Zoli's NY Pizza in Addison has a new menu. A new chef boss. And a newish restaurant: It's been open for nearly a year in Addison, after owner Jay Jerrier moved out of Oak Cliff to make way for a $50+ million development.
That leap, from an eclectic neighborhood in Dallas to a businessy intersection in Addison, has been large. So while the company readies to open a second Zoli's in Fort Worth in spring 2019 -- with further expansion likely -- it's bringing back the popular by-the-slice option customers remember from the Oak Cliff shop.
"Zoli's has done well, but we want to be able to reach other people," says Jeff Bekavac. He's the new chief culinary officer who formerly worked for the parent company behind Dallas restaurants Neighborhood Services and Town Hearth. Bekavac was hired by Zoli's founder Jay Jerrier (and will also work with Jerrier's Neapolitan pizza joints, Cane Rosso); he joins Zoli's Executive Chef Lee Hunzinger in the kitchen.
The by-the-slice option is $10 for one square piece of Sicilian pizza and a side salad at lunchtime. It'll be fast, Bekavac says: Customers can probably eat in 30 minutes.
The new menu still includes favorites like the garlic knots, a fried Brussels sprouts appetizer called lil' bastards, and more. And the focus is still mostly on pizza, though the menu will include inspiration from Jerrier's travels to Los Angeles, Nashville and New York City.
"We've always been happy with the pizza," he says. "Lee Hunzinger is ridiculous. [That's a compliment.] However, we've wanted to be more than just a pizzeria."
"We have Italian-American DNA but also know that we are in Texas and in the South."
So, unsurprisingly, there's a burger on Zoli's menu. It's called the O.D. Burger, which stands for the Obligatory Dallas Burger, and costs $15. Bekavac says it's a chef's play on a Big Mac: two beef patties, American cheese, horseradish pickles and Zoli sauce (a mustard-based sauce with some mayo and ketchup). It's served with waffle fries.
Because the Zoli's in Addison is located on the site of a former Snuffer's, the new menu includes loaded waffle fries, done "Pat's way," in honor of Pat Snuffer, the founder of Snuffer's (which has since changed hands). The waffle fries ($11) come topped with smoked mozzarella, parmesan cream, white cheddar, fried pepperoni and cherry peppers. Yeah: You'll want a fork and a knife.
At dinner only, customers can order baked spaghetti o's, a homemade version of the grocery store find, with 8-hour beef bolognese and two kinds of cheese for $14. "It's super cheesy and gooey," Bekavac says.
Other menu items added include roasted chicken with Italian salsa verde and garlic knot panzanella salad for $18; eggplant parmesan for $14; and chicken parmesan for $16.
Zoli's is also serving brunch on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. While most of the menu includes brunch items like cinnaknots (cinnamon knots topped with cream cheese frosting glaze) and fried chicken and waffles, anyone who just has to get pizza should look to the brunch 'za topped with potatoes, scrambled eggs, bacon and more. Editor's note: Please send us a picture if you order this.
[Update on Aug. 30, 2018: Ask and you shall receive: Our friend Philip Berne tried it! See his Instagram photo of the brunch pizza below.]
"We are trying to make the rest of the menu as thoughtful and put together as the pizza side of the menu," Jerrier says.
And will there be a third Zoli's, beyond Addison and the coming-soon Fort Worth restaurant? Jerrier was coy: "Hopefully!"
Zoli's is located at 14910 Midway Road, Addison.
