by Bottom Line: The Foghorn Leghorn from Empire Slice House is an excellent slice of New York-style pizza that is amped up to the next level with a funky combination of ingredients, and it brings a nice kick.
I was in Oklahoma City just recently visiting my son at college to see his symphony concert. (Of course, they don’t call it a concert there, it’s a hoedown. And he doesn’t play the violin, it’s the fiddle!) Nearby the campus is a local pizza chain called Empire Slice House that he had been to previously and I wanted to check it out. They serve whole pizzas there, but their particular specialty is slices (which fits right into a college student’s budget). Each day, they have their slices-of-the-day, and I chose the Foghorn Leghorn which is also available as a full pie. Here’s what that includes: sweet marinara, roasted chicken, bacon, jalapeno, and Sriracha drizzle.
This is a New York style pizza with a flat, thin crust that is thicker on the edges. It is perfect for folding over, but I prefer to eat it as it comes because otherwise I consider it a calzone! (I’m a Texas boy and not edumacated on all those sophisticated big city ways.) The sweetness of the sauce comes through right away but does not overpower the flavors. The cheese has the perfect melt and delivers some creaminess with a bit of sharpness and salt. The bacon adds to that saltiness, though not too much, while also bringing a bit of smokiness. The chicken kind of gets lost in the mix, but it still brings some good texture. The pop and tang of the jalapenos helps pull everything together along with the funkiness and richness of the Sriracha. This is a combination of ingredients that you might think would not work, but it turns out to be a perfect combination and an excellent slice of pizza.
The first bite or two delivers a mild heat, but as you continue chomping your way to the crust at the end (which you will dip into that delicious marinara sauce that they offer) that head builds. It got close to the Medium and it lingered a bit, but this won’t send you screaming for the exits. Those who don’t appreciate spicy food may shy away from it, but chiliheads will gobble this down with no problem and probably ask for a second slice. I was sure tempted to go for that second piece, but we had already started out with meatballs and garlic knots as appetizers (both of which were quite delicious). That slice is plenty big, and a second piece would certainly threaten to burst that belt!
As for the name of the pizza, here’s my assumption of where it comes from (and stick with me here). Foghorn Leghorn is the well-known rooster character from the Looney Toons cartoons. (“That boy’ I say that boy is about as sharp as a bowling ball!”) Sriracha Sauce is sometimes referred to as “rooster sauce” because of the rooster on the bottle. So Foghorn Leghorn is a rooster and the sauce is a type of rooster. Get it? Maybe not? Oh well, that’s all I’ve got.
Empire Slice House is an Oklahoma chain that has three full restaurants across the state along with two “Slice Shops” that offer counter service. They have pizzas, salads, appetizers, and a nice selection of beers on tap, and the location I went to had a funky, casual atmosphere, just what you would expect near a college campus. The food I had was excellent and I will certainly make a return trip when I am back in town. If you happen to be traveling through the state, check their website to see if there is a location near where you will be.
