The Facts:
Pizza: Columbo’s Pizza
Business Category: Locally-owned
Location: 203 Pendleton Rd.
in Clemson , SC
Date of Review Visit: December 21, 2016
What I Ordered: Small (10”) deep dish pizza with sausage and
pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $11.13 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
The Micro:
Crust: Columbo’s offers 2 crust options: thin and deep
dish. Inspired by the pictures of Chicago
on the wall, the Chicago Cubs themed logo, and my personal thick crust preference,
I went for the deep dish. The name was
accurate: what I got was a true Chicago-style deep dish crust. Although the crust has a nice, robust taste,
I found it quite hard, possibly because my pizza was slightly overbaked. While this crust may not be the best Chicago-style
crust I have ever eaten, it still ranks pretty high. Score: 8/10.
Sauce: The sauce comes in good quantity, as it should for a
Chicago-style pizza, but it is significantly overherbed. The herbs and spices overpower the tomatoes,
and the sauce tastes too herby for this to be an excellent sauce. Score: 6/10.
Cheese: The cheese appears in very good quantity, but it
leaves quite a lot of tell-tale grease.
Sprinkling on some parmesan helps on the flavor side. Score: 7/10.
Toppings: The pepperoni is completely unremarkable. The sausage is not the usual chunky Chicago
style, but the taste is excellent, thus making the sausage the best item on
this pizza. Both toppings appear in satisfactory
but not overwhelming quantity. Score: 8/10.
The Macro:
Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza looks like the hearty
Chicago-style pizza it is. The dining
atmosphere has a casual almost run-down feel.
Maybe it seemed run-down due to the vacant lot next door. The service from the one poor, overworked
waitress was smiling and attentive.
Score: 8/10.
Value: Columbo’s is surprisingly inexpensive for good
quality pizza. They also offer 25% off a
second pizza of equal value, so you can bring a friend and save more. Their giant 28” atlas pizza (which they
incorrectly claim is the largest pizza in the world) is an even bigger
bargain. Score: 10/10.
Taste: Maybe it was the abundance of spices in the sauce,
but I kept thinking this pizza should taste better than it does. This pizza has a lot of things going for it,
but overall taste isn’t really one of them.
Score: 15/20.
The Final Judgment:
If Chicago-style pizza is your game, then Columbo’s is your
pizza destination in Clemson. For me, I
like Columbo’s but slightly prefer nearby Todaro’s. Score: 62/80.
