Pizza News

Pizza-by-the-slice joint joins the mix at new Uptown Dallas food hall

Innovative pizzeria has opened in Uptown Dallas.

Photo courtesy of Slice-O

A skilled pizzaiolo returns to the Dallas pizza scene with an inventive new slice: a pizza joint called Slice-O Pizza, now open in The Commons at Cedar Springs, the newly revamped food hall at the Gables Villa Rosa building in Uptown.

Slice-O comes from Shon Ben-Kely, a former pizza chef at Cane Rosso who has worked with some of the finest pizzaioli, including Carmine D’ Amato of Settebello Pizzeria in Las Vegas. His partners at Slice-O include Michele D'Amelio, a fellow pizzaiolo and a native of Italy; and Sean Smith, who co-owns OMG Tacos, another one of the food hall's new vendors.

At Slice-O, they're serving an innovative pizza that's a cross between New York-style and the classic Neapolitan pie served at Cane Rosso.

"We're doing some classics like the Margherita, and then we're doing a white pizza with garlic ricotta that's really good," Ben-Kely says. "We're importing Italian salami and pepperoni from Italy, and we're making everything in-house, including our own tiramisu and cannoli for dessert."

Like Neapolitan-style pizza, his dough is fermented for 72 hours, a process that gives pizza crust a superior taste and textures.

"The crust is super light," he says. "When you bake it, it's not as soft as a Neapolitan-style crust, it's a little more on the crispy side. We bake it in a wood-burning oven at 600 degrees, and it cooks about 6 to 7 minutes. You bake a Neapolitan pizza for 90 seconds, and a New York-style pizza gets baked for 10 minutes, so you could call this a cross breed. I call it Neo-Americana."

They're also using a new flour from Italy. "We're using this flour called 'Americana' that's made by Caputo, the internationally known flour from Naples," he says. "The flour is grown and harvested in Italy. Michele and I were part of a team for Caputo to introduce it to pizzerias in the United States."

As the name implies, Slice-O will do pizza by the slice, but with a certain customizable component.

"We're doing it by the slice and 18-inch pizzas only," he says. "If you walk in right now, for lunch there should be 2-3 pizzas behind a glass case. We'll take a slice, and you can add mushrooms or onions, you can build your own slice."

It's been a smash with the after-bar crowd, he says. "We're open until midnight on weeknights and until 3 am on weekends, and when the bars close, we get a huge spike," he says.

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Coffee News

New Dallas coffee shop opens with good coffee — and great hair

Common Good

Common Good coffee and good vibes

A new coffee shop with some serious styling has opened near downtown Dallas: Called Common Good, it's located at 1619 N. Hall St., right off Ross Avenue, in what was previously a retail outlet for Rakkasan Tea Company, who left the space in mid-2024.

Common Good is more than just a coffee shop – it's a coffee shop-hair salon from Christopher Bermudez, a stylist who previously owned Ellum Salon in Deep Ellum which he sold in 2022. Their motto: "Good coffee, good hair, good vibes."

Bermudez was born in Mexico City and moved to Dallas when he was one year old but remained close to his culture and often travels to Mexico City, where he found the inspiration behind this new concept.

"I was inspired by the multiuse spaces in my hometown of Mexico City: coffee shops that turn into a nightclub or tequila tasting rooms in the evening. Great vibe is what we are going for," he says.

The coffee shop is in the front, while the hair salon is in the back, divided by a large glass. The salon has eight stylists, including Bermudez.

The shop also features all-vinyl jam tables where guest DJs play music most weekends, creating a cool atmosphere. The décor resembles listening rooms that are popular in South Korea, with custom-made wooden walls and modern furniture.

Good vibes at Common Good Coffee and hair salonCommon Good

Heading the coffee operation is Jesse Nava, who recently worked at Xaman Coffee in Oak Cliff, and they're partnered with Lemma Coffee for beans and barista training. The shop offers a small but solid menu, with espresso and coffee classics, plus some specialty drinks including pistachio matcha, cardamon rose latte, espresso freddo, and a Mexican mocha.

“We want to stay consistent with a small menu — we want to get it right, then eventually add to it," Bermudez says.

They plan to add food, as well, working with a local bakery still to be decided for muffins, croissants, kolaches, cookies, and bagels.

They're open Tuesday-Saturday from 7 am-7 pm, with shorter hours Sunday and Monday, from 7 am-2 pm, since the salon portion is closed those days.

They've witnessed a big demand for coffee, since the center they're in had coffee history: The storefront on the corner at 1623 Hall St. was once Method Coffee, then Fiction Coffee, which closed at the end of 2023. (It's now home to Black Swan Saloon, the resuscitated bar from acclaimed mixologist Gabe Sanchez.)

They see themselves as a neighborhood coffee shop, where residents of the multiple apartment complexes around can become regulars. They are dog-friendly, serving pup cups.

"I always believed that if you have a good product people will come," Bermudez says.

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