‘Deep dish and dirty’: American Pies, Ancoats, reviewed

The deep dish pizza joint from the gang behind behemoth bites brand Brewski has recently opened a second site in Ancoats. 

Located on the corner of Blossom Street, the Chicago-style spot sits opposite fellow Manchester dough-slingers, Rudy's. Each serving very different styles in their own right - deep dish versus Neapolitan - but is Cutting Room Square big enough for two of Manchester’s pizza giants to sit mere yards away from each other? Only time will tell.

The site was previously SecondCity Bar, a sports bar with flatscreens on every wall and long tables with pull-out benches at either side for easy celebrations when your favourite team scored. 

But American Pies has completely refurbished the unit, swapping the light wooden features for mahogany and replacing the benches with bistro-style furniture instead. A typical Italian-American checkerboard flooring runs the length of the bar down towards the toilets and where SecondCity's Strongbow Dark Fruits and Amstel pumps were sits a coffee machine instead. They've even thrown in a couple of green and white striped curtains for good measure - think a more grown up Frankie & Benny's. 

What they haven't ditched however are the TVs behind the bar. Although now the Premier League screenings have been replaced with NBA highlights. It wouldn't be American Pies without some neon signage though, which they've incorporated with the help of an ooey-gooey slice of pepperoni pizza that illuminates the front window.

Dave and I looked over the menu; an A3-sized offering of deep dish and deep fried delicacies including fried chicken parm and the gluttonous BBQ brisket donut. 

We were particularly enticed by the sound of the carbonara sticks with truffle honey and crispy pancetta (£10) so ordered those, alongside a portion of the equally intriguing 'pepperoni crisps' served with ranch (£3). 

The carbonara sticks arrived in a portion of four searing hot, golden batons, sprinkled with parmesan and Italian seasoning that had adhered to them with the help of the honey drizzle. 

They certainly looked inviting sat their on their little plate but, once cut in half, the pasta strands inside each carbonara stick gave them an almost unnerving appearance. Is there a type of trypophobia for stringy things instead of holes? If so, the cross section of this side is enough to trigger it. 

But I've learned not to judge a book by its cover (or a carbonara stick by its...er...innards?) and took a bite through the crispy outer coating. Slightly al dente, the pasta strands were drenched in a creamy carbonara sauce with little bits of pancetta peeping out adding a salty morsel to each bite which the honey cut through nicely. A pleasant appetiser and taster of what was to come. 

As for the pepperoni crisps, in my head I was picturing some pepperoni-flavoured fancy potato crisps like the Torres ones you can get from high-end wine and craft beer bars (if you ever spot these on a menu being served with caviar and soured cream, order them - you won't be disappointed). 

However, what arrived was a far simpler concept; pepperoni circles fried within an inch of their lives, until they resemble a kind of jerky, served with a small trough of ranch dressing. Satisfyingly crunchy, but the ranch was a little lacklustre. Much like the caviar crisps, I reckon serving these with soured cream and chives instead would turn them into an instant hit. 

Tater tots. Who doesn't love a tater tot? If they're on the menu, I'm ordering them. 

Fluffy on the inside, golden and crispy on the outside and lightly dusted with garlic salt for good measure, these potato bad boys (£4) hit the spot for me. So much so that I tried every trick in the book to distract Dave while I gobbled them down. 

'Oh no, did the Lakers just secure themselves a free throw against the Bulls?' 

That's it, you keep watching the screen, Dave. 

It wouldn't be a trip to American Pies without one of their signature Chicago deep dish pizza pies, now would it? That'd be like going to Greggs and not picking up a cheeky sausage roll. It's just something that has to be done. 

Sticking with the pepperoni and honey theme, we ordered one of their seven-inch garlic butter parmesan pies with pepperoni (£16) and hot honey drizzled over for good measure (an extra £1). 

Controversial perhaps, but I'm not normally a deep dish kind of gal. I prefer a thin and crispy, floured base as opposed to a doughy one. Deep dish pizzas give me PTSD flashbacks of burning the roof of my mouth on those little microwaveable Chicago Town ones you'd get at two for a pound back at uni. 

But, when in Rome...Chicago...Ancoats...

The Chicago special arrived on a deep-set plate and was presented on its own little metal plinth, presumably to stop the lovely wooden tables from getting third degree burns from the base. There wasn't an awful lot of table room left at this point so we did some reshuffling, turning the plate that housed our carbonara sticks into a buffet of deep fried sides and two remaining tater tots. British tapas eat your heart out. 

The pizza crust was almost a cake-y, pastry consistency - a bit like the base of a Bakewell tart but more savoury. Dave took a slice and a big string of cheese followed it for about a foot in length before flopping onto his plate. 

My slice's cheese pull wasn't as impressive. I delved in and took a bite making sure to get a piece of all the toppings; the pepperoni doused in honey, the stringy cheese and chunky homemade marinara sauce, the parmesan and Italian herbs, and lastly the Bakewell base. A bite of this thing is a proper mouthful. The flavours work well together and, after all those carbs, we weren't about to leave hungry. This short but stout seven incher is more filling than you'd think. 

The verdict? Maybe I'm the anomaly but I still prefer thin crust pizzas to deep pan. 

That's not to say that if you're into your ultra-cheesy, deep-fried, super-loaded, carb-heavy pizza you won't absolutely adore this, though; I can definitely see the appeal from that side of the coin. I imagine American Pies would be a perfect spot for curing your hangover. 

American Pies, 23 Blossom St, Ancoats, Manchester M4 5EP

Follow Harley Young on X @Harley__Young