Punch Neapolitan Pizza in the Twin Cities, MN

The Facts:

Pizza: Punch Neapolitan Pizza

Business Category: Regional chain (11 locations, all near the Twin Cities)

Website: https://punchpizza.com/

Location: 802 Washington Ave. SE in Minneapolis, MN (just east of Oak Street and near TCF Bank Stadium)

Date of Review Visit: June 12, 2018

What I Ordered: Napoli pizza with pepperoni and sausage; soda to drink

Price: $12.21 (includes drink and tax)

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Punch Neapolitan Pizza is not as thin as some other hot oven crusts.  It has a fresh bready taste for the most part, but I also tasted burnt crust quite a bit.  A little burning is expected for this type of pizza, but not this much.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: This pizza has very little sauce, and what little sauce there is has very little flavor.  The following score might be charitable: Score: 2/10.

Cheese: The 100% mozzarella cheese appears in decent quantity and produces little grease but also little flavor.  You can add more cheeses as toppings (for a price, of course), but the standard cheese is rather bland.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: The sausage is fresh and yummy with just the right amount of seasoning.  The pepperoni is fairly nondescript.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 8/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza’s appearance is nice and robust except for the blackened crust.  The dining area was crowded and noisy when I came here at noon on a Tuesday.  Two large overhead doors at the front of the restaurant open and give a nice indoor/outdoor atmosphere during the summer.  The counter service was prompt and friendly, but the lady calling order numbers had to yell incessantly over the noise.  Score: 8/10.

Value: Punch only makes personal sized pizzas, so this is not the choice to feed a large group with large pizzas. Also, the price is higher than it should be for this quality of pizza.  On the bright side, the counter service saves on the tip.  Score: 3/10.

Taste: The blackened crust really overpowers pretty much everything else except sometimes the sausage.  This is a shame because there are some decent things going on here in the taste department.  Score: 14/20.

The Final Judgment:

Punch is different enough that I can recommend coming here once to see if it suits your taste.  It does not suit mine, and in the Stadium Village area of Minneapolis I prefer nearby Blaze Pizza over Punch: they make similar pizza styles, but Blaze is the rare combination of cheaper and better.  Score: 46/80.

Blaze Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: Blaze Pizza

Business Category: National chain, based in Pasadena, CA

Website: http://blazepizza.com/

Location: 1000 Washington Ave. SE in Minneapolis, MN (corner of Washington Ave. and Huron Blvd. near TCF Bank Stadium)

Date of Review Visit: June 10, 2018

What I Ordered: Build Your Own 2 Topping pizza with pepperoni and smoked ham; soda to drink

Price: $10.80 (includes drink and tax)

The Micro:

Crust: Blaze Pizza gets its name from its dome pizza oven that can reach up to 900 degrees Fahrenheit.  As you would expect for this style of pizza, the crust is thin and crispy.  It is hard to bake this style of pizza exactly right, but they did exactly that with mine.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: You have your choice of sauce, but I chose classic red tomato-based sauce.  This pizza does not have a lot of sauce, and the sauce that does appear only has a very light tomato flavor.  Normally I complain about sauces being overspiced, but this sauce might be a little underspiced.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: You get your choice of cheese, but I went with mostly mozzarella with a little parmesan. The cheese is applied with good quantity, but it produces quite a bit of grease and not a lot of flavor, even with the parmesan.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: Their wide selection of toppings all look good because they have no artificial additives.  Both the smoked ham and pepperoni tasted fresh, but the pepperoni could have used a little more spice and the ham a little more sugar.  The smoked ham does not taste the least bit smoky.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Maybe I should have tried my usual pepperoni/sausage combination instead.  Score: 7/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza has a well-ordered appearance with every piece of ham or pepperoni in its place.  The Minneapolis location has a nice casual dining atmosphere with a TV for entertainment.  The counter service was prompt and friendly: pizzas are made to order assembly-line style in front of you, and the pizza maker asked me at every stage if the pizza looked good to me, which it did.  Score: 10/10.

Value: Blaze only makes personal sized pizzas, so this is not the place to feed a large group with large pizzas.  That said, the price for this type of pizza is reasonable, and the counter service saves on the tip.  Score: 7/10.

Taste: I sprinkled on some oregano to add some spice.  Otherwise, the overall taste would have been pleasant and fresh but rather bland.  Score: 16/20.

The Final Judgment:

Similar in style and appearance to Your Pie and Mod Pizza, Blaze Pizza does not quite set me on fire, but it is a competitive entry in the assembly line made-to-order pizza sector.  Score: 64/80.

New York Pizza in Hartwell, GA

The Facts:

Pizza: New York Pizza

Business Category: Locally-owned

Website: https://www.newyorkpizzahartwell.com/

Location: 105 W. Franklin Street in Hartwell, GA

Date of Review Visit: June 1, 2018

What I Ordered: large (16”) pizza with sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $16.88 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: The Hartwell, GA version of New York Pizza (aside: every town seems to have a pizza place called New York Pizza) has a nice fluffy crust with a fresh bready taste.  The crust is thicker than you would expect for a New York style pizza, and overall I like it even if it is not very New York-like.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This pizza does not have much sauce, but what sauce there is has a nice tomatoey taste and a thick consistency.  On the down side, I found pieces of tomato peel in my sauce, and I don’t like finding pieces of anything in my sauce.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in good quantity, and it doesn’t produce much grease.  I have eaten pizza cheese that has more flavor, though.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The sausage is applied in very low quantity, and it appears in tiny bits.  What sausage does appear has decent flavor with only a little bit of spice.  Still, this area really needs to be better.  Score: 6/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza has a fairly bland appearance, which is mainly a result of the lack of toppings.  The dining area has a nice atmosphere with some TV’s for entertainment.  The service was fine.  Score: 7/10.

Value: Before you balk at the price, keep in mind that I ordered a 16” pizza, and it fed two people, not one like most of my pizza endeavors.  That considered, average price plus above average quality equals above average value.  Score: 7/10.

Taste: The overall taste is fairly bland, held back mainly by the scant amount of sausage.  Score: 15/20.

The Final Judgment:

New York Pizza, Hartwell, GA version is a solid if unremarkable pizza place.  I would come here again.  Score: 60/80.

Paisano's Pizza in Washington, DC

The Facts:

Pizza: Paisano’s Pizza

Business Category: Regional Chain (35 locations, mostly near Washington D.C.)

Website: https://www.paisanospizza.com/

Location: 1500 Central Park Blvd. in Fredericksburg, VA (across the parking lot from the Central Park Walmart)

Date of Review Visit: May 19, 2018

What I Ordered: medium (12”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink

Price: $16.78 (includes drink and tax)

The Micro:

Crust: The crust has a fresh bready taste, but the texture is what really makes this crust special.  The light and fluffy texture makes this crust seem thinner than it is, and it is plenty thick enough to support all of the toppings.  This is one of the best crusts I have eaten recently.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a nice thick texture and a nice tomatoey taste.  It appears in good quantity.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in very good quantity, and sprinkling on some of the free parmesan really adds to the flavor.  The decent amount of grease leads to a mandatory deduction.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is pretty tasty, but the sausage steals the show: it comes in nice chunks with just the right amount of seasoning.  Both toppings appear in excellent quantity.  Score: 9/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza looks like the robust pizza that it is.  Paisano’s Fredericksburg location has a very bright dining area with lots of big windows and nice, white tables.  The service was counter service, and it was excellent.  Score: 10/10.

Value: This is a good quality 12” pizza, but wow do you ever pay for it: I have gotten 16” pizzas for less than the price I paid here.  You could blame the D.C. area’s confiscatory meals tax, but that would be like blaming a stale crouton for a bad salad.  On the bright side, the counter service saves on the tip.  Score: 4/10.

Taste: The overall taste would be a rare perfect 20/20 were it not for the high amount of grease I tasted.  Score: 19/20.

The Final Judgment:

Paisano’s Pizza makes America’s capital proud.  If I lived in the D.C. area, I might not come here every week due to the price, but I would certainly come here.  Score: 70/80.