D'Oro Pizza: Cambodian immigrant family serves up deep-dish
BY SCOTT CHERRY World Restaurant Critic
Thursday, June 28, 2012
3/28/13 at 8:29 AM
Immigrants from the fallout of the Vietnamese and Cambodian civil wars in the mid 1970s have established some of the most popular restaurants in Tulsa. Ri Le, Binh Le, Viet Huong and Sooner Barbeque readily come to mind.
All of those reflect the owners' native cuisines, except for the now-closed Sooner Barbeque, and that's because owner Son Tran's first job here was cooking for the old Sutphen's Barbecue/Cleveland Farms.
The Keo family from Cambodia went another culinary direction: pizza.
Aisabi Keo and husband Ibrohim Keo, who had been a major in the regular Cambodian army and worked with the CIA, escaped their native country with their seven children in 1975 and soon after made it to Oklahoma.
Nine years later they opened D'Oro Pizza, which at one time had three locations.
"After we came to the United States, all of my children liked pizza, so I learned how to make it," Aisabi Keo said. "I made the sauce, the crust, everything, and I still make it the same way in the restaurant."
All of the children would one day work at the restaurant, and today a son, Michael, manages the only remaining D'Oro, located in Mall 31 Shopping Center since 1989. It is carryout and delivery only.
D'Oro advertises itself as a Chicago-style pizzeria, and in some ways it is. The crust is thick, almost breadlike, and deeper than flatbread pizza but not as tall as one generally pictures a deep-dish pizza. The sauce, seasoned with oregano, rosemary and other spices, seems mildly sweet, and the cheese is a six-cheese blend.
Rather than compare it to a specific style, probably it is best to view the pizzas as uniquely D'Oro.
We had two, a small portobello ($6.50) and a small capricciosa ($6.99), along with a serving of lasagna ($5.99) and a grilled chicken sub sandwich ($4.99).
The portobello was stacked tall with sliced mushrooms, truffle oil, sun-dried tomatoes, caramelized onions, tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese. It had a sweet flavor, in a caramelized onion kind of way.
The capricciosa, which included prosciutto, artichokes, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, was more savory, and the prosciutto gave it a salty jab here and there.
The lasagna was lightly seasoned and didn't have sharply definable layers, but it all was there, the pasta, meat, cheese and marinara sauce. It had a ubiquitous appeal, probably good for a mixed crowd.
The lasagna came with bread sticks, apparently made from the pizza dough, and marinara dipping sauce that had a hint of oregano.
We ordered the hot sub just for something a little different, and it had a pleasant chicken-and-cheese flavor on a soft sub roll. It came with lettuce, bright red tomatoes and ranch dressing.
Other dishes include a ham and cheese sub and buffalo wings.
Pizzas come in multiple sizes and with a wide range of meats, cheeses, vegetables and sauces. Prices are $5.25 to $10.99, or $1.99 by the slice.
The delivery range is an eight-mile radius from the restaurant. For more information, go to tulsaworld.com/doropizza
D’ORO PIZZA
6380 E. 31st St.
918-627-6434
Food: 
Atmosphere, service: carryout
and delivery only.
(on a scale of 0 to 4 stars)
11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4-9
p.m. Monday-Thursday,
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday-
Saturday; accepts all major
credit cards.
Original Print Headline: Country flavor
Scott Cherry 918-581-8463
scott.cherry@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
The supreme pizza is loaded with a variety of meats and veggies. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
The grilled chicken salad comes with a variety of toppings. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
Buffalo wings are the newest item on the D'Oro menu. JAMES GIBBARD / Tulsa World
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