Pizza Inn

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizza Inn

Number of Locations: about 100 across 13 states, mostly in the south and southeast

Location Reviewed: 515 Roe Center Court in Travelers Rest, SC

Website: https://www.pizzainn.com/

Date of Review Visit: October 2014

What I Ordered: weekend pizza buffet; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $9.91 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 1 star (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Because Pizza Inn offers a pizza buffet, the most obvious comparable national chain is Cici’s.  As with most buffet pizzas (including Cici’s), the crust is not this pizza’s strength.  The crust has an unusual texture: it is thin and crispy but flaky.  The real problem is that this crust is almost completely tasteless.  Therefore, the points earned on this criterion are almost completely nonexistent.  Score: 1/10.

Sauce: This pizza has very little sauce.  What sauce does exist is unremarkable in terms of taste or texture.  Score: 1/10.

Cheese: I don’t mean to sound repetitive, but this pizza has very little cheese.  The taste of the cheese is unremarkable, but the fairly low amount of grease keeps this mark from being super low.  Score: 3/10.

Toppings: As usual with a pizza buffet, the quality of the toppings varies with the topping.  My favorite topping at Pizza Inn is the pepperoni: it has nice flavor without being overspiced.  The other toppings are average at best.  Score: 4/10.

Overall Taste: Let’s be straightforward here: this pizza has very little taste, plain and simple.  Moreover, some of the pizza on the buffet was cold.  Much improvement is needed here.  Score: 4.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is passable for buffet pizza but uninspiring overall.

Dining Atmosphere: The semi-carnival kids atmosphere is similar to Cici’s

Customer Service: The table service for your drink is a nice touch you don’t get at Cici’s, but if you have to serve yourself pizza off of the buffet, is it too much extra effort to serve yourself the drink also?

Monetary Value: The pizza quality is slightly better than Cici’s, but the price is more expensive.  Thus, although the value for almost any pizza buffet is above average, Pizza Inn does not present the great value that Cici’s does.

The Final Judgment:

In the battle of chain pizza buffets, Cici’s wins by a decent margin.  Whether you want good quality or good value, you can do better than Pizza Inn.  Score: 51/100.