Johnny’s New York Style Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Johnny’s New York Style Pizza

Number of Locations: many across 6 southeastern states; based in Atlanta, GA

Location Reviewed: 1040 Gaines School Road in Athens, GA (east side)

Website: https://johnnyspizza.com/

Date of Review Visit: May 2013

What I Ordered: Large pizza (16”) with sausage and pepperoni

Price: $17.59 (without coupon; includes tax but no drink or tip)

Photos:

 

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: For a pizza restaurant with “New York Style Pizza” in its name, the crust is thicker than you would expect.  It is also thicker than I remember it being on previous visits.  Even worse, the crust is completely black underneath due to overbaking.  I have eaten some good crust here in the past, but the crust on this visit was not up to their usual standards.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: The sauce has good consistency and a good fresh taste.  Unfortunately, it is not evenly distributed on the pizza.  Some areas have thick globs of sauce, while others are nearly sauceless.  This sauce is pretty good, but the application needs improvement.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, and the cheese has only average taste.  On the bright side, the cheese is of good quality, as evidenced by the lack of grease.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The toppings are very good.  The sausage is of the ground variety, not the pellet variety.  Both the sausage and pepperoni have just the right amount of spiciness.  Also, the toppings appear in fair to above average quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: The taste is better than you might expect given some of the micro scores above.  This is good pizza even if it is not New York style pizza.  Also, although this is a pizza blog, I note that the calzones at Johnny’s taste better than the pizza.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: The appearance takes a hit due to the undercheesing and uneven distribution of toppings and sauce.

Dining Atmosphere: I have always enjoyed the dining atmosphere; it has some nice TV screens and old pictures of New York on the walls.

Customer Service: The service here is very slow, and that has been the case for as long as I can remember.  Employee turnover among servers is also a problem.

 

Monetary Value: The price here is rather steep, but the quality is only above average.  If you order carryout, the large pizza box will contain a $2-off coupon that will make the price of your next large pizza reasonable.  With the coupon, the value is decent.  Without the coupon, you can get an 18” pizza down the street at DePalma’s for about the same price.

The Final Judgment:

Johnny’s is not my favorite pizza in Athens, but it is pretty good.  Johnny’s is better than the national chains, and it makes a nice change of pace from the usual pizza fare.  Score: 77/100.