Growing up, it was a real treat to ride from Riverwest through Estabrook Park, then take a right turn and immediately appear at the Dairy Queen. Nothing else on that block mattered to me.

It wasn’t until years later that I learned there were restaurants next door. One of them is Upper Crust Pizza, 249 E. Hampton Ave. The ownership has changed over the years, but I think the original sign remains.

It reads "Antonio’s Upper Crust Pizza." Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anyone there who could tell me who Antonio is or was.

I walked in and found a counter set up in front of a doorway that led to the kitchen. On the wall next to the doorway hung the business licenses and a TMJ4 Blue Ribbon Award for clean dining in 2012.

A friendly woman came out and took my order. The lobby was painted two shades of green. The floor was covered in stone-colored tiles and two tables with four chairs stood near the large picture window.

I did learn from my extensive research that the current own is Randolf Schlegel, who also owns the Dairy Queen next door. He wasn’t available to speak with, so that is as far as I could take the history of Upper Crust.

I had a feeling that the tables weren’t really set up for dining in, even though I wiped crumbs off the table I sat at. The menu listed soda available for purchase in two-liter bottles only, and I didn’t see napkin dispensers or dinnerware. Also, the take-out menus have "Take Out and Delivery" printed on the front, so I did a little analysis and figured out I wasn’t really supposed to dine in. Hey, I’m not just another pretty face.

I went to DQ, bought a soda and grabbed a small stack of napkins while my pizzas were being created. I was dining in regardless. I guess I’m a bit of rebel that way.

Sure enough, my pizzas were delivered in boxes, but I was ready. I could have taken the pizza home but I wanted to eat it fresh and taste it as soon as possible in order to provide you with the most accurate description that I could – because I am a giver.

Upper Crust pizzas are made on hand-tossed 12-, 14- and 16- inch crusts, although recently they started making thin crust pizzas in 12 and 16 inches. Cheese pizzas range from $11.99 to $13.99. Toppings range from $1.80 each to $2.

According to the menu on the website, after you pay for three toppings, all other toppings on that pizza are free. For your convenience, Upper Crust offers online ordering at its website.

Slices are cut into pies, but you can request square slices if you prefer. If thick crust pizzas are your thing, can make your pizza a double decker by adding a second crust and extra toppings for an additional $4 to $6.

You can build your own pizza or order one of their specialty gourmet pizzas, which include the Philly Cheesesteak, Mediterranean, Garden Harvest, Hawaiian, BBQ Chicken and Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Chicken.

Frank’s Red Hot Buffalo Chicken features chicken seasoned with Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. Then bacon, green peppers, black olives and red onions are added, and the pie is served with a side of ranch.

The menu also includes calzones, burgers, chicken sandwiches, hoagies, pastas, salads and appetizers such as the Upper Crust garlic cheese sticks.

On my visit, I ordered the Philly Cheesesteak on the standard hand-tossed crust and a sausage and pepperoni on thin crust. I was instantly impressed when I found steak on the Philly Cheesesteak pizza as opposed to seasoned ground beef labeled as "steak" as I’d had before at another establishment.

The steak was seasoned fairly well and chopped into large enough pieces for me to taste. The mushrooms were fresh and delicious. The diced onions and green peppers were applied at the proper ratio so as not to overpower the other flavors.

The crust was chewy and crispy throughout. The sauce had a slight spicy flavor to it but the toppings provided most of the flavor. The thin crust on the other pie was pretty close to ideal thickness for me, but it lacked the cracker-like texture I hoped for. The crust was very crisp at the edge but quickly softened as I moved toward the center. I’ll accept part of the blame due to the greasy toppings I selected, but I won’t apologize.

A few more minutes in the oven may have provided the crunch I wanted without overbaking the pie. The cheese and sauce were generously applied. With each bite, the somewhat thick and slightly spicy sauce squeezed out onto the sides of my mouth.

The large chunks of Italian sausage added a delicious spicy flavor. The pepperoni was less spicy but just as flavorful.

I can’t believe I never thought to visit Upper Crust considering my love for pizza and all of my visits for sundaes and Blizzards next door. Luckily there were, and are, enough supporters of Upper Crust Pizza to keep it open for all of these years and give me a chance to make amends for my prior lapse in judgment.

Upper Crust makes my list of pizzerias I’ll visit again.