Giordano's Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: Giordano's Pizza
Business Category: Regional Chain
Website: https://giordanos.com/
Location: 10180 Diebold Road in Fort Wayne, IN
Date of Review Visit: October 2022
What I Ordered: small Meat and More Meat deep dish pizza (sausage, pepperoni, salami, and bacon); Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $31.64 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Giordano's offers several crust styles; of course I chose the deep dish.  This crust is a true Chicago-style deep dish crust.  It is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, and it is almost as good as any crust I have ever had.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: the sauce is a thick, robust tomato sauce that tastes like real tomatoes.  This is my kind of sauce.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: the cheese is a thick layer of mozzarella cheese made especially for Giordano's in Wisconsin.  Yum!  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: I have never cared for the taste of salami on a pizza, so I would have preferred they held the salami.  The sausage comes in nice big chunks.  The pepperoni has just the right amount of spiciness.  The bacon is on the salty side.  All toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 10/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service:  This pizza has the classic look of a Chicago style deep dish pizza.  The Fort Wayne location has a nice casual dining atmosphere.  I have no idea why it took 45 minutes to make my pizza.  Score: 9/10.

Value: Honestly, this is the most I have ever paid for a small pizza.  Giordano's makes great pizza, but it will cost you.  Score: 2/10.

Taste: The salami taste has never blended in on any pizza for me, and I tasted too much salt with the bacon.  Otherwise, everything comes together very well.  Score: 19/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

I really like this pizza, almost as much as fellow Chicago-style classics Uno and Lou Malnati's.  Due to the price, I would save Giordano's for those special pizza occasions.  Score: 70/80.

Raimondo's Pizza in Fort Wayne, IN

The Facts:

Pizza: Raimondo's Pizza
Business Category: Single Store
Website: https://www.raimondospizza.com/
Location: 2608 W. State Blvd. in Fort Wayne, IN (just west of Price Elementary School)
Date of Review Visit: October 2022
What I Ordered: large (14") pan pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink
Price: $16.83 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Raimondo's offers pan and hand-tossed crust options.  I chose the thicker pan crust.  The pizza does indeed have a nice thick pan crust, almost a Chicago-style crust.  It is brown and crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  This crust is excellent.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce appears in adequate quantity, but it is very overspiced.  I tasted the spices more than I tasted the tomatoes, and that is not my style of sauce.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in above average quantity, but it leaves quite a bit of grease.  Hence, a mandatory deduction applies.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The sausage appears in tiny ground up bits.  It has some spices but no real flavor.  Likewise the pepperoni has a little spice but no real flavor.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 6/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: the pizza's appearance is dominated by the crust, as you would expect on a pan pizza.  Raimondo's has a no frills dining area with just some tables and chairs.  The service was friendly and attentive on my visit. Score: 8/10.

Value: For a 14" pan pizza, the price is down right cheap. Therefore, the value is high.  Score: 10/10.

Taste: Several components on this pizza are overspiced, so the overall taste is rather lacking.  Score: 13/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

My like for this pizza begins and ends with the crust.  I can see why some people like it in total, and I would come here at least occasionally if I lived in Fort Wayne.  Score: 61/80.

Capri's Italian Restaurant in Spartanburg, SC

The Facts:

Pizza: Capri's Italian Restaurant
Business Category: Single store
Website: https://www.caprisitalian.net/
Location: 1927 Boiling Springs Rd. (on SR 9 just north of I-85, exit 75)
Date of Review Visit: September 2022
What I Ordered: 12" Trifecta Pizza (Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, and applewood smoked bacon)
Price: $17.34 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Capri's Italian Restaurant is on the thinner side, but it is not a true thin crust.  The crust has a solid bready flavor.  Unfortunately, it is also a little on the hard side, possibly due to overbaking.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: This pizza is rather undersauced, but what sauce I did find had a rich tomatoey flavor.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The cheese comes in a thick layer of white goodness, and it appears to be mozzarella or provolone.  The cheese appears in plenty of quantity and produces very little grease.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The Italian sausage is very spicy, and the spices even leave an aftertaste.  This sausage is way too spicy for my taste palette.  The Canadian bacon has a nice delicate ham-like flavor.  The applewood smoked bacon comes in tiny bits and tastes like regular bacon to me.  All toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 7/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The toppings dominate this pizza's appearance, as they do on any multi-meat pizza.  Capri's has a nice casual dining atmosphere with touches of elegance such as cloth napkins and a hostess to take your name when you arrive before announcing that your table is ready.  The service was quick and attentive on my visit. Score: 10/10.

Value: This pizza is not cheap, but the price is reasonable for a dining experience this good. Score: 6/10.

Taste: The spiciness of the Italian sausage really dominates all of the other flavors, so this score is not as high as it could be.  That's too bad, because some of the other flavors are worthy of coming out more.  Score: 15/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Capri's is fairly popular, and deservedly so.  But for the spiciness of the Italian sausage, this pizza would be a real winner.  Score: 61/80.

Papa Johns Pizza, Epic Pepperoni-Stuffed Crust

The Facts:

Pizza: Papa Johns Pizza
Business Category: National Chain
Website: https://www.papajohns.com/
Location: 3014 N. Main Street in Anderson, SC
Date of Review Visit: August 2022
What I Ordered: large (14") Epic Pepperoni-Stuffed Crust pizza
Price: $15.25 (food only; includes tax)

The Micro:

Crust: My usual view of Papa Johns' crust is a mixture of good and bad: I like the fresh bready taste, but I find the crust too bulky.  Enter the pepperoni-stuffed crust.  As the name suggests, they bake both pepperoni and cheese into the crust.  The cheese blends better with the crust than with Pizza Hut's stuffed crust, and I really like this combination.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: Papa Johns is well-known for using sauce that is way too sweet.  It even tastes too sweet to me, and I like sweet sauces.  Aside from the sweetness, the quantity and texture are quite appealing.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: Like the crust, the cheese also has a rather bland taste, but this pizza does not suffer from severe undercheesing or greasy poor quality cheese, the two things that make for bad cheese.  Thus, this area grades out fairly high.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The only topping is the pepperoni, which of course appears both in the crust and atop the pizza.  The pepperoni is not overly spicy, and it blends nicely with the sweetness of the sauce.  The pepperoni appears in high quantity.  Score: 8/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The ample cheese and toppings give this pizza an appealing appearance.  The large crust is a bit unappetizing, but knowing there is cheese and pepperoni inside helps.  I have always thrown out the infamous peppers and garlic sauce that come with every Papa Johns pizza.  That fact does not directly impact the appearance of the pizza, but I needed to mention it somewhere.  Like most Papa Johns locations, this location does not offer dine-in, and therefore atmosphere is not applicable.  The service was fine on my visit.  Score: 7/10.

Value: Granted I got this pizza while it was on a promotional special, but this pizza has above average quality for a pretty low price.  Therefore, the value is quite high. Score: 8/10.

Taste: Everything works together rather well here.  The overall taste seemed a little on the salty side to me.  I could not tell if the saltiness was from the cheese, the pepperoni, or both.  Score: 16/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Papa Johns is my favorite national pizza chain, and they delivered a nice pizza here.  You should try this one while it is still on promotional special.  Score: 64/80.

Fyre Pizza in Anderson, SC

The Facts:

Pizza: Fyre Pizza
Business Category: Single Store
Website: https://www.fyrepizzaco.com/
Location: 148 Civic Center Blvd. in Anderson, SC (across the street from the baseball fields and The Trails Disc Golf Course)
Date of Review Visit: August 2022
What I Ordered: 14" pizza with pepperoni and Italian sausage
Price: $16.34 (includes tax)

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Fyre Pizza is not too thick and not too thin.  In terms of texture, it is nice and crispy on the outside, but it is more tough than chewy on the inside.  I can't say this is one of my favorite crusts.  Score: 4/10.

Sauce: Fyre offers several sauces to choose from, but I chose the traditional red sauce.  This sauce doesn't have a lot of flavor, and it doesn't appear in much quantity either.  Score: 3/10.

Cheese: Fyre offers several cheeses to choose from; I chose the three cheese blend.  I tasted more mozzarella than any other cheese, but it appeared in high quantity and produced very little grease.  The cheese is the strength of this pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The Italian sausage has some spiciness, but otherwise it is of the tasteless pellet variety.  Likewise the pepperoni adds little flavor.  Both toppings appear in decent quantity, but the quality is severely lacking.  Score: 4/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: This pizza has a respectable appearance with plenty of cheese.  I ordered take out, but the small dining room featured chair-and-table seating.  The service was quick and friendly.  Score: 10/10.

Value: For average-priced pizza, the quality is not that great.  Therefore, the value is not that great either. Score: 3/10.

Taste: The cheese seemed to be the tastiest part of this pizza, and therefore I was very unimpressed with the overall taste.  Maybe it would be better with different sauce or toppings.  Score: 11/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Fyre Pizza doesn't exactly light my fyre.  In this part of town, I prefer New York Pizza and Pasta over Fyre.  Score: 45/80.

Cutter's Pizzeria in Oxford, AL

The Facts:

Pizza: Cutter's Pizzeria
Business Category: Regional Chain (2 locations, both in east-central Alabama)
Website: https://cutterspizzeria.com/
Location: 1781 Hamric Drive East in Oxford, AL (at the corner of US 78 and Coleman Road)
Date of Review Visit: March 2022
What I Ordered: handtossed small (10") meat lover pizza, Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $13.18 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Cutter's Pizzeria offers several pizza/crust options.  Because I was by myself and had no way to store leftovers, I chose the handtossed, which is the only option the menu lists with a small size.  The handtossed crust has a fantastic chewy texture.  It is thick on the outside but not thick enough on the inside to support all of the toppings.  I'm not really a fan of handtossed crusts, but I liked this crust more than I thought I would.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This pizza is somewhat undersauced, and the sauce that does exist has little tomatoey flavor.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese, but it produces a decent bit of grease.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: This pizza has plenty of toppings, but none of them carry a lot of flavor.  The sausage is only spicy, and the pepperoni is unremarkable.  My favorite of the three meat toppings is the ham, which appears in large lean slices.  Score: 8/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: My pizza had an evenly cut topping-dominated appearance, as you would expect for a meat lover pizza.  Their Oxford location offers a rather plain dining experience with only some TV's for decor or entertainment.  The service was poor: the servers seemed more interested in talking to their friends than serving customers. Score: 6/10.

Value: The quality is not great, but the price is fairly low.  Therefore, the value is not bad. Score: 6/10.

Taste: Except for some spiciness in the sauce and sausage, nothing really excites the tastebuds here.  Score: 14/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Cutter's makes a passable if not excellent pizza.  I would like to try some of their other crust options.  At this price point, it belongs as part of your pizza rotation, but it probably won't make the top of your pizza list.  Score: 55/80.

Cucina 100 Wood Fired Italian in Fountain Inn, SC

The Facts:

Pizza: Cucina 100 Wood Fired Italian
Business Category: Single Store
Website: https://www.cucina100.com/
Location: 100 S. Main Street in downtown Fountain Inn, SC
Date of Review Visit: February 2022
What I Ordered: 12" Trifecta Pizza (Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, and applewood smoked bacon); Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $17.23 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: As stated in its name, Cucina 100 makes pizza in a wood fired oven.  This crust is thicker than you would expect for wood fired pizza.  It has a fantastic crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside texture, and it has none of the burnt taste you frequently find with this kind of pizza.  This is one of the best wood fired crusts I have ever had.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza is fairly undersauced, and what sauce does exist has more of a spicy taste than a tomatoey taste.  I can't say I care for this sauce.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: On the other hand, this pizza has plenty of cheese.  It seems to be 100% mozzarella or provolone, and it produces very little grease.  What more could you want?  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: As usual for a meats pizza, the toppings make or break the pizza.  The sausage comes in thick round slices, and it tastes like Johnsonville mild Italian sausage, which is a little too spicy for a pizza sausage according to my taste.  The Canadian bacon has a nice slightly sweet ham-like taste, but the applewood smoked bacon has less flavor than the bacon topping on other pizzas I have had.  All toppings appear in excellent quantity.  Score: 9/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service:  My pizza had a perfectly-baked even appearance dominated by the toppings.  Cucina 100 has a nice dining area in a row of old brick buildings that has housed many things before this restaurant.  The service was quick and attentive on my visit.  Score: 10/10.

Value: The price is fairly high, but the quality is also fairly high.  Therefore, the value is about average.  Cucina 100 only makes 12" pizzas, so you cannot gain a price advantage by ordering a larger size.  Score: 4/10.

Taste: The sauce and the Italian sausage combine to produce a little too much spice for my taste.  The more intricate flavors get covered up by the spiciness.  Score: 16/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Far better than your average small town pizza, Cucina 100 deserves a spot in your pizza rotation.  I would definitely come here but maybe not too often due to the price.  Score: 63/80.

Johnny's Pizza House in Northern Louisiana

The Facts:

Pizza: Johnny's Pizza House
Business Category: Regional Chain (43 locations, mostly in northern Louisiana)
Website: https://www.johnnysph.com/
Location: 6138 Greenwood Road in Shreveport, LA (west side of Shreveport near I-20 exit 10)
Date of Review Visit: December 8, 2021
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink
Price: $12.80 (includes drink and tax)

 

The Micro:

Crust: The pizza at Johnny's Pizza House has a thin crust similar to Donatos, a pizza from Ohio I like very much.  The crust has a nice crispy texture, and my pizza was perfectly baked.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza features plenty of sauce that has a nice tomatoey taste.  Fantastic!  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, but the cheese still produces a decent amount of grease.  Thus, the mandatory grease deduction applies, plus a little more.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: The toppings appear in above average quantity, but neither topping has much independent flavor.  Score: 6/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: This pizza has a well-balanced square cut appearance.  The location I visited has a nice casual dining area. The counter service is quick and friendly.  Score: 10/10.

Value: Johnny's Pizza House offers pretty good quality for a low price, so the value is excellent.  The counter service also helps save on the tip.  Score: 9/10.

Taste: The cheese and toppings have very little taste, and they keep the overall taste score well below what it could/should be.  Score: 15/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

I really wanted to like this pizza, but the cheese and toppings just aren't elite.  Therefore, this pizza is good but a notch below the best.  Score: 66/80.

Heat Pizza Bar in Tuscaloosa, AL

The Facts:

Pizza: Heat Pizza Bar
Business Category: Single store
Website: https://heatpizzabar.com/
Location: 2250 6th Street in downtown Tuscaloosa (east side of the Transit Authority parking garage)
Date of Review Visit: December 6, 2021
What I Ordered: Meat Lovers pizza (10"); Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $15.66 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Heat Pizza Bar makes wood-fired pizza, and hence this pizza features a thin blackened crust.  My pizza was baked the perfect amount.  This is not my favorite type of crust, but it is pretty good for what it is.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The sauce is where the heat is, and it overpowers any tomato flavor in the sauce and pretty much everything else on this pizza.  I prefer sweet sauces to hot sauces, so this sauce does not score well on my taste palette.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: The cheese is 100% mozzarella, so the taste is fairly bland.  Also, this pizza is somewhat undercheesed.  Fortunately, the cheese does not produce much grease.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: Toppings are usually the centerpiece of a meat lovers pizza, but that is not the case here.  This pizza has plenty of toppings, but they have no unique flavor, or maybe the toppings' flavors get overpowered by the spiciness of the sauce.  Score: 7/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: This pizza has the usual bare and blackened appearance you would expect from a wood-fired pizza.  Heat Pizza Bar offers a nice cozy but modern dining area.  The service was a little slow, and I was the first person in the door on a Monday evening.  Score: 9/10.

Value: Even for wood-fired pizza, this pizza is way too expensive for what you put in your mouth. Score: 1/10.

Taste: The spiciness of the sauce overpowers everything else, so the overall taste is uninspiring.  Score: 12/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Based on the number of people who were there on the Monday evening I was, Heat Pizza Bar is popular, but the "heat above everything else" taste is not for me.  Score: 48/80.