Newk's Eatery

The Facts:

Pizza: Newk’s Eatery

Business Category: Regional Chain (locations in 13 states, mostly in the southeast)

Website: https://newks.com/

Location: 132 SR 12 in Starkville, MS (diagonally across the parking lot from Vowell’s Market Place)

Date of Review Visit: March 13, 2019

What I Ordered: Sausage and pepperoni pizza with a fountain drink

Price: $13.06 (includes drink and tax)

The Micro:

Crust: The crust on the pizza at Newk’s Eatery is the pleasant combination of thin underneath but thicker around the edge.  Corn meal baked into the crust adds some nice texture, and the crust has a fresh bready taste.  I like it.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza is somewhat undersauced, but what sauce does appear has a fresh tomatoey taste.  Newk’s does offer the option of adding diced tomatoes as a topping at no extra cost, which I declined.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in decent quantity, but it produces a decent amount of grease.  Thus, there is the usual mandatory deduction.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni appears in thin slices and is slightly spicy but unremarkable.  The sausage steals the show: I would classify it as a sweet Italian sausage, and it comes in nice fresh chunks with tremendous flavor.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The large amounts of sausage and grease dominate the appearance.  They also toss some sliced herbs on the pizza, and I promptly removed them.  It’s not the best look, but I’ve seen worse.  The Starkville location has a large dining room with an open air kitchen that allows you to see your pizza as it is being made.  The service was quick and fine.  Score: 8/10.

Value: The quality is quite good, but the price is fairly high.  Newk’s only makes personal pizzas, so you gain no economies of scale by ordering a larger size.  They also offer other dishes, mostly sandwiches, but not as many as you would expect for a diner named an eatery.  Score: 5/10.

Taste: The sausage really makes the taste, but the crust and sauce do their parts too.  Only the extra grease holds this score back.  Score: 18/20.

The Final Judgment:

For a “non-pizza” place, Newk’s Eatery makes a surprisingly good pizza.  If they had a location near my home, I may not come here regularly due to the price, but I would definitely come here.  Score: 66/80.

Lost Pizza Company in Columbus, MS

The Facts:

Pizza: Lost Pizza Company

Business Category: Regional Chain (12 locations, mostly in Mississippi)

Website: https://lostpizza.com/

Location: 2009 Highway 45 in Columbus, MS (in Jackson Square strip mall)

Date of Review Visit: March 11, 2019

What I Ordered: Small pizza (10”) with pepperoni and Italian sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $10.37 (includes drink and tax)

The Micro:

Crust: Lost Pizza offers two crust options, thick and thin.  As no surprise to anyone who regularly reads this blog, I chose thick.  The thick option is a nice pan crust like you would find on a good Chicago-style pizza.  My pizza seemed slightly overbaked, so the crust was maybe a little too crispy.  That somewhat outstanding, I like this style of crust.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: This pizza is somewhat undersauced, but what sauce does appear has a thick texture and robust tomatoey taste.  This is a good sauce, but the pizza needs more of it.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in decent quantity, and it produces very little grease.  The cheese “blend” seems to be 100% mozzarella, so the flavor is a little bland until you sprinkle on some parmesan.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is a little spicy, but not as spicy as the chunks of Italian sausage, which are a little spicier than I prefer for my sausage.  Nevertheless, I would rather have slightly too spicy than the flavorless pellets some pizza places call sausage.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: This pizza looks exactly like what a deep dish Chicago-style pizza should look like.  The Columbus, MS location has a nice dining atmosphere with antiques on the walls and TVs for entertainment.  The counter service was quiet and reserved but OK.  Score: 9/10.

Value: This pizza is good quality, and the price is pretty low for pizza this good.  The counter service even saves money on the tip.  Score: 10/10.

Taste: The spiciness of the sausage is a little strong, but the extra layer of spices sprinkled over the top is too much.  I had heartburn the night after eating here, and I almost never get heartburn.  Score: 15/20.

The Final Judgment:

I like Lost Pizza, but I wish they would tone down the spices a little.  Score: 67/80.