Dining Out: Detroit Pizza serves up classics, new creations

Why: Detroit Pizza in Battle Ground has provided pick-up and delivery pizza service since 1995. Although the delivery boundary obviously doesn’t reach into Vancouver, Battle Ground has enough Main Street shopping that out-of-towners might find themselves in the vicinity with a hankering for a pizza but not the desire for a restaurant experience to accompany it.

They make their own dough and three sauces (original red, creamy garlic, and basil pesto) at Detroit, and the menu is populated with enough variety to suit an array of appetites.

Atmosphere: The space is clean, tidy, and large enough to present an organized, open kitchen to walk-in customers. As at most restaurants in this category, there is a help-yourself drink cooler where you may add a can or two-liter bottle of soda to your order.

What I tried: I settled on three different pizzas: a deep-dish pepperoni; the Mac Attack, which is made with cheese sauce, macaroni, mozzarella, garlic and cheddar cheese; and a veggie gourmet made with creamy garlic sauce, roma tomatoes, red onions, mozzarella, spinach, artichoke hearts, feta cheese, and parmesan cheese.

The crust on all the pizzas was soft and pliable but not doughy.

Each selection had noteworthy qualities. The deep-dish was made with the red sauce, and although it was applied sparingly, it packed a punch of flavor that likely would have dominated if any more was used. The pepperoni slices were large, thin, very lean and flavorful.

The veggie gourmet’s toppings were well-balanced, fresh and wholesome-tasting. I was impressed that it was free of the excessive moisture that I typically find accompanies such combinations.

If you like macaroni and cheese, you will want to try the Mac Attack pizza. It is likely what you envision when you read its description — an odd thing to see macaroni on top of a pizza, but for mac lovers, a dream come true! It possesses a rich cheese-filled flavor, lots of calories (for sure), and a casserole, or perhaps better said, a twice-baked, texture.

Menu highlights beyond what I tried: Regular and boneless wings, mozzarella sticks, and mac ’n’ cheese are available for starters. Salads come in 1-2 serving sizes and range from a basic tossed to an antipasto. The Joe Louis Knockout, made with Canadian bacon, pepperoni, Italian sausage, seasoned ground beef, black olives, green peppers, mushrooms, onions and mozzarella, is a popular choice.

I thought the Detroit Red Wing — pesto, grilled chicken, mozzarella, spinach, roma tomatoes and feta, topped with Parmesan cheese — sounded intriguing

Other observations: The wait time for my pick-up order was as promised and the service was thorough and friendly. I was asked to produce ID when I used a card to pay for my order — an all-too-rare occurrence nowadays.

Gluten-free crusts are available, and U-bake is also available for either take out or delivery.

Cost: Basic cheese pizzas are available in small (10 inches), $7.50; medium (12 inches), $11.99; large (14 inches), $13.99; and extra large (16 inches), $14.99. Toppings are additional, per topping, per size. Gluten-free crust may be ordered for a medium or large pizza for $3 more. Gourmet specialty pizzas come in all four sizes and range from $8.99 to $23.99. An Everyday Special includes one medium specialty pizza and a large one-topping pizza for $24.95. Salads are $3.99 and $4.99. Toasted subs are $4.99.

Hours: 3:30 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 to 10 p.m. Friday. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday.

Telephone: 360-687-4778.

Where: 308 E. Main St., Battle Ground.

Web: http://detroitpizzabg.com

Health score: Detroit Pizza received a perfect score of 0 on March 29. Clark County Public Health closes restaurants that score 100 or higher. For information, call 360-397-8428.