Ferrando’s Italian Pizzeria in Aiken, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Ferrando’s Italian Pizzeria

Number of Locations: several, all near Aiken, SC

Review Location: 3555 Richland Avenue in Aiken, SC

Website: https://www.facebook.com/ferrandositalianpizzeria/

Date of Review Visit: December 2012

What I Ordered: Small (10’’) hand-tossed pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $9.31 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust is New York style: crispy and significant without being bulky.  Thus, this is a good crust.  The only downside was that the crust was very hard to cut with my knife.

Sauce: The sauce has a nice, fresh taste to it.  The amazing thing to me is how well the sauce fits in with the rest of the pizza.  Often I hardly realized the sauce was there, and that is not because the pizza is undersauced; very good.

Cheese: Ferrando’s uses premium cheese, and I could taste the difference.  Sprinkle on some parmesan cheese for even more flavor.

Toppings: The classic sausage and pepperoni combination works its magic again.  Both high-quality meats have enough spicing to give them zest but not enough to be overpowering.

Overall Taste: Ferrando’s claims to make pizza via an old family recipe from Italy, and the overall taste bears record of that.  Have I eaten better tasting pizza?  Probably.  Have I eaten it recently? No.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is perfecto with a nice golden brown crust and plenty of toppings.  

Dining Atmosphere: The atmosphere is similar to a fine bar and grill complete with televisions and pictures on the walls.

Customer Service: The service was a little slow on my visit even though there were only two occupied tables in the restaurant: I had to refill my own Dr. Pepper because the server never returned to do it.

Value: It is hard to find pizza this good for less than $10, but that is exactly what you get here.  If this were a 12” pizza the value would be excellent; as is it is very good.

The Final Judgment:

Ferrando’s offers excellent pizza at a very good price, and it is the first pizza to earn a 90+ score from me.  I wish I lived closer to Aiken so that I could come here more often.  Score: 95/100