D.P. Dough

Update: D. P. Dough is closed.

In a word: Take a ride in for a stranger 'zone.

The specs: #0306
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; reviews at Yelp, Badger Herald, WiSJ (end of article), Daily Cardinal, Culinary Adventures of Jahboh and Tossy, and Isthmus; mention at Dane101; chatter at TDPF; official chain web site;

JM ate the cordon bleu zone and a fountain drink.
Nichole ate the safety zone plus broccoli.
The bill was $15, or $7.50/person.
JM and Nichole gave D.P. Dough a B+ (see our grading rubric).

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Try as she might, Nichole couldn't talk JM into picking up a calzone from DP Dough on our way out of Cabana Room, our last adventure, which happened to be right next door. He cuts no corners when it comes to giving each venue a fair shake.

The clientele at D.P. Dough on this frigid night was very, very campus-centric. The coastie concentration was the highest we've seen since Cosi, making us feel old, dowdy, chubby and very unfashionable. Still, the counter service was very friendly, even coming out from behind the counter to ask how everyone's meals were going.

Our calzones were delivered fast and hot, bringing with them a wave of warm bread fragrance that was possibly the best part of the whole meal. The second-best part was that the aforementioned crust held together amazingly well, keeping grease (of which there was amazingly little) and juices off our hands while being thin, light and crispy on the outside. Each calzone came with a side of chunky marinara.

Nichole found that half a 'zone was enough for a meal. Hers included an absurdly generous amount of Romano and mozzarella cheeses that dwarfed the scanty veggie fillings. It seemed like she could only get one kind of topping in each bite: here a mushroom, there a broccoli floret, now a little spinach, then an olive. Each bite was flavored with a not-overpowering amount of garlic.

JM didn't have much to say about his ham, cheese and chicken 'zone except that it was tasty and filling. To him, D.P. Dough fits right in with the second tier of fast food, where:

• Tier 1: BK, McD, Taco Bell et al.;
• Tier 2: Arby's, Taco John's;
• Tier 3: Culver's, Chipotle, etc.

In short, D.P. Dough is decent on-the-go food, it just might not be geographically useful for Madisonians outside the capitol area, or those whose idea of "the pizza alternative" is to eat something, well, less like pizza.

Comments

[James]

It's not Romano cheese, it's a Mozzarella/Ricotta/Parmesan cheese blend. Chances are I made that cheese blend, too. Enjoy!

[Ellie]

I (heart) DP Dough! Yes, I feel lame saying that. I was thrilled to find out a DP Dough had recently opened when I moved to Madison back in Nov. It was what I lived on in college quiet often back when I went to Cornell. Back then, really not that long ago, the calzones were under 5 bucks and there wasn't all the extra stuff on the menu, like salad and wings. I have to say that paying the $6.50 now is worth it just for nostalgia's sake. I just wish it wasn't so hard to get to....

[Crash]

Yeah, not that good, not that bad. Not much nutrition in these things, and the quality of the sauce and cheese is middling. Still, after a few beers a fast calzone tastes pretty danged good. I pretty much agree with the post about the 'tiers' of fast food--this is definitely better than McDonalds, but nowhere near Culvers.

[Jason]

Tried this place a couple nights ago while running errands on State. I was actually pretty impressed. The cheese and other ingredients aren't mindblowing, but the sauce and the crust did it for me.

The sauce is more marinara than pizza, with a lighter, sweeter tomato taste and consistency then I would enjoy on a pie. And the crust is more like a pastry crust than a pizza crust. Both of those things made my meal far better than something I could get from a place that whips up sauce and crust with pizza, instead of calzones, in mind.

I'll never go back to leathery crust and thick sauce for my calzone needs again. From now on, it's pizza places for pizza, and calzone places for calzones. Why not, they all deliver.

[BT]

Chalk me up as another who was impressed by DP Dough. I had the "Maui Wowie" or something ... cheese, ham, cheese, pineapples, and cheese, and it was so good and cheesy that I want another one. The crust is delicious and the sauce has a little bit of a kick to it. All in all, I found DP Dough to be superb.

It blows Lovshack away in every regard.

[Ellie]

I went there tonight and the store was closed, but the lights were on. Not sure if it was just closed temporarily or for good. Sucks if it is gone. :-(