City Line Shop Cafe Carbondale is a sprawling and unique shop, cafe, restaurant, wine bar and more with rich history. In all my years living in NEPA I had never heard of it before. However, they recently started serving Detroit style pizza. That menu addition put the place on my radar! As a result, I had the chance to try a great pizza and a very cool shop!
Detroit style pizza (DSP) is known for it’s distinctive “frico” edge. The frico is created by placing copious amounts of cheese against the edge of the pizza pan and allowing it to caramelize and crisp up. In my opinion, a taste of this frico is the most delicious bite in sports! Detroit pizza is also unique because it traditionally applies stripes of sauce on top of the cheese. This style of pizza has caught fire around the country over the past 5-7 years, but has been very slowly adopted in Northeast Pennsylvania (despite my best efforts to publicize it)!
Detroit Pizza in Carbondale
I was thrilled to see City Line Shop Cafe creating their version of a DSP which appeared to be pretty authentic in the photos I saw on social media before visiting. Upon arrival, I verified that it did look pretty traditional, and supremely delicious. The pizza itself is approximately 8″ x 10″. Some folks might take a quick look and say a DSP is a personal pizza. It’s not. Even though the crust is light and airy, the copious amount of cheese on this pizza gives it some weight and does fill you up. The cheese on City Line’s pizza is a secret, but it is advertised as a three cheese blend – and a delicious one at that!
This pizza was crispy and crunchy on the outside and light and fluffy in the middle. The cheese has some gooeyness, a hint of sharpness, and some buttery notes to it. As Detroits go, it was a tad bit greasy which added to the deliciousness factor for me. I ordered this pizza with thick cut pepperoni that they slice in-house. It was fantastic and the texture and flavor of the roni that cupped up was just fabulous. Finally, the sauce was smooth, sweeter (but not super sweet), and really tailor made for the NEPA population’s tastebuds.
Headed for My “Must Try” List
Overall, I was very impressed with the pizza. I’ll place this on my “must try list” because it is well executed but also because it’s unique and meets a huge unmet demand in NEPA – Detroit Style Pizza! I recommend you give it a try and let me know what you think!
| Rating Category | Rating Score |
|---|---|
| Crust | 7.8 |
| Sauce | 8.2 |
| Cheese | 8.3 |
| Taste | 8.8 |
| Crispy/Cooked Properly | 8.2 |
| Value | 7.5 |
| Overall Rating | 8.3 |
Pizza is Similar to: Original Pizza On Drinker, Nearra’s, Vesuvio’s
