Wedgy's Pizza in upstate South Carolina

The Facts:

Pizza: Wedgy’s Pizza

Business Category: Locally-owned (3 locations, all in upstate SC)

Website: http://www.wedgysonline.com/

Location: 2708 E. North Ave (just south of Whitehall Rd.)

Date of Review Visit: January 25, 2015

What I Ordered: Large (14”) Pepperoni Madness (double pepperoni) pizza

Price: $13.99 (with a coupon; the regular price is $16.19)

The Micro:

Crust: Wedgy’s Pizza offers two crust options: hand-tossed and thin.  Being the thick crust fan that I am, I chose hand-tossed.  The crust tastes just like a Papa John’s crust: fresh and bready but maybe a little too bulky.  My pizza was baked to perfection, another plus.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: Unfortunately, the crust is the strength of this pizza.  The sauce comes mostly as a thin smeared-on layer, so the pizza is substantially undersauced.  When you get an actual bite of sauce, it tastes like condensed tomato soup with almost no spices or seasoning.  I’ve had worse sauce, but this sauce is far from the best.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: Wedgy’s advertises their cheese as 100% mozzarella, which is not the tastiest of pizza cheeses.  Accordingly, the cheese has a very bland taste that does not horribly offend but does not really impress either.  I give average marks here.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni has some zip without being overspiced, but it comes in thin slices.  The pepperoni also leaves a lot of grease, which speaks to the low quality of Wedgy’s toppings.  The topping quantity is only average considering that this is a double pepperoni pizza.  Much improvement is needed on this criterion.  Score: 4/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza has a clean-cut appearance with every slice of pepperoni in its appropriate place.  The box has an attractive picture that perhaps not coincidentally is identical to the box you get from nearby DaVinci’s.  The atmosphere and service are purely functional, much like Papa John’s.  Score: 7/10.

Value: The price is not too high for a double pepperoni pizza, but it is also not overly cheap, even at the discounted price I got.  You can get similar quality for cheaper at the national chains.  Score: 4/10.

Taste: The pizza’s overall taste is not bad, but it is pretty nondescript.  High grease and bland cheese are the biggest turn-offs.  Score: 14/20.

The Final Judgment:

A Papa John’s want-to-be, the name Wedgy’s sounds like this pizza place was founded by some college fraternity boys, and the pizza kind of tastes that way too.  I could see coming here occasionally, but there is far better value and quality to be had elsewhere.  Score: 47/80.

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: Brixx Wood Fired Pizza

Business Category: Regional Chain (locations in 5 states; based in Charlotte, NC)

Website: http://brixxpizza.com/

Location: 30 Town Square Blvd. in Asheville, NC (in Biltmore Town Square shopping center)

Date of Review Visit: January 11, 2015

What I Ordered: 10” 4x4 pizza (4 meat, 4 cheese); Mr. Pibb to drink

Price: $15.19 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: Brixx’ pizza has a crispy thin crust that is partly blackened due to the wood fired baking technique.  The crust has very little taste; it mainly stays out of the way so that the other tastier items on this pizza can shine through.  My pizza was baked perfectly, which is hard to do in the high heat of a brick oven.  The crust is not the strength of this pizza, but it is pretty good for what it is.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: This criterion is not applicable: the particular pizza I ordered has no sauce.  I want to give a final judgment score out of 80, so I took an average of the scores from the other criteria and rounded up.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: The 4x4 pizza features a mixture of 4 cheeses: mozzarella, parmesan, gouda, and goat.  This mixture sports a flavorful taste, and it is applied with plenty of quantity.  Freshly grated parmesan applied by the waitress at my table is always a nice touch.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage is too spicy for my taste, but the prosciutto and bacon are among the best I have ever had.  All toppings appear in plenty of quantity.  Score: 9/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The slightly blackened crusted gives a nice well-baked appearance.  Brixx’ restaurants have an upscale casual dining atmosphere.  There are large TV’s and paintings for sale on the walls.  The service was among the best I have ever experienced at a pizza restaurant.  Score: 10/10.

Value: As you would expect for pizza this good, the price is not cheap.  Brixx only makes 10” pizzas, so you get no help on price by ordering larger pizzas as you might at other pizzerias.  Every pizza has its weakness, and this is it for Brixx.  Score: 4/10.

Taste: Everything comes together to yield a light and flavorful taste that I really like.  This pizza wins your taste palette with subtlety rather than brute force.  Score: 19/20.

The Final Judgment:

I might not be a regular here due to the price, but for special occasions it can hardly be beat.  I highly recommend Brixx when you want a first class pizza experience.  Score: 68/80.