A pizzeria in Plano is slinging both New York-style and Detroit deep dish pizza: Called Heirloom Pizza, it’s a small shop at 2225 W. 15th St., where it's enjoying a second wind of sorts.
The shop first opened in 2022 under a different owner, then reopened in 2024 under new owner Justin Horton, a first-time restaurant owner and native of the area who'd worked in restauants, mostly as a waiter, for more than a decade.
“I saved up because I always wanted to own my own business and found this little place for sale,” Horton says. “A month later, I had my own pizza shop."
He had no previous pizza-making experience when he took over the place, but it didn't take him long to delve into a mastery of pizza — "it's like a work of art," he says. It helps that he's a quick study who researched pizza types and ingredients before arriving at his own recipe and style.
"Our classic is like a cross between a New York-style and New Haven, noted for its thin crust," he says. "But the one that has put us on the map lately is our Detroit deep-dish style. It's one I've been doing for the past few months. It has an airy, crunchy, crispy crust that people love. It's made in a trademark rectangular pan and I do them in limited quantity because I only have 15 pans, so we usually sell out."
His pizza hews carefully to the Detroit deep-dish style, with sharp squared-off edges that have a crispy caramelized "wall" of melted cheese while super soft and airy inside. For cheese, he uses the genre's standard, Wisconsin brick cheese, and makes his own tangy tomato sauce.
Detroit style deep dish pizza at Heritage PizzaHeritage Pizza
He's a true enthusiast, ready to talk about geeky pizza guy stuff like fermentation of the dough and the sourcing on his tomatoes.
Pizza options include creative options like an all-white pizza with white sauce, garlic, and three cheeses: mozzarella, ricotta, and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Another called Fred's Steakhouse Special is a collaboration, using and cheesesteak from the Fred's Downtown Philly next door.
"All the dough is fermented from 48-72 hours," he says. "We use the same dough, but it gets proofed differently depending on what we're making."
Prices are affordable, ranging from $12 for a 12-inch cheese pizza to $22 for a 16-inch specialty pizza.
They also have four salads including a Caprese and a Greek; and desserts, like tiramisu, cannolis, and cheesecake. Horton emphasizes that he makes the cannolis with specialty ingredients.
"I get the shells shipped in from Sicily, then I make the cream myself," he says. "I try to put a lot of love and passion behind everything I do."
