The Facts:
Pizza: Rudino’s Pizza and Grinders
Business Category: Regional Chain (6 locations, mostly near Raleigh-Durham ,
NC
Website: http://rudinos.com/
Location: 4022 Village Park Drive
in Knightdale , NC Bell
Car Wash)
Date of Review Visit: March 15, 2016
What I Ordered: medium (12”) pizza with sausage and
pepperoni
Price: $13.79 (includes tax)
The Micro:
Crust: The crust at Rudino’s has slightly above average
thickness. The crust’s crispy well-baked
outer shell makes for one of the best crust textures I have ever eaten. The crust also has a nice fresh bready taste. Magnifico!
Score: 10/10.
Sauce: The sauce has a very sweet taste, and I like sweet
tasting sauces. Thus, I like this
sauce. The quantity of sauce is about
average. Score: 9/10.
Cheese: The cheese tastes like good-quality mozzarella or
provolone. It appears in about average
quantity. Score: 9/10.
Toppings: The sausage also has a sweet taste with just a
little spice; it tastes like a sweet Italian sausage. The pepperoni comes in thin and crispy
(slightly burnt) slices with very little taste.
In hindsight, to match the sweetness of the sauce I should have ordered the
honey ham topping instead of the pepperoni.
Both toppings appear in excellent quantity. Score: 8/10.
The Macro:
Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: Rudino’s cuts their pizza
into an odd criss-cross pattern instead of the usual wedges. The cut gives an odd but OK appearance. I ordered carry out, but the dining room seemed
to have a nice casual dining grill/bar atmosphere. The service was fine. Score: 10/10.
Value: The price is high, but 1) this is good quality pizza
and 2) this is a 12” pizza. Rudino’s
offers no smaller sizes, which limits your options in terms of limiting the
price. Overall, the value grades out
about average. Score: 5/10.
Taste: The sweet taste from the sauce dominates the taste
buds, but it also tastes very salty, saltier than any pizza I have eaten
recently except Pizza Hut. The extreme
salty taste drags this score down a bit.
Score: 16/20.
The Final Judgment:
Rudino’s Pizza is not quite elite, but it is a very good if
slightly overpriced pizza option. If I
lived in Raleigh-Durham, I would come here rather frequently. Score: 67/80.
