Deep-dish pizza done right is soul satisfying. The thick, buttery crust, the generous sauce and all that gooey cheese.

We wish we could report that excellent deep dish pizza is easily had here in H-Town. Unfortunately, there’s a just a handful of spots to recommend.

It should go without saying (but I will): deep dish pizza should be consumed within feet of where it is baked. Do not under any circumstances order one to go.

• Star Pizza offers a choice of white or whole wheat crust. A popular specialty pizza is the Joe’s with sauteed spinach and fresh garlic.
• Candelari’s offers the aptly named Wrigley. Topped with Candelari’s homemade sausage, spinach, mushrooms, provolone cheese and a generous helping of sauce, the Wrigley is a pizza on steroids.
• Fuzzy’s Chicago-style crust also comes in whole wheat. Not for Republicans only, the President Bush Pizza (named for 41, not 43) is topped with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, Italian sausage, artichoke hearts, green peppers, mushrooms, onion and black olives. You may need help lifting it.
• If you’re in Katy, give Mazzei’s Gourmet Pizza a try. Its Arrivederci pizza is topped with chicken, sun dried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, spinach as well as feta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
• And then there’s Chicago Pizza, where the name says it all. This terrific pizza is served in a nostalgic Heights dining room that is all checkered tablecloths and oldies soundtracks. It’s perplexing, however, that the waitstaff tries to dissuade deep-dish fans with threats of long cooking times. If we wanted same ol’ pizza at light speed, we’d would have just called Dominoes.