Frankie’s Italian Grill in Beaumont, TX

The Facts:

Pizza: Frankie’s Italian Grill

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: http://frankiesgrill.net/

Location: 105 I-10 South in Beaumont, TX (on the west side of the highway)

Date of Review Visit: December 19, 2017

What I Ordered: Mini-pizza (10”) with pepperoni and sausage

Price: $10.81 (includes tax)

The Micro:

Crust: The pizza at Frankie’s Italian Grill features a hand-tossed crust of the not-too-thick-not-too-thin variety.  The crust has a nice chewy texture.  This is not my favorite type of crust, but this crust is nice for what it is.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a nice tomatoey taste, and it appears in good quantity.  I like it.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, and it still produces a decent amount of grease.  At least the cheese has some nice flavor, especially after you sprinkle on some parmesan.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: The two toppings fall at the two extremes in terms of quality.  The pepperoni has nice thickness and just enough spiciness; it is excellent.  The sausage is of the horrid pellet-variety.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 6/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The big sausage pellets dominate the appearance.  I ordered take-out, but Frankie’s has a nice dining room atmosphere with big band music playing through the speakers.  The service was fine. Score: 9/10.

Value: Slightly above average quality plus slightly above average price equals average value.  Score: 5/10.

Taste: The overall taste comes together pretty well, but it would be a lot better without the sausage.  Score: 15/20.

The Final Judgment:

Frankie’s is a nice little pizza place that has other menu offerings as well.  If I lived in Beaumont, I would make it a part of my regular pizza rotation.  Score: 59/80.

Carrabba’s Italian Grill

The Facts:

Pizza: Carrabba’s Italian Grill

Business Category: National Chain

Website: https://www.carrabbas.com/

Location: 1550 I-10 South in Beaumont, TX (on the west side of the highway)

Date of Review Visit: December 18, 2017

What I Ordered: Wood-fired (10”) pepperoni pizza; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $17.62 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: As you would expect for a wood-fired pizza, the crust at Carrabba’s is of the thin and crispy variety, but it is not too thin.  The crust has an excellent texture, and my pizza was baked just the right amount.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: Carrabba’s puts very little sauce on its pizza, and what sauce does exist has an odd slightly spicy taste.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: The 100% mozzarella cheese appears in decent quantity.  You can request some grated parmesan or romano to sprinkle on, which I did liberally, but you have to ask for it.  The cheese produces quite a bit of grease, which leads to a mandatory deduction.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni appears in thin slices, but there are not that many of them.  The pepperoni has just the right amount of spiciness, but there is also a “topping” of spices sprinkled over the pizza that can overspice the taste relative to my preference.  Score: 5/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza has a tidy appearance with every piece of pepperoni in its place.  The dining room atmosphere is fantastic with cloth napkins and some pleasant instrumental music playing through the speakers.  The service was prompt and attentive, which is excellent considering they were very busy when I came here on a Monday evening.  Score: 10/10.

Value: You must be paying for the atmosphere and service.  Even considering the good quality, this pizza is very overpriced relative to what you put in your mouth.  Score: 1/10.

Taste: The spiciness really dominates the taste palette, so this pizza’s taste does not rank too high in my book.  Score: 13/20.

The Final Judgment:

I could sanction coming here if you are trying to show someone or a group a good time, but Carrabba’s offers too little value for casual or solo dining.  In the wood-fired pizza space, I prefer Brixx over Carrabba’s.  Score: 50/80.

Frodo's Pizza in Greenville, SC

The Facts:

Pizza: Frodo’s Pizza

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: http://www.frodospizza.com/

Location: 511 S. Pleasantburg Dr. in Greenville, SC (across the street from Greenville Technical College)

Date of Review Visit: November 16, 2017

What I Ordered: Small (11”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink

Price: $11.75 (includes drink and tax)

The Micro:

Crust: Frodo’s standard crust is the nice thick crust I like, but they also have two thinner options.  The crust has a fresh bready taste, and it offers an appealing crispy on the outside chewy on the inside texture.  Excellent!  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce appears in decent quantity, but the pizza is somewhat undersauced considering the thick crust pizza style.  The bigger problem is that the sauce has too many herbs and spices for my taste.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: Frodo’s uses 100% whole milk mozzarella applied in a nice thick layer.  Although it tastes yummy, the cheese produces quite a bit of grease, which leads to a mandatory deduction.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The toppings are pretty disappointing.  The sausage comes in small tasteless balls, while the pepperoni comes in thin flavorless slices.  There is a lot to work on here.  Score: 3/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza looks like a nice thick-crust pizza.  Frodo’s has a casual dining room with a small video game area featuring retro-games, where I learned that my Ms. Pac Man skills are very rusty.  The service is counter service, which saves on the tip.  Score: 8/10.

Value: This pizza is of average quality, but the price is lower than average considering this is an 11” pizza, not the usual 8” or 10” most places consider a small.  Score: 6/10.

Taste: The crust and cheese are the most flavorful things on this pizza, which means the taste is rather uninspiring.  Score: 14/20.

The Final Judgment:

Frodo’s is a decent option for thick crust pizza but not much more.  Score: 53/80.

Summa Joe's Searing Pans in Anderson, SC

The Facts:

Pizza: Summa Joe’s Searing Pans

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: https://www.facebook.com/SummaJoes/

Location: 127 N. Main Street in Anderson, SC (beside TD Bank in downtown Anderson)

Date of Review Visit: October 18, 2017

What I Ordered: Build Your Own Pizza with pepperoni, spicy sausage, and ham; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $13.06 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: True to its local-themed advertising, the crust at Summa Joe’s is the thin crust commonly seen on southern-style pizzas.  The crust has a nice crispy texture.  Thin crust is not my favorite style of pizza, but this crust is good for what it is.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: As usual given the thin crust, there is very little sauce on this pizza.  What little sauce that does exist blends well with the rest of pizza.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: The pizza is well-cheesed, and the cheese produces very little grease.  Sprinkling on some provided parmesan adds to the flavor.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: Summa Joe’s spicy sausage is not that spicy; it comes in big gobs and has a nice fresh taste.  The pepperoni comes in small freshly cut chunks.  The ham is unremarkable.  All toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The toppings take center stage on this pizza’s appearance: the pizza looks loaded with toppings.  The dining area was an overcrowded zoo when I came here on a Wednesday evening, partly because Wednesday is kids eat free cheese pizza night.  I sat outside, which also featured plenty of people and kids running around.  The service was excellent, friendly and efficient.  Score: 8/10.

Value: The quality is excellent, and the price is reasonable given the quality.  Summa Joe’s does not make cheap pizza, but the value is better than you would expect for this price.  Score: 6/10.

Taste: The toppings give a nice blend of flavors that few pizzas can match, and they are the main thing you taste on this pizza.  It would be nice to taste the cheese and sauce more.  Score: 18/20.

The Final Judgment:

Summa Joe’s is an Anderson institution, and if you come here you will learn why.  Their menu offers a wide selection of food choices, and their pizza is a thin crust version of nearby Mellow Mushroom, both of which I like very much.  Score: 66/80.

Papa Romano's Pizza in Detroit, MI

The Facts:

Pizza: Papa Romano’s Pizza

Business Category: Regional Chain (30 locations, mostly near Detroit, MI)

Website: http://paparomanos.com/

Location: 22310 Middlebelt Rd. in Farmington Hills, MI (corner of 9 Mile Road and Middlebelt)

Date of Review Visit: August 4, 2017

What I Ordered: 4 Corners Pizza with pepperoni and sausage; 5 piece Bambino Bread

Price: $10.45

The Micro:

Crust: Papa Romano’s Pizza comes with the thick pan crust typically associated with northern climates.  The crust is not as crispy as you might expect in terms of consistency.  It’s not the best crust I have ever eaten, but it does the job and does it well.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: This pizza comes with lots of sauce, as you would expect for a thick crust pizza.  The garlic flavor is too strong for my taste, and hence the score is not that great.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in good quantity and does not produce too much grease.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: Both toppings appear in good quantity, but they are lifeless in terms of flavor.  Score: 5/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza looks like the hearty robust pizza it is, while the Bambino Bread is akin to Little Caesar’s Crazy Bread.  The location I visited only offered carryout, but the chairs in the waiting area were comfortable.  The service was fine.  Score: 8/10.

Value: This pizza is more expensive than it should be.  Papa Romano’s offerings are a cross between Jet’s and Little Caesars but more expensive than either one.  Score: 3/10.

Taste: The 4 Corners pizza impresses with pure heartiness rather than finesse.  I can’t say the taste is anything impressive, but this pizza fills you up.  Score: 13/20.

The Final Judgment:

Papa Romano’s is an odd cross between Jet’s and Little Caesars.  I would probably rather have Jet’s pure heartiness or Little Caesars’ pure value than the combination offered up here, which I find to be a rather average entry in the thick crust pizza category.  I would sanction coming here but not over other options.  Score: 51/80.

Bellacino’s Pizza and Grinders

The Facts:

Pizza: Bellacino’s Pizza and Grinders

Business Category: Regional Chain (71 locations in 12 states; based in Michigan)

Website: http://bellacinosgrinders.com/

Location: 29101 Northwestern Highway in Southfield, MI (behind Valero at the corner of 12 Mile Road and SR 10)

Date of Review Visit: August 1, 2017

What I Ordered: small (8”) pizza with pepperoni and sausage, fountain drink, and a white chocolate chunk cookie

Price: $9.47

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Bellacino’s comes in medium thickness with just enough body to make it a northern-style crust.  The crust has a nice crispy texture, but it is hard to cut with the dull case knife they provide you.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a strong sweet taste that some may say is too sweet.  The sauce appears in high quantity.  I like sweet-tasting sauce, so this sauce ranks high in my book.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in excellent quantity and has some flavor, but it produces quite a bit of grease.  Therefore, there is the usual mandatory deduction.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: Like the sauce, the sausage has a very sweet taste.  I could hardly taste the pepperoni.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 7/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The cut on my pizza was slightly asymmetrical, which affects the pizza’s appearance.  Bellacino’s has a nice casual dining atmosphere with 2 TV’s for your viewing pleasure.  My pizza took longer to cook than I would have thought.  Score: 7/10.

Value: The pizza is small, but the quality is good.  Also, you get a pizza, drink, and dessert for less than $10.  Only pizza buffets offer more eats for your money than this, and their pizza quality is not as good.  Score: 10/10.

Taste: The sweetness of the sausage and sauce really overpowers everything else.  Score: 16/20.

The Final Judgment:

Just shy of the best pizza around, Bellacino’s is a very good budget-minded pizza option.  If I lived near one of their locations, I would come here regularly.  Score: 66/80.

Sammy’s Pizza and Restaurant in Minnesota

The Facts:

Pizza: Sammy’s Pizza and Restaurant

Business Category: Regional Chain (15 locations in MN, WI, and ND)

Website: https://mysammys.com/

Location: 305 Sunnyside Drive in Cloquet, MN

Date of Review Visit: July 27, 2017

What I Ordered: small (10”) pizza with pepperoni and sausage

Price: $10.41

The Micro:

Crust: Sammy’s Pizza and Restaurant puts their signature twists in the crust of their pizza.  The twists have a nice crispy texture.  The crust is thinner than you would expect for a regional chain this far north.  My pizza was perfectly baked, which is essential due to the twists.  This crust is unique, and I like it.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a slightly sweet taste.  It appears in good quantity, and it blends well with rest of pizza.  What more could you want? Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese comes in good quantity and has decent flavor, but it produces quite a bit of grease.  Therefore, a mandatory deduction applies.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The sausage really steals the show: it comes in big chunks and tastes like fresh, tasty pork.  Eating this sausage is almost like eating pork meatballs.  The pepperoni is less remarkable: it comes in thin slices without a lot of favor.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 9/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The toppings are neatly placed with exactly one slice of pepperoni and one chunk of sausage on every piece of pizza.  This symmetry is not easy to achieve with Sammy’s criss-cross cutting pattern.  I ordered to-go, but they have a nice casual dining area.  The service was fine.  Score: 10/10.

Value: The quality is excellent, but this pizza is expensive.  The price I list above does not even include a drink, and it is only a 10” pizza.  Therefore, value is not the strength of this pizza.  Score: 5/10.

Taste: The sausage takes center stage, but everything works together rather well.  Score: 18/20.

The Final Judgment:

Sammy’s Pizza and Restaurant started as a family-owned business with a single location.  They have since expanded, and the region’s pizza eaters are better for it.  Sammy’s is a good pizza option if you find yourself in the upper Midwest.  Score: 70/80.

R&B Pizza Place in Pittsburgh, PA

The Facts:

Pizza: R&B’s Pizza Place

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: http://www.rbpizzaplace.com/index.htm

Location: 107 Smithfield St. in downtown Pittsburgh

Date of Review Visit: July 11, 2017

What I Ordered: slice of sausage pizza; French fries; Pepsi fountain drink

(lunch combo #1)

Price: $6.06

The Micro:

Crust: R&B’s Pizza Place makes pizza with the thick northern-style crust.  The crust has a nice crispy texture, but nothing else really offends or stands out about this crust.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: This pizza is quite undersauced, and what sauce there is has little flavor.  Score: 3/10.

Cheese: R&B Pizza has a nice base cheese, but they also add an extra layer of mozzarella on top of the base.  Thus, the cheese is the strength of this pizza. Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The sausage appears in decent quantity, but the ground up sausage has very little flavor.  Score: 5/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The extra mozzarella gives this pizza a white appearance.  The cramped dining area is typical for a downtown pizza place.  The service is counter service and was fine on my visit.  Score: 9/10.

Value: This pizza’s quality leaves somewhat to be desired.  However, the price is cheap, as R&B Pizza offers some of the least expensive pizza in downtown Pittsburgh.  Therefore, this is the place to come for value.  Score: 9/10.

Taste: French fries and pizza is an odd combination, and the crispy French fries may have tasted as good as the pizza.  I never thought I would write that in a pizza blog.  Score: 12/20.

The Final Judgment:

The two pizza places I visited in downtown Pittsburgh arrived at nearly the same final score but by very different avenues.  Pizza Parma has slightly better quality, but R&B’s Pizza Place offers slightly better value.  Score: 53/80.

Pizza Parma in Pittsburgh, PA

The Facts:

Pizza: Pizza Parma

Business Category: Regional Chain (3 locations, all near Pittsburgh, PA)

Website: https://www.pizzaparma.us/

Location: 823 Penn Ave. in downtown Pittsburgh (corner of Penn Ave. and 9^th St.)

Date of Review Visit: July 10, 2017

What I Ordered: Personal (8”) pepperoni pizza; 20 oz. Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $9.62 (on the lunch menu)

The Micro:

Crust: The pizza at Pizza Parma features a thick northern-style crust.  The crust has an extremely tough consistency: I could not cut it with the plastic knife and fork Pizza Parma provides.  The crust’s consistency is probably due to the fact that my pizza was slightly overbaked.  The crust has a nice fresh taste, but the tough consistency keeps this score down.  Score: 5/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a somewhat unremarkable tomatoey taste.  It appears in good quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The yummy stringy cheese appears in excellent quantity, but it produces quite a bit of grease.  Thus, a mandatory deduction applies.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni appears in good quantity, but it also comes in thin slices with little spiciness or flavor.  Score: 6/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza has a nice symmetrical, somewhat orange appearance.  The dining atmosphere is the cramped no-amenities dining room you would expect from a downtown location.  I actually ordered a personal sausage pizza, not the personal pepperoni pizza they made for me, so the service gaffe leads to a deduction.  Score: 7/10.

Value: Pizza Parma is about average in quality, but it is not too expensive compared to other downtown lunch spots: you can and I did pay $14 for a hamburger in downtown Pittsburgh.  On the down side, the lunch special only saves you $0.50.  Score: 7/10.

Taste: This pizza’s taste is more than passable, but nothing really makes it stand out.  Score: 14/20.

The Final Judgment:

Of the many small pizza places in downtown Pittsburgh, Pizza Parma is one of them.  I found nothing horrific here but nothing particularly commendable either.  Pizza Parma is a passable quick lunch destination but nothing more.  Score: 54/80.

Papa's Pizza-to-Go

The Facts:

Pizza: Papa’s Pizza-to-Go

Business Category: Regional Chain (29 locations in 4 states)

Website: http://papaspizzatogo.com/

Location: 3064 US Highway 76 in Hiawassee, GA

Date of Review Visit: June 16, 2017

What I Ordered: Small Piggystix (cheese bread with bacon topping); medium fountain drink

Price: $9.33

The Micro:

Crust: Not to be confused with the big national chain Papa John’s, the crust at Papa’s Pizza-to-Go comes in medium thickness.  This chain used to have a location near my home in Athens, GA, and I used to order the Piggystix regularly because I thought it was their best product. (Aside: I also liked their Hundred Pounder pizza: 100 slices of pepperoni and a pound of cheese on an 18” crust.  Unfortunately, I had nowhere to store the leftovers from such a pizza on this visit.)  My Piggystix were baked the perfect amount.  The crust is fresh, but it has no other real distinctive.  This crust is not offensive but not commendable either.  Score: 5/10.

Sauce: For the Piggystix, the tomato sauce comes on the side for dipping.  The sauce is not overspiced, and overall it has a nice tomatoey taste and a nice thick consistency.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The Piggystix are somewhat undercheesed, and what cheese there is has little flavor.  Score: 4/10.

Toppings: The bacon used to come in nice juicy chunks, but now it comes in thin too-crispy pieces that have little flavor.  The bacon appears in decent but not stellar quantity.  Score: 4/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The Piggystix have a somewhat bare appearance.  Most Papa’s Pizza-to-Go locations have no frills sit-down dining areas, though the drive-up window is a nice convenient touch.  The lake view from the hillside Hiawassee location adds some scenery to the dining area.  The service is counter service, and it was fine on my visit.  Score: 7/10.

Value: Below-average quality plus below-average price equals average value.  Score: 5/10.

Taste: I used to eat the Piggystix all the time and enjoy them, but the thin crispy bacon makes the taste very pedestrian now.  Score: 10/20.

The Final Judgment:

Papa’s Pizza-to-Go’s Athens location closed almost a decade ago, and the quality this pizza exhibits today makes it easy to see why.  Most people can find better pizza elsewhere.  Score: 42/80.

Paisano’s Italian Ristorante in Lexington, KY

The Facts:

Pizza: Paisano’s Italian Ristorante

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: http://paisanositalianrestaurantandlounge.com/40041

Location: 2417 Nicholasville Rd. in Lexington, KY (in Stone Square Plaza)

Date of Review Visit: May 22, 2017

What I Ordered: Personal pizza (10” pizza) with sausage and pepperoni

Price: $12.66

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Paisano’s is thinner than average, but it has excellent texture: it is crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  Thus, this crust is kind of a thin version of a pan crust.  The crust is not unique enough to be award-winning, but it works well in my book.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The tomato sauce is very over spiced; I could not taste the tomatoes at all.  The sauce does appear in good quantity.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: This pizza features a tasty cheese blend, and the cheese appears in above average quantity.  The fact that the cheese produces a decent amount of grease is the only turn-off.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is unremarkable, but the sausage is better: it comes in thick round tasty slices.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 8/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The appearance of my pizza was quite sloppy: the slices were cut very unevenly, and the pizza came in a box that was too big for the pizza.  The restaurant offers casual dining with a touch of class: metal silverware and cloth napkins.  The service consisted of one friendly but lonely server: I was her only customer at 5:30pm on a Monday.  Score: 7/10.

Value: This pizza is quite overpriced relative to what you put in your mouth.  Paisano’s makes good pizza but not good value.  Score: 3/10.

Taste: The overspiced sauce is a detraction to what otherwise comes together quite well.  Score: 16/20.

The Final Judgment:

Paisano’s is a nice choice when you want a more refined pizza dining experience.  On the south side of Lexington, I slightly prefer Smashing Tomato over Paisano’s for regular pizza consumption.  Score: 57/80.

Smashing Tomato Pizza in Lexington, KY

The Facts:

Pizza: Smashing Tomato Pizza

Business Category: Regional Chain (2 locations, both in Lexington, KY)

Website: http://smashingtomato.com/

Location: 3801 Mall Road, #195 (beside Old Navy and Lifeway Christian Stores)

Date of Review Visit: May 18, 2017

What I Ordered: 12” Americano pizza with sausage and pepperoni

Price: $11.02

The Micro:

Crust: Smashing Tomato makes wood-fired oven pizza, so the pizza comes with the expected blackened areas on the crust.  This pizza does not have too many blackened areas, so they do not overpower the overall taste.  The crust is thicker than you would expect for wood-fired pizza, and a cornmeal-like coating adds nice texture.  Overall, this is the best crust I have ever eaten on a wood-fired oven pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: I think tomato sauce ought to taste like tomatoes, so I like this sauce’s fresh tomatoey taste.  The sauce also has a nice thick consistency.  This pizza is slightly undersauced, but what sauce is here is excellent.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: This pizza is somewhat undercheesed, and the cheese “blend” is just bland mozzarella.  The cheese kind of lets this pizza down.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is nice (not too spicy with a little flavor), but the sausage really makes this pizza.  The sausage comes in nice large chunks with a fresh unspiced taste.  Both toppings appear in excellent quantity.  Score: 10/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza appears like the high-quality wood-fired oven pizza it is with plenty of toppings.  I ordered carry-out, but the restaurant features a nice casual dining area with TV’s showing scenes from Italy.  The service was helpful and friendly.  If I gave bonus points, I would give a bonus point for the restaurant’s name.  Score: 10/10.

Value: The price is a little expensive for just a 12” pizza with no drink, but it is pretty reasonable when you consider the pizza’s high quality.  Score: 7/10.

Taste: The sausage and tomato sauce really steal the show, and they work great together.  The overall taste may be a little on the sweet side, but I like sweet tasting pizza.  Score: 19/20.

The Final Judgment:

Smashing Tomato is a smashing success in my book.  If I lived in Lexington, I would smash the accelerator to come here often for a smashing good time.  Score: 70/80.

Nacoochee Village Tavern and Pizzeria in Helen, GA

The Facts:

Pizza: Nacoochee Village Tavern and Pizzeria

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: http://www.villagetavernpizza.com/

Location: 7275 South Main St. in Helen, GA

Date of Review Visit: May 2, 2017

What I Ordered: 12” The Carnivore pizza; Coke to drink

Price: $17.21 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: Nacoochee Village’s crust is thinner than average, but it still has some body.  The crust has a nice crispy-but-chewy texture. Overall, this crust is not the best ever, but I like it.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: The sauce has fresh tomatoey taste.  The sauce’s consistency is a little thin, but it is applied in just the right amount.  The sauce is probably the strength of this pizza.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: This pizza is somewhat undercheesed, and what cheese does exist seems to be bland 100% mozzarella.  The cheese also produces a decent amount of grease.  Score: 4/10.

Toppings: All-meat pizzas usually shine on the toppings criterion, but Nacoochee Village really falls flat.  The sausage, meatball, and ham toppings add a little spice but nothing more.  Only the pepperoni stands out: it is tasty with just a smidge of spiciness, but it comes in small thin slices.  In hindsight, I would keep the pepperoni and lose the other toppings, thereby ordering a one-topping pepperoni pizza.  On the bright side, all toppings do appear in good quantity.  Score: 6/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The toppings dominate the pizza’s appearance, as you would expect for an all-meats pizza.  The dining room has some unique stump-like tables, and true to the tavern in its name alcoholic beverages take center stage on the menu.  The service was OK but not spectacular.  Score: 8/10.

Value: You can tell that Helen is a tourist town, because even for a 12” all-meats pizza this pizza is very overpriced.  If you are on any kind of a budget, go anywhere but here.  Score: 2/10.

Taste: The spiciness from all of the toppings really overpowers everything else.  Some odd shreds of basil scattered atop the pizza only add to the herby/spicy taste, and they add to it quite a bit.  Score: 13/20.

The Final Judgment:

Nacoochee Village’s pizza is unique and different, so I can see why some people would like it even though it does not suit my palette.  Score: 50/80.

Larry's Pizza in Central Arkansas

The Facts:

Pizza: Larry’s Pizza

Business Category: Regional Chain (11 locations, all in central Arkansas)

Website: http://larryspizzaofarkansas.com/

Location: 12911 Cantrell Rd. (beside Wells Fargo Advisors)

Date of Review Visit: March 14, 2017

What I Ordered: Medium pizza (12”) with sausage and pepperoni

Price: $12.20

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Larry’s Pizza is of the ultra thin and crispy southern style.  My pizza was baked just the right amount, which is not easy to do when the crust is this thin.  Overall, this crust has good texture and consistency, but it has absolutely no flavor.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: There is almost no sauce on this pizza, and what little sauce there is has no flavor.  While thin crust pizzas are usually lightly sauced, Larry’s takes that principal to the extreme.  Score: 1/10.

Cheese: This pizza tastes fairly salty, probably due to the cheese.  The cheese appears in sufficient quantity, but it has no flavor.  (Do you see a trend developing?) Score: 4/10.

Toppings: The sausage is of the pellet variety with some spices but, I repeat again, no flavor.  The pepperoni is a little better: it is crispy, and you can actually taste the meat.  Both appear in good quantity.  Score: 6/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The toppings dominate the pizza’s appearance, as you would expect for a thin crust pizza.  I ordered carry-out, but this location has a nice large dining area with a Cici’s style party room.  The service was questionable: the lady taking my order did not know how large a medium pizza was.  Score: 7/10.

Value: Even for a 12” pizza, this pizza is very overpriced relative to what you put in your mouth.  Larry’s offers a lunch and dinner pizza buffet that would help on the price, but the buffet was not open when I stopped by in the mid-afternoon.  Score: 3/10.

Taste: The best tasting thing about this pizza might be the crust, which means that the overall taste is pretty bland.  Score: 11/20.

The Final Judgment:

I could see coming here as an alternative to Cici’s, but save for the occasional self-gourding via pizza there are far better pizza options around.  Score: 39/80.

Tony's Pizza and Subs in upstate South Carolina

The Facts:

Pizza: Tony’s Pizza and Subs

Business Category: Regional Chain (all locations in upstate South Carolina)

Website: https://www.facebook.com/tonyspizzaandsubsanderson/

Location: 3750 N Highway 81 in Anderson, SC (beside Food Lion)

Date of Review Visit: March 11, 2017

What I Ordered: Large pizza (14”) with sausage and pepperoni

Price: $12.83

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Tony’s Pizza and Subs is interesting and hard to classify.  The crust has medium thickness, and while it is crispy around the edge, it is a little crispy and a little soggy underneath. Overall, I like this crust, but I don’t like the borderline sogginess.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: This sauce has the nice tomatoey taste I like, and it appears in good quantity.  This item is the strength of the pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the cheese.  This pizza is slightly undercheesed, and the pizza tastes very salty, probably due to the cheese.  Moreover, there is no real flavor to the cheese blend on this pizza.  Needless to say, the cheese needs improvement.  Score: 3/10.

Toppings: The sausage has the ominous pellet look but not the horrible pellet taste: it has some flavor and spiciness.  The pepperoni is crispy and just spicy enough.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 8/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: You can’t see the sausage because it has the same color as the cheese.  Also, my pizza’s slices were not cut evenly.  I ordered carry out, but the dining atmosphere offers the unremarkable casual storefront setting that you can find in almost every city.  The service was fast and friendly.  Score: 5/10.

Value: The price is cheap, but there are some quality issues.  Thus, the value score is not as high as you might expect.  Score: 7/10.

Taste: As odd as it seems given some of my comments above, the pizza as a whole tastes pretty good except for the saltiness.  The lack of cheese also hurts a little, but the main detractor is the saltiness.  Score: 15/20.

The Final Judgment:

Tony’s Pizza and Subs is a solid pizza option to add to your pizza rotation.  While not my favorite pizza in the Upstate, I recommend coming here at least occasionally if only for a change of pace.  Score: 55/80.

MOD Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: MOD Pizza

Business Category: National Chain (locations in 21 states and the UK)

Website: https://modpizza.com/

Location: 2135 Ashley Phosphate Rd. in North Charleston, SC (I-26 exit 209)

Date of Review Visit: February 24, 2017

What I Ordered: MOD pizza (11”) with mild sausage, Canadian bacon, and pepperoni; Coke to drink

Price: $10.78 (includes drink and tax)

The Micro:

Crust: MOD Pizza uses the build-your-own pizza model with vats of potential toppings placed before you, hence the name MOD.  MOD Pizza features an ultra thin, somewhat flavorless, crispy crust that would not hold the weight of toppings I tried to make it bear.  My crust was slightly blackened on the bottom, which is expected for a crust this thin.  This crust does the job, but that’s about it.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: The sauce tastes almost spicy.  The pizza would be undersauced were it not for the thin crust.  Overall, this sauce is not the best, but it is OK for what it is.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: MOD Pizza offers plenty of cheese options.  I chose mozzarella and parmesan, but I could barely taste the parmesan.  The cheese appears in good quantity, but it also produces quite a bit of grease.  Hence, a small additional deduction is required on this criterion.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is excellent: crispy and slightly spicy.  The topping they call “mild sausage” tastes more like sweet Italian sausage than mild American sausage, but that is a subtle difference.  The Canadian bacon is unremarkable.  All toppings appear in good quantity.  MOD does not charge by topping, so you are encouraged to load up in this department.  Score: 9/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza looks like the thin crust pizza loaded with toppings that it is.  MOD Pizza has a nice casual dining atmosphere.   Service is counter rather than table, which is effective and saves on the tip.  Score: 10/10.

Value: The price is not cheap, but you can get as many toppings as you want.  Also, this pizza is pretty good quality, and therefore it is pretty good value.  Score: 9/10.

Taste: Believe it or not, the overall taste is a little underwhelming.  Be sure to choose some tasty toppings because they are the main flavor contributors.  The grease is also a deduction.  Score: 16/20.

The Final Judgment:

MOD Pizza ranks near the top of the build-your-own pizza category in my book.  It is similar to Your Pie but slightly better and slightly cheaper.  Score: 64/80.