to be crisp to hold a sauce of this consistency.  The cheese was a magnificent blend of Mozzarella, Reggiano, Fontina, and Fontinella.  This pie would seem like a perfect pie, but that was until you checked the bottom of the crust.

The bottom of the Fireside Pies, straight pie was inundated with flour.  There was more flour on this pie than almost any other pizza I had eaten.

The manager Ichel, was quite possibly one of the kindest I have encountered in Dallas, and explained to us the concept of Fireside Pies and their plans for expansion.  For a "corporate" type of entity, to serve up pizza like Fireside, it should prove that you don't have to dilute your product as you grow.

Nicely done Guys! Just lose like 90% of the flour you use.

Fireside Pies gets 6 out of 8 slices.