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It seems strange to me that there's only one other comment here. Cathy Whims is kind of a big deal in Portland (James Beard finalist for best chef NW), as is Nostrana. I guess it goes to show how much of a small city Portland actually is, and how insular it is too. Cascadian cuisine really doesn't have that much reach.

If this restaurant had been opened by a name chef in SF or NYC, I imagine there'd be a lot of national curiosity and more chatter in the comments here.

I haven't been to O&S yet, but I do plan on going and comparing it to the original Nostrana pies. A friend of mine just went to Nostrana and was very impressed with the pizza. Based on what she said, it sounds like Nostrana has changed their pizza fairly significantly since I was last there, which would have been at least a year ago. They apparently no longer make their own cheese and it sounds like their sauce has changed as well. I wonder if the opening of O&S influenced the pizza at the original spot...

@Tarmac, there's a difference between claiming something is "the best", which implies some kind of overarching pretentious objectivity, and claiming something as "my favorite", which is just a subjective truth. I wouldn't go around saying "Di Fara is #1." But I would say "Di Fara is #1 in my heart."

The fact that the place still gets this much attention—not just from the media, but from commenters here—means something about its place in the pizza world and in New York culture. The myth of Di Fara is just as important as the reality of it.

@John Wozniak, the square slice I had the other day wasn't burned. I don't have any photographic proof of this, so you can either take my word for it or not. On the flip side, as noted previously, it was a little gummy. It was still pretty goddamn tasty though.

There's one bit of news that may or may not be worth looking into (you really should be the judge, I guess). Pizza Depokos, as of this past July, has a new owner/operator: me; including a new pizza menu, new beer menu, new hours, new website, and soon-ish, a slightly re-vamped interior seating area. Also possibly a new name TK.

I apologize if this comes across as a callous attempt a schilling my business, but a little extra attention couldn't hurt...

when i wrote "pizzadepkos" i meant, "pizzadepokos." two o's. still at gmail though.

Looking forward to week two!

I bought my ticket to New York—fly in on Christmas. I cannot wait to eat at your place P.G. It tops my list of destinations (well, it's tied with Di Fara, but that's pretty good company).

Mr. Joe Hall hit the nail on the head. While I'm new to running a pizzeria, my financial prospects would be sad-faced if I didn't offer carry out. I would have more unhappy customers from that than customers who were disappointed in the quality of the food. (I'd love to do delivery, and hopefully will in the future, but it's an investment—marketing, hiring an employee, insuring said employee, etc.—so there are legit economic reasons why that's just not happening.)

I put a reasonable amount of faith in customers knowing what they want and being flexible enough to provide it. And while I still have some editorial power (there's no pineapple, chicken, or gluten-free crusts on the menu), I try to exercise it somewhat sparingly and only for things that I feel most strongly about. And part of those decisions are also based on what I'm actually capable of financially and just storage-wise (can't buy a bunch of stuff that I don't have room for or will eventually go bad due to lack of enough customer support).

As a pizza consumer, there are definitely times when I'm more than happy to get a pizza to go from a WFO joint and I just have to assume that my customers are the same. Deterioration in quality be damned—I wanna pizza and I want it at home while watching Scott Pilgrim.

I haven't had it in a couple years now, but I remember it being a totally excellent thick crust pizza, and that's a style I normally turn my nose up to. Yeah, it's pricey, but the pizza is seriously filling. This place has a good rep for the right reason.

White pie with garlic and hot peppers. Simple. I like it. Your pizzas look great and I envy you your in-law's oven.

Ya. That looks like a super tasty slice. Pizza-ing to commence.

I do wonder why pizza-making is still such a male-dominated arena...

...a whole 16-inch pizza, $18 wouldn't appear...

I'm not a particularly spiritual person either, but I do believe that you'll find success here. I think what your customers will find, as your audience here has found, is that you care deeply about your food, your business, and your community. Your pizzas will no doubt impress, but it's the intangibles that will bring you the public's loyalty.

They do not have a by the slice option, but the all-you-can menu is Sundays only. Their menu changes seasonally and features great local/regional produce. Two of the best things I've had since moving to Portland were their oven-roasted honey-paprika glazed dungeness crab and their oven-roasted asparagus and pancetta.

Their pizzas are good, but their other dishes slay.