Pizza House in Travelers Rest, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizza House

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 310 Poplar Street Extension in Travelers Rest, SC (visible from US 25)

Website: https://www.pizzahousetravelersrest.com/

Date of Review Visit: October 2013

What I Ordered: Small (10”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $10.64 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Pizza House makes the nice, inch-thick crust that I like.  The crust is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, as it should be.  Some cheese that spills over onto the crust adds to the flavor.  Occasionally the crust seems bulky and tasteless, but for the most part I really like it.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The pizza is somewhat under-sauced, and the sauce does not have a lot of flavor or seasoning.  The oddest part about this sauce is the temperature: the sauce is much hotter (in terms of temperature, not spiciness) than the rest of the pizza.  This fact might be a consequence of the way this pizza is cheesed (see below), and I can’t say I like the sauce this way.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: The cheesing is also unusual: there is a thick layer of white cheese in the middle of the pizza and almost none toward the edges.  Thus, the pizza is only undercheesed if you insist the cheese go all of the way to the edge.  The only real problem in my view is that the cheese does not have much flavor.  Overall, slightly above average marks here.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: Aside from perhaps the crust, the toppings are the strength of this pizza.  The ground-up sausage almost forms another layer, and there is plenty of pepperoni too.  Neither the sausage nor the pepperoni are particularly spicy, and their tastes are pretty good but not stellar. Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: Some of the parts grade out well, but nothing on this pizza adds any real flavor.  Thus, the blandness of the thick crust governs the entire taste metric.  The taste is not bad, but it is not particularly good either.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: Removing the pizza from the pan gives the pizza an unrefined look, as does the odd cheesing and the sausage “layer.”

Dining Atmosphere: The dining room has not been updated for at least 25 years, and the seats have no padding.  The dirty ceiling tiles make the dining room’s appearance even worse.  Some serious improvement is in order here.

Customer Service: I like the friendly, homey style of the service at Pizza House.

Monetary Value: The price is reasonable, and the quality is above average.  Pizza House seems to be a favorite stop for families with kids.  Overall, the value grades out pretty well.

The Final Judgment:

Pizza House makes a quality if somewhat unspectacular pizza.  A renovation of the dining area would take this pizza place to the next level.  As is, I come here occasionally, but Pizza House is not my favorite pizza restaurant.  Score: 77/100.