Sophia’s Pizzeria in Hartsville, SC

The Facts:

Pizza: Sophia’s Pizzeria

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: http://hartsvillesbestpizza.com/

Location: 128 East College Avenue in Hartsville, SC (near Coker College)

Date of Review Visit: December 21, 2015

What I Ordered: Small (10”) pizza with Canadian bacon and pepperoni; Mr. Pibb to drink

Price: $10.72 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: Sophia’s Pizzeria makes Greek-style pizza.  The pan crust has a perfect texture: crunchy on the outside but chewy on the inside.  My pizza was baked the perfect amount.  Greek pizza is not my favorite style, but this crust is excellent.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: On the other hand, the sauce on this pizza is not the best.  The sauce does not have much taste, and the pizza is slightly undersauced.  When I did get a taste of just the sauce, it tasted somewhat overspiced.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: The cheese tastes like good quality provolone, and it appears in good quantity.  Sprinkling on the parmesan they bring to your table (without you asking for it) only adds to the flavor.  What’s not to like? Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The Canadian bacon is excellent: it tastes like ham with a little extra sweetness, as it should.  The pepperoni is pretty average: it comes in thin slices and produces a lot of grease.  I could taste some spices in the pepperoni, but it is not good quality meat.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 7/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza’s appearance is excellent, as is the service.  The dining atmosphere is that of a typical small town diner, homey but a little stale.  Score: 8/10.

Value: Sophia’s makes pretty good quality pizza, and the price is reasonable.  Thus, the value is better than average.  Score: 8/10.

Taste: This pizza produces a nice balance of crunchiness and gooeyness, spiciness and sweetness.  While not quite top-quality, everything comes together pretty well.  Score: 17/20.

The Final Judgment:

Their URL says it all: Sophia’s Pizzeria makes Hartsville’s best pizza, and it stacks up pretty well on an absolute basis too.  Score: 65/80.

Peppino's Pizza in Athens, GA

The Facts:

Pizza: Peppino’s Pizza

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: (none)

Location: 2597 S. Milledge Ave. in Athens, GA (corner of Milledge Ave. and Whitehall Rd.)

Date of Review Visit: November 28, 2015

What I Ordered: 1 slice of pizza with Italian sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $5.50

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Peppino’s Pizza comes in the very thin New York style with only a narrow thick area around the edges.  I couldn’t taste (or hardly even find) the crust under the pizza, but the crust around the edge had a decent well-baked bready taste.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: This is an odd situation.  The pizza is very undersauced, but what sauce there is has a nice tomatoey taste.  Unfortunately, the sauce is probably the strength of this pizza.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in average quantity, but it produces a lot of grease.  Sprinkling on some parmesan slightly improves what is a rather bland taste.  Overall, this cheese is pretty bad.  Score: 3/10.

Toppings: Both toppings appear in good quantity.  The pepperoni slices are very thin; they have a little spice but no real flavor.  The sausage is tastier than the pepperoni, and it appears to be freshly sliced.  Score: 7/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: Peppino’s Pizza looks like the cheaply made college town pizza that it is.  The dining room has a nice casual atmosphere with booths and TV’s.  The restaurant has counter service, and the service worked fine on my visit.  Score: 7/10.

Value: For only 1 slice of medium-quality pizza, the price is actually fairly high.  Thus, there is no real value to be found here at all.  Score: 3/10.

Taste: The super thin crust ensures that this pizza has little substance, and the bad cheese really hurts the overall taste.  There are worse-tasting pizzas around, but this one is far from the best.  Score: 13/20.

The Final Judgment:

For a quick single slice snack, Peppino’s Pizza is passable, but there are far better pizza options in Athens.  Score: 46/80.