by Chow Hound of McKinneyNews.net

The star of the Durkin’s show was the pizza (and calzone) dough. GREAT!

Here comes a shocker: Another pizza joint hath done did sprouted in McKinney. Nice!

Given the impressive volume of pizza pie makers – and presumably eaters – in town, it’s a wonder there is literally any room for any movement in McKinney. The way Chow Hound sees it, one McKinney pizza-stuffed belly should be touching the next making for one hugely massive McKinney gut, all of us stuck together at our grotesquely obese umbilici, unable to move.

Think about it. A “simple” slice of cheese pizza averages somewhere in the neighborhood of 600 – 800 calories – give or take. Of course no one eats ONE slice of pizza, right? – unless, of course, you’re on one of those precious little first dates where both parties politely brandish their cute little forks and ever so daintily place one little bite of pizza in their mouths followed by a precious little wipe of a precious little napkin. PAHLEEZE!

Dates notwithstanding, if no one is looking, we slurp and shovel gobs of the gooey, cheesy stuff into our mouths with a frightening reckless abandon akin to starving wolves happlessly discovering a fresh moose carcus on the Alaskan tundra. And when the carnage is over, we MIGHT look down and find one or two spared slices. So, 800 calories at, um, six slices turns into a precious 4,800 units of energy ingested in one sitting (one pound of lard is equal to 3,500 calories).

But alas, dear readers, Chow Hound isn’t here to lecture about lard arses, the Dog is here to talk about food.

This week CH traveled to Durkin’s Pizza, a joint squeezed into a slender space in yet another obnoxious strip mall – you know the one – sitting at the corner of Custer Rd. and Hwy 121.

Durkin’s, some dude at the order counter said, has been tossing dough for “about” four or five months now. Same dude said business has been good (have you ever encountered one honest enough to tell you business is bad?). The joint is small, with comfortable seating for perhaps 40 people – 60 maybe if they were inclined to squish five or six to a booth. Durkin’s décor is nothing special: it’s functional, clean, and rather Spartan.

Chow Hound glanced at the minimalist menu (salads, sandwiches and pizza) and requested (at the walk-up order counter) one Italian chopped salad ($6.5), one cheese calzone ($6), and a small, 10-inch mushroom and onion pizza ($8).

After ingesting and reflecting, CH felt the star of the Durkin’s show was the pizza (and calzone) dough. GREAT! Slathered with butter and garlic, the plump, chewy dough-lined edge of the pizza was stupendous. Unfortunately, the counter dude apparently didn’t catch CH’s onion request: the pizza had none. But the mushrooms were fresh, not canned. And that was a big plus.

Now for a word about the sauce. Finding the “right” pizza sauce is like finding the “right” woman (or anything else, for that matter), it’s obviously a search defined by a highly idiosyncratic, subjective list of requirements. Chow Hound prefers a rather strong oregano-enhanced sauce that conveys a measurable amount of sweetness (sugar). Some, obviously, don’t. Durkin’s sauce, in CH’s opinion, wasn’t sweet enough – or distinct enough. Oh, and the texture was a bit too pasty for CH’s liking. (Keep in mind that the dough/crust was so good that the sauce issue became virtually incidental.)

Now for a word or two about the salad and calzone. The salad was nicely appointed with halved cherry tomatoes, shredded mozzarella, red onions, red peppers, and diced black olives planted atop a large pile of romaine lettuce and served with Italian vinaigrette on the side. Everything was fresh and tasty. The calzone was perhaps the second-best calzone CH has encountered in McKinney. Baked to a golden crisp, the dough (as it was with the pizza) was the star of the show. CH should say that he appreciates a bit of the less fatty ricotta cheese in his calzones. Durkin’s only featured mozzarella.

In sum, Durkin’s is certainly worth trying, dear readers. After all, it ain’t Domino’s and it ain’t Pizza Hut. Oh, and for the hedonists among us who occasionally generate a thirst for beer or wine, Durkin’s has both.

Chow Hound conscientiously confers 3.75 Milk Bones (roughly equivalent to a “B” grade) out of 5 upon Durkin’s Pizza.

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