Third Coast Pizza — Restaurant in Lenexa

I've only had the Chicago style pizza and it is top notch! Every bit as good as what I had at the famed Pizzeria Due in downtown Chicago. You might think it's slightly pricey for the size... until you feel how HEAVY the box is and realize you won't be able to finish a second slice. I ordered the City in a Garden and Windy City pizzas--one vegetarian, the other meat-heavy. Both were fantastic. I noticed when ordering that I could order a pizza with the same ingredients as the Windy City and it would actually be about 60 cents cheaper. But I spent the extra pennies and asked when I got there what the difference was. I was told that for the Windy City they'll put on about 1/4 again as much of the ingredients as if I'd ordered those toppings separately. So it was definitely a good deal.

Pro-tip: If you're ordering pizza to go, pick it up yourself and transport it home carefully. Put it on the FLOOR of your vehicle so it will stay as level as possible. Ease into your stops and take your turns slowly. There is a LOT of thick sauce and cheese and toppings that can move around. I put mine in the passenger seat which has just enough of an incline that a lot of sauce and topping drifted toward the lower end. It was a bit messy to redistribute, but still delicious! I don't even want to think what it would have looked like if the typical Door Dasher had tossed the pizzas in the back seat of his jalopy and burned rubber to my place.

Here's a tip on re-heating if you have leftovers. First heat your slice(s) up in the microwave until the top is warm. This takes a surprisingly long time--two minutes in our microwave but yours may be more powerful. THEN put it in a frying pan on medium heat for 13 minutes. This will crisp up the bottom nicely and make sure the heat goes all the way through. If you do this it'll be almost as good as fresh.

One note to the people at Third Coast: consider putting waxed paper or a corrugated waxed lining along the bottom of the box. Our boxes got pretty soggy and I was worried the pizza might tear through the bottom. To be fair, it never did, so maybe I'm worrying...

I really wanted to like this place, being a born and bred Chicagoan who bemoans the lack of deep dish in Kansas City since Uno left.

Indeed, the sauce is right, the ingredients all are great, but the assembly? First, the only way I could get deep dish is a 16 inch. That's HUGE. And when it was delivered it was a mess. Sauce on the top of the deep dish was everywhere.

My family got traditional crusts. Again, ingredients were good, but on theirs, toppings were sparse. Definitely over-sauced. One crust was too flaky (did they use deep dish dough for thin crust by mistake?), the other was spot on.

Maybe I should eat in the restaurant to make a final judgment, since the biggest complaint is the mess of delivery of a large-sized deep dish.

My suggestion would be to offer a 10 inch deep dish, possibly even stuffed. That would be amazing with those ingredients. But it would possibly deliver better. For the thin crusts, don't skimp on the toppings.

Lots of.potential for this restaurant but I think they need to up their delivery quality because delivery fee is $8 (plus tip) and I got a pie that did somersaults and left me to re-sauce and repair the pie after receiving it.

Otherwise, value for the money was good compared to other pizza choices...assuming the skimpy topping.issue...

I love the owners — genuinely great people. I’ve had the Chicago deep dish here before, and it’s solid. And their carrot cake? Killer. I once ordered a full sheet for my birthday and nearly died trying to eat the whole thing. Worth it.

The vibe is cozy and a little moody — deep red walls, booths lining the edges, and you order at the counter where you can watch the pizza being made by the same person who took your order. It’s charming and personal, the kind of place that feels lived-in and authentic.

The regular crust pizza, though… bland. Crust lacks personality, sauce is timid, and the whole thing begs for more flavor. The meatball grinder is generous with cheese and meatball portion, but the meatballs themselves are flat — they need salt, herbs, maybe a little garlic. The sandwich suffers from the same lackluster sauce as the pizza, but the fries? Absolutely awesome — crispy on the outside, soft as a pillow on the inside.

Bottom line: Third Coast has flashes of brilliance, and the owners’ passion shows, but most of the menu is underwhelming. With a few tweaks, this place could be something really special.

3/5 — Good bones, standout fries and desserts, and a vibe worth visiting, but most of the main menu needs a...