BACKLOT TAPHOUSE

Hoppen Hierarchy:★★★⭑

District: Aksarben

Detroit-Style Pizza & Craft Beers

Perfect For: Happy Hour; Casual Dining; Lunch

Standout Dishes: Detroit Classic Pizza; BBQ Bourbon Pizza; Yakuza Fries

With more than 200 pizza restaurants within city limits, it feels impossible to introduce a new style of pizza to Omaha. Yet that’s exactly what Backlot Taphouse did by bringing Detroit-style pies to the 402 at the beginning of 2020, and Omahans haven’t been able to get enough of them since.

But before we get into the restaurant specifically, let’s touch on the defining qualities of Detroit-style pizza and what makes it brilliant:

Caramelized crust: Cooked in rectangular pans, Detroit-style pies develop a crunchy, sweet exterior of caramelized cheese. Please don’t ask if it’s burnt. Imagine the corner pieces of a pan of brownies, only in pizza form and with extra cheese.
Wisconsin brick cheese: Higher-fat cheese leads to gooier bites and epic cheese pulls.
Pillowy dough: With a high water content and a quick trip through a high-heat convection oven, the dough becomes light and porous. Think of a pizza made of a huge loaf of chewy, buttery, elastic focaccia bread.
Sauce on top: Adding the sauce last as opposed to atop the dough keeps the crust from getting soggy while still providing a pleasant sweet acidity.

These characteristics make Detroit-style pizzas a genre of their own, and Backlot Taphouse executes them to perfection. Whether you order one of their 12 signature offerings or build your own, you can be sure the dough will be spongy and rich, the crust crispy, and the cheese oozing and plentiful.

The crust is the star of Backlot’s pizzas. It may look burnt, but there’s no bitterness or charred flavor. Instead, there’s a slight sweetness from the caramelization, and the texture is glorious. Each bite of the pizza’s edge produces an audible crunch. You could serve me an entire sheet of just the crust, and I’d wolf it down without thinking twice. To make the most of this effect, Backlot cuts each 8×10″ into four slices, so every slice is a corner and has two crispy edges.

While I haven’t tried the entire pizza menu, I recommend these three in particular:

Detroit Classic (double pepperoni; red sauce): The simplicity of the ingredients allows the cheese, dough, and crust to shine, and shine do they ever. Backlot applies two layers of pepperoni, the top row of which curls up into crisp pepperoni cups. It’s one of my personal favorite pizzas in Omaha.
Bourbon BBQ (grilled chicken; bourbon BBQ sauce; smoked cheddar; bacon; red & green onion): The sweetness from the BBQ sauce is the dominant flavor, but it accents the mild chicken and sharp, pungent cheddar brilliantly. And of course, bacon just makes everything better.
Taphouse (beer cheese sauce; grilled chicken; bacon; green onion): The beer cheese is thick and heavily applied, and it takes over the other flavors. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing: who doesn’t love dipping garlic bread into a rich cheese sauce? That’s essentially what you have here.

Looking for something to pair with your pizza? Backlot offers cheesy sticks, meatballs, wings, and elevated french fry combinations.

The fries, which are double-fried to achieve a sharp crispness, are delicious on their own. But they’re amped up to an 11 when drizzled with beer cheese and gojuchang sauce for the Yakuza Fries. The creamy cheese works well with the crunchy fry, and the slightly bitter beer taste is offset with the sweet from the Korean BBQ sauce. Fried pork cracklins just add more texture.

And though the food is definitely the standout, we haven’t even tapped into the “Taphouse” portion of Backlot’s name.

Backlot has 29 taps, many of which highlight local breweries like Site-1 Brewing, Kinkaider Brewing Company, and Farnam House Brewing Company. There are imported and national beers as well, not to mention an entire fridge full of bottles and cans.

Backlot wants to help its customers expand their beer palates and experience new options. However, if you just want to sip a Bud Light with your pizza, you can do that too. It’s an open, accessible beer menu that allows you to choose whatever you’re most comfortable with.

With big-screen TVs lining the walls, friendly bartenders, and plenty of new brews to sample, Backlot is a great place to watch a big game or grab a bite before heading to Baxter Arena for a concert or game. One drawback: orders are taken at the bar, which is a bit clunky, crowded system during busy hours. However, this doesn’t delay the service; appetizers typically arrive within 10 minutes, and entrees soon after.

Backlot Taphouse would be worth visiting even if it didn’t offer any pizza. The beers, fries, and atmosphere would make it a worthwhile bar.

But the pizza is what takes this place to a whole new level. You won’t find pies anywhere like this in the city, and Omaha’s pizza scene is better for it.