Daddy Duke’s

It breaks my heart to write that this business is closed. My hubby and our friends were going to meet there on Friday night and found the place dark, locked up, and the sign down. This was easily the best family restaurant in Avondale. We ate their a couple of times a month and everything on the menu was excellent. I hope that this family opens another restaurant and somehow we catch wind of it. We miss you!

So I call at 430 in the afternoon on a Sunday (when according to there hours, they should still be open) and ask to make an order for delivery.
The woman who answered the phone proceeds to tell me ‘I’m sorry we are swamped on orders, we cant do that“
okay… your sign out front says in big letters DELIVERY… so I then ask, well can I do an order for pick up instead, and she then tells me «No, we are closed»
If the pizza wasn’t so good, I wouldn’t order here again, that kind of customer service and business ethic is unacceptable.

If you are craving that slice of greasy pizza that has flavor and a pretty decent crust, then this is the place for you. Not to mention, their pizzas are HUGE! It was one of those days where I just wanted pizza. Not just any old pizza (delivery or Digiornos (sp?)), but a good slice of plain ol’ PEPPERONI pizza! This place did not disappoint. The pepperoni was tasty, plentiful, and a bit spicy, the crust was YUMMY and thin, I’m not a fan of deep dish or thick crusted pizzas.
Also, their wings are pretty tasty too and they don’t come from the anorexic chickens that another establishment (Native something or other) makes their wings from. They have good flavor and a bit of a bite if you order the hot. From what I could see, they also have a pretty serious competition going on to see who can survive their spiciest flavor! I guess you get them free and even earn a shirt!
I had been to Daddy Duke’s before and had one of their many pasta dishes which was delicious as well. The staff (I think they are all family) are very friendly and helpful.
My one and only criticism of this place is one of their desserts. We got an order of «Daddy Duke’s Fun Cakes» for free for checking in on Unilocal… and they weren’t that fun. It’s pretty much just pizza dough drowning in powdered sugar. That however, will not keep me from coming back! The prices are reasonable and the food is flavorful!

Was invited to try a new idea appetizer tonight and it was full of flavor and absolutely great. It was a nacho cheesy fried roll and absolutely yummy. I had the Stromboli (the Momma Meat lovers) tonight and couldn’t be happier. It was rich and flavorful. I love this place. It is always welcoming and pleasant. I always have two thumbs up for Daddy Dukes.

Ordered a cheese steak sandwich with grilled onions and Cheese Wiz (sp?) and it was pretty good. Also was a big sandwich which was nice. Also got a plain cheese pizza and it was just alright. Something about the sauce is a bit of a turnoff but otherwise it wasn’t disappointing. Not sure if I’ll be back for the pizza, but I’ll definitely go back for the sandwiches.

When I first walked into Daddy Dukes it was before St. Patrick’s Day and they had the place decked out in shamrocks and lots of green. I wasn’t sure about how quality food could be with a Christmas tree decorated in everything Irish and was quite skeptical.
BUT my fears were put to rest when not only did they serve Coke products (a big must with my family), but their pizza and antipasto were delicious! Giant pizzas that could easily have fed more than the 6 of us that were there! We go two to share between all of us and we got to take some home, and it was a tasty treat the next morning for breakfast (cold, as left over pizza should be in my opinion).
My parents, my fiancé’s dad and his fiancé, and my fiancé and I enjoyed the place so much we decided to have our rehearsal dinner there! And they went above and beyond to make sure the party was delightful! During the first weekend of 2012 to hit 100 degrees (thank you Phoenix) we enjoyed pizza, salad, and wings. (I don’t personally like wings, but most everyone in the group was covered in sauce and going back for more, so they must have been good!)
I look forward to going back to try other dishes they have to offer, but can safely say their pizza is delectable!

Very friendly waiter, clean and the food was great.

Pizza was very good. i had the 9 – 11 wings and they were incredibly flavorful. we got a free funnel cakes because of a check in offer they had with Unilocal so that was cool. they hadnt renewed their liqour license so there was no alchohol available. after we left my wife told me she had found a hair on her slice of pizza. unfortunate. ill prob be back to try the hotwing challenge. def 4 star worthy if it wasnt for the hair.

My wife enjoys the Chicken Parmesan. I’ve tried a couple of different fings last time there i got some kine of Stromboli pretty tasty. pizza and wings are pretty good too. The atmosphere is homey non commercial. We’ve had the same server every time there, friendly guy. i like this place. oh yeah the cannoli was amazing.

$ 40 bucks… Cheese Steak/​Tortellini/​Antipasti Salad/​Kids pasta and meatballs… I was expecting way better for 40 bucks! $ 13 for a salad is really high, they were generous on the olives but like mentioned in prior posts, 2 pieces of meat, that’s it!
The cheese steak was… good
The tortellini was… bad Canned mushrooms, a lot of whole spinach and prepared sauce, blah. $ 11 worth of blah.
Kid’s meal… he doesn’t talk much, but he ate it.
I wont go back, for the entrees at least, maybe the pizza is better???

My husband is from Philly, and let me tell you going to Daddy Duke’s is like going to your local neighborhood «place». They are awesome and the food is magnificent. I was most impressed when I saw a couple local cops come in for a slice and a drink for lunch and they didn’t charge them. That is good hometown respect for those out there serving us everyday. Good Job Daddy Dukes, and thank you for bringing so much fun back into the community.

I have been to Daddy Duke probably 50 times in the last year and have always gotten great food. The friday night all you can eat fish and shrimp special is fantastic. I have had many of the other dishes as well as their pizza’s and all was delicious. Once in a while we get a certain waiter who has trouble remembering what people orderd, but overall I would recommend this eatery to anyone who loves good food and reasonable prices. You won’t leave hungry, I will promise you that.

I absolutely love this place. My first time there we had the all you can eat fish and shimp on Friday night! it was awesome! The fish was crispy and warm as was the shrimp. We have ordered for delivery a couple of times, and had the Cheesesteak, Chicken cheesesteak and wings and fries, all are awesome! We went dined in another time and had fried zuchinni, salad and clam chowder. Each time we have ordered or eaten there, the food has been exceptional! This little hidden restaurant is awesome. Everyone needs to to try it.

I had the Italian Hoagie and even though the sandwich was a huge portion, I was just not happy with it. It was way too dry and would have probably tasted much better if it had been toasted. They do have good prices and may be a good place to have an affordable meal.

As a visitor, I was looking for some place for my wife to carbo-​load the night before the Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon. I was unfamiliar with the area, but staying a a local hotel in Goodyear. I wanted to avoid chain Italian restaurants, and Urbanspoon was being of little help. Finally, I Unilocaled and found this little place 3 blocks from the hotel.
We were treated to a small family-​friendly atmosphere. Though the server/​Boss (?) was a little on the over-​friendly side (shy northwesterners, not used to so much interaction!) it was very nice that they had bins of toys for our child to choose from as entertainment while waited for our order to arrive.
The special of the night was cheese rigatoni with red pepper-​alfredo sauce. This was absolutely fantastic, and far better quality than you can find at any chain. It was served with fresh bread which quite nicely served the purpose of sopping up the remaining sauce after the pasta was consumed.
Although tortellini is not normally on the Kids’ menu, they were more than happy to prepare a kid’s sized portion of tortellini with marinara for my son.
The daily lunch specials looked interesting, although the limited length of our stay precluded us from trying these out.
The next time we visit Phoenix, Daddy Duke’s is definitely on our list of meals out!

this is great pizza at a great value! great flavor wings are fantastic and the feta dressing is like no other! you wont be disappointed
Ive been going for sometime now and keep giving them ‘another’ chance… service is still very good… pizza has gone down hill… prices have gone up– I understand that bad economy everyone had to survive… but smaller pizza even though they deny it… it used to be bigger less cheese less everything very disappointed when something is soooo good why does it have to go badddd?

Daddy Duke’s is located in a converted free standing Pizza Hut building hidden on the south side of Van Buren. Parking is available on either side of the building.
Service: Friendly. Just one (slightly overwhelmed) Food Server for the whole place, but he did a great job keeping up. A little slow picking up dirty dishes. No long waits for food, came out in a timely manner.
Food: Pizza topping were so generous that you need a fork and knife to eat it. Sausage is just bitty crumbles, not slices or large chunks. Dough is ok. Pizza was HUGE, like the size of a car tire! Wings were tasty.
Ambiance: Typical casual neighborhood «Italian» theme. Cute. A couple of TVs had sports on. Nice.
Restrooms: Smelled like a nasty sewage as you got closer to the restrooms. Phew! No soap in the ladies restroom either…
Overall: Not too bad

We have driven by Daddy Dukes for months now and always say we need to try it. Well, we finally did. We went there about 8:30 pm and were the only customers there until about 9ish.
We were going to order a couple of their sandwiches but changed our minds when we saw the meat lovers stromboli on the menu. We asked about the size and the server told us they used 18″ pizza pie dough to make. Well, we placed our order and it took about 10 minutes. When it finally was delivered to the table, we were pleasantly surpised by the size of the stromboli.
When we order this item at other places, we opt to leave out the ground beef. Well, we forgot this time but that didn’t matter. The taste was great. All the meat flavors melded well together, nothing overpowered the others and the ground beef didn’t have that too beefy taste. The only thing we might suggest is just a little more cheese. Not too much though.
I ordered a side of marinara sauce for dipping and that had good flavor too.
We will definitely go back for another visit. Next time probably on a Tuesday for Jumbo wings, when they’re .39 each and we’ll try a couple of their sides to see how they rate there.

It’s been almost five months since my first visit, and I thought it’s about time I gave Daddy Duke’s a second chance. I called in my order at around 2:15p of Penne Romagno ($ 9.95) for dine-​in since I hadn’t had anything to eat since 11p the night before. I arrived at DD’s around 2:25 only to find that the cook had waited until my arrival to start on the dish– I spotted him cutting up the peppers and prosciutto and adding them to the pan. The pasta was delivered to my table about ten minutes later. I decided to try their sweet potato fries ($ 4.50), extra crispy, without the pancake syrup it normally is served with.
I loved the penne dish! Mind you, it didn’t look as appetizing as it could have; I thought that the glistening prosciutto looked half-​cooked. One bite took care of that suspicion– it was delicious! The feta cheese (some crumbled, some still sporting shape of the container it was shaped in) and roasted red peppers dressed the dish up a bit. The SPF looked great, but wasn’t as crispy as it looked, so in they went for a second frying. Needless to say, they didn’t look as delectable when they were brought back, but at least they were of the texture I was looking for.
I also tried their two-​pizza slice and soda lunch special ($ 5, add. topping $ 0.50 each), with ricotta and roasted red peppers. I did ask if they used corn in their pizza and was told no. Not even on the bottom to make the pizzas slide easier out of the oven. I don’t know how I forgot to ask if they served thin-​crust since it is my preferred choice, but I did, and sure enough, the slices that were brought to my table were more doughy than I cared for. I thought perhaps the wider edge fo the pizza crust would at least deliver the crispiness I was looking for, but the crunch factor disappeared, no exaggeration, within two minutes or less from time of arrival. The ricotta looked fantastic, and while the red peppers looked OK, they weren’t roasted. The marinara sauce used was good.
DD’s now serves Berto’s gelato desserts (triangular wedges of differing flavors, including chocolate hazelnut, cappucino crunch, white princess, and spumoni)! Cheesecake flavors come in plain, strawberry– or raspberry topped, and oreo. A server told me they’re trying to convince management/​pastry chef into baking a peanut butter cheesecake. Sounds like a great plan to me!
Don’t recall seeing a water fountain indoors during my first visit, but there certainly is one now. The stuffed Easter bunnies adorning the feature (they’ve also invaded the women’s restroom!) do not lend the restaurant a classy look, although I think it’s a more casual atmosphere the owners are trying to achieve here. Finding another way to advertise Sunday breakfasts and other specials, currently achieved by posting copy paper over the green window shutters and any wall space available, would do wonders for the ambience. Seriously, the signs posted on the entrance door, on the register counter, and those propped on the dining tables are sufficient!