First Dallas gets its Italian beef sandwiches. Now it gets deep dish pizza, as a branch of Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom is coming to Dallas. A Colorado-based concept specializing in Chicago-style pizzas and craft beer, Old Chicago will open at Mockingbird Station.

A spokeswoman confirmed that the new pizzeria was going into the space vacated by Mockingbird Tap Room, "maybe by the end of the year."

Dough is made fresh daily, there's a large selection of craft beer and a neighborhood friendly atmosphere.

Old Chicago was founded in Boulder, Colorado in 1976, and is owned by CraftWorks Restaurants & Breweries, Inc. which also owns Gordon Biersch, Rock Bottom, ChopHouse and Big River. Old Chicago currently has 96 branches in 22 states, mostly across the west and southwest.

There is currently one branch in Texas: in Killeen, which opened five years ago. Dough is made fresh every day, there's a large selection of craft beer with 30 beers on tap, and the atmosphere is designed to be comfortable and neighborhoody.

This isn't Old Chicago's first stab at Dallas; five years ago, it had a branch on Belt Line Road in Addison, west of Midway in the space currently occupied by Back 9.

Old Chicago serves its made-from-scratch pizza in locations nationwide and offers two crust types that are both made in-house every day — Chicago Thick, a buttery hand-tossed cornmeal crust, served in the pan; and Tavern Thin, which has a light and crispy texture and is served square-cut.

Some of the most popular specialty pizza selections include:

Chicago 7 Pizza – Pepperoni, Italian sausage, red onions, black olives, green peppers, sliced mushrooms and house pizza sauce.

Meat Me Pizza – Four meat toppings, garnished with green olives and fresh basil.

Thai Pie – Chicken, mushrooms, red peppers, broccoli and Thai chili sauce, topped with green onions, teriyaki, sesame seeds, mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

Tuscan Chicken with Spinach – Lemon garlic sauce, sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, tomatoes and roasted garlic, topped with fresh spinach tossed in lemon vinaigrette.

This space at Mockingbird Station has not seen a lot of success for prior tenants; neither Mockingbird Tap Room nor Vapiano were able to survive. But Old Chicago has two siblings nearby, with branches of Gordon Biersch at both Park Lane and in Plano's Shops at Legacy, that should help usher in a more friendly debut. Plus it has deep-dish pizza, a food group with fervent fans.