New Calzone Restaurant For East Side

D.P. Dough. Photo from Facebook.

The East Side will be getting a calzone restaurant chain called D.P. Dough coming sometime this spring according to Third Coast real estate agent Michael Styke. The restaurant is set to open at 1515 E. North Ave. in the space that was previously home to an Open Pantry, and will include an additional 800 sq. feet available for future tenant use.

D.P. Dough is an American chain of calzone restaurants that started in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1987. Since then, its headquarters has moved to Columbus, Ohio, and locations have spread all over the East Coast, Midwest, and as far west as Arizona. But not in Wisconsin. The location opening at 1515 E. North Ave. will be the first D.P. Dough in the state. The building currently has a permit for a sign in progress, as well as a request for an electrical permit submitted on Jan. 8.

“I am thrilled to see more growth on the western part of east North Ave.,” says Kristin Godfrey, executive director of the East Side BID District. “We have terrific businesses already there and of course the thriving energy of having a UWM dorm right there.”

D.P. Dough’s menu consists of a variety of calzones, including a build-you-own calzone menu. Other options include wings, breadsticks, and D.P. tots (the chain’s take on tater tots, tossed in cheddar cheese and bacon bits). D.P. Dough’s motto is “open crazy late” and locations are typically open until bar close. The chain presents itself in a light hearted tone, selling D.P. Dough shirts with a “stoney calzoney” on the front: a calzone with facial features that suggests he is “fresh baked,” as the shirt declares. This image, combined with the late night hours, are likely to appeal to the college demographic, but conflicts with the direction that most of the other new businesses on the East Side have taken.

“With independent businesses going into four of the vacant spaces further east this year and more residential development throughout the neighborhood, I welcome the diversity of options for our customers,” Godfrey says.