“Pizza makes you a hero in the eyes of your kids.
“Daddy got pizza!”
You are higher status walking in the door with a pizza
than if you were returning from a war with a Purple Heart.”
― Jim Gaffigan, Dad Is Fat
Virtually since its inception, Dion’s Pizza has been a beloved Albuquerque staple–as much a Duke City institition as the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, the Sandia Peak Tramway and the Albuquerque Isotopes. Denizens of the Duke City love Dion’s, a prolific purveyor of pulchritudinous pies since 1978. With thirteen locations in Albuquerque alone as well as several others throughout the state, Dion’s pizza has become a mainstay not only at the family home, but at business functions. It’s not only dads who become heroes when they ferry this pizza home. Every boss thoughtful and savvy enough to bring Dion’s to a party or meeting is instantly regarded as a great boss. Great pizza will do that for you.
Ironically, founders Jon Patten and Bill Scott didn’t set out to create New Mexico’s most dynastic and beloved pizza place. After purchasing a small place called New York Pizza, Jon and Bill began to carry out the plans of turning the pizzeria into a Greek eatery While awaiting the equipment to make gyros and baklava, the previous owner taught them how to make pizza so they could start serving hungry customers immediately.
Bill and Jon had the perfect name for their pizza-for-now-but-really-Greek-restaurant: “Dionysus, after the Greek god of god of wine, revelry, and theater (a real party animal). When it came to designing the restaurant’s signage, they balked at the price. Inflation had skyrocketed since ancient Greek times. They asked the sign maker what they could do to make their sign less expensive. He laughed and replied, “Well, you could knock off a few letters.” And that’s just what Jon and Bill did. From that moment on, their restaurant became known as Dion’s®.
Dion’s offers a profusion of “have it your way” pizza options. That includes fourteen toppings, including such New Mexican favorites as green chile and pine nuts. Build your own options include a gourmet crust and the restaurant’s original crust, both of which are the canvas for small (12-inches), medium (14-inches) and large (16-inch) pies. Seven custom pies are on the menu, too, for those of us with mad scientist tendencies who don’t always trust our limits. Then there are five “gourmet” pies, ostensibly named for locations in which pizzas with specific ingredients would be popular: Duke City, Kansas City, Napoli, Santorini and Tuscany. The Duke City pie, for example, is topped with Cheddar, turkey, green chile and Parmesan.
As someone who thinks about food as much as Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker sculpture thinks about how to prevent those annoying pigeons from disrespecting him, I’ve often wondered why Dion’s has not offered a Detroit-style pizza on its Gourmet pizza menu. After all, founders Jon Patten and Bill Scott grew up in the Detroit area. If you’ve never had Detroit-style pizza, you’re in for a treat. It’s this gastronome’s favorite pizza style. Although Dion’s still doesn’t offer Detroit-style, you can find it at Tula’s Kitchen on Pan American. Tula’s, as you may know, is the younger (founded in 2022) sibling of Dion’s. Two locations now grace the Duke City, the original at the La Cueva Town Center at Wyoming Blvd and Paseo del Norte and the second at the location which previously housed Nick & Jimmy’s Bar & Grill.
Although it’s recognized that the best marketing comes from the word of mouth of satisfied customers, Dion’s and Tula’s is blessed to have an oustanding marketing and content coordinator in Mandie Segura. Mandie invited me to visit Tula’s to sample the Detroit-style pizza on the restaurant’s bar menu. It was my first visit to the Pan American location. From the exterior, not much has changed since Nick & Jimmy’s occupied the space, but step inside and there are few vestiges of the previous tenant. Tula’s uses the expansive space very efficiently in a venue that’s both comfortable and pristine.
When Detroit style pizza was first offered at the Dion’s on the Pan American Highway, the pizza was found only a one-page bar menu which your server would ferry to your table along with the restaurant’s regular menu. At the time, only four Detroit-style pizzas graced the bar menu. Apparently, Detroit style pizza has caught on. It is now on the regular menu along with the appetizers previously found only on the bar menu. The menu apprises diners that the pizza is “baked in a rectangle pan with a light and airy crust, and caramelized edge.” You’re also informed that the pizza is “perfect as a starter for two or a meal for one.” Pizza aficionadoes won’t see the latter statement as a challenge, but as an opportunity to order more than one pizza. Believe me, you’re going to want to sample all of them.
As we contemplated which pizza(s) to order, our server toted over a complimentary plateful of green chile cheese bread. God bless Tula’s! Very few restaurants serve complimentary bread any more. Some restaurants even charge entree prices for bread. At Tula’s, the bread is akin to a cross between biscuits and rolls. This bread is fluffy without crumbling like biscuits do. Best of all, it’s replete with two of the best ingredients ever conceived–cheese and green chile. The green chile shouldn’t bother tender-tongued diners, too much though I had secretly hoped my Kim would find it too piquant and send it all my way. Cheese is one of those perfect foods that mollifies piquant foods and Tula’s bread is a turophile’s dream. Slather on some of Tula’s honey butter and you’ll swoon.
18 July 2025: The “Savory Shareables” menu lists ten appetizers. During our inaugural visit, we opted for the Italian meatballs (three Italian meatballs in marinara sauce topped with Tula’s cheese blend, served with crostini). Great meatballs are characterized by a balance of flavor, texture and versatility. These meatballs have that balance: flavor from seasoning (garlic, oregano, basil), texture from just enough binding for each meatball to hold its integrity and versatility which means they’re delicious with or without sauce. That marinara sauce is liquid gold, speckled with basil and onions. Use it as a dip for the crostini.
19 November 2025: My Kim seems to go through a recitation of all the savory shareables we’ve enjoyed at both Tula’s locations. It’s becoming increasingly more challenging to find one we haven’t had. Surprisingly, we’d never had Tula’s feta dip (a chilled dip with Greek feta, cucumbers, Roma tomatoes, red onion, and red and green bell peppers, garnished with Kalamata olives, and served with sumac-dusted pita chips). This is an oustanding dip with seemingly all the personality-resplendent flavors and ingredients we’ve come to love about Greek cuisine. Though we would have preferred soft pita over the pita chips, the pita chips actually makes more sense because you can spoon the dip onto it without it falling apart.
18 July 2025: New Mexicans will be hard-pressed to choose between two Detroit-style pizzas designed to cater to local tastes: Tula’s 505 (cheese blend with New Mexico certified green chile, pepperoni and Italian sausage drizzled with marinara and the Red Chile Beef (cheese blend with chile-braised beef, goat cheese and red onions topped with arugula and drizzled with marinara and crema). In the red or green chile debate, my tastes gravitate toward red which I’ve found to have a more nuanced earthiness and richness. Unlike green chile, it doesn’t necessarily have to be piquant to be delicious. The red chile with which the beef is braised doesn’t have much heat, but it’s got a wonderful taste complexity that shines. The marinara and crema drizzle is superb!
18 July 2025: Dough on Detroit-style pizza is often compared to focaccia due to its light and airy texture, but from a taste-perspective, Tula’s dough is reminiscent of sourdough. That’s a good thing. So is the Margherita (fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, grape tomatoes and fresh basil). Margherita is really the pizza that started it all. Fashioned in the red, white and green colors of the Italian flag, it’s still one of the most popular pizzas across the fruited plain. Tula’s version is outstanding! The sun-dried tomatoes have a concentrated, intense flavor that is both sweet and tangy with a slightly salty and chewy texture. It contrasts beautifully with the acidic notes from the grape tomatoes. Fresh basil adds its sweet, aromatic notes.
19 November 2025: Nick, our affable server, told us the Detroit style pizza concept has really caught on. Not only are the pizzas now available on the regular Tula’s menu, there are more of them to enjoy. There are now five of them (and still available only on the Pan American location). Nick’s favorite and the one he recommended we try is Tula’s 505 (Tula’s cheese blend with New Mexico green chile, pepperoni and Italian sausage drizzled with marinara and served with a side of Dion’s famous ranch dressing (ask for green chile ranch)). Green chile on a pizza is genius. Green chile on a Detroit style pizza is inspired. This savory, saucy pie is an absolute delight. Though the green chile would barely register on the Scoville heat scale, Dion’s green chile ranch punches up the piquancy quite a bit.
19 November 2025: My Kim isn’t nearly as fond of marinara sauce as is her saucy husband. In fact, she’d just as soon her pizza not have any sauce at all. Sacrilege, I know. Tula’s has a pizza just for people like her. It’s the Five Cheese Pizza (Tula’s cheese blend, Irish Cheddar, fresh Mozzarella and Parmesan served with a side of marinara). Somewhere in that “cheese blend” must be where you find the other two cheeses that make it five. Though it’s more reminiscent of cheesebread, this is a wonderful pizza. Whether you dip it into the marinara or into green chile ranch dressing, it’s thoroughly enjoyable. There’s no shortage of cheese on this pie.
19 November 2025: Tula’s has a “Sweets” menu to envy…or if you’re more positively inclined, to love. There are six items on the Sweets menu, every one of them sure to appeal to your sweet tooth (diet be damned). My favorite (thus far) is the turtle bread pudding (warm bread pudding baked in cinnamon-spiced custard with chocolate chips and pecans, topped with vanilla bean ice cream and caramel). Unlike most bread pudding, the bread is actually hard as if oven-toasted. It’s got a pronounced crunch. It’s also quite delicious. My only complaint is that it could have been bigger. A bread pudding this good should be the size of a bail of hay.
My Kim, as sweet as all the items on the Sweets menu, opted for the root beer float (ice cold root beer with vanilla bean ice cream). No ordinary fountain root beer is used in the construction of this fabulous dessert. It’s made from Sioux City root beer, one of the very best root beers on the market. Served in a mug that has to be a foot tall, it’s big enough to share with or without two straws. Tula’s is generous with its scoopage of vanilla bean ice cream–and with the root beer, too. The bottle in which the root beer came accompanies the float.
Detroit-style pizza at Tula’s Kitchen is one of many reasons you need to visit Tula’s on Pan American. Detroit-style pizza is truly “the next big thing” in the world of pizza and Tula’s does it Detroit-worthy well.
Tula’s Kitchen
5021 Pan American Freeway, N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 985-5599
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 18 July 2025
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$
BEST BET: Italian Meatballs, Margherita Pizza, Red Chile Beef Pizza, Green Chile Cheese Bread, Turtle Bread Pudding, Tula’s 505 Pizza, Five Cheese Pizza, Tula’s Feta Dip, Root Beer Float
REVIEW #1479