East of Chicago Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: East of Chicago Pizza
Business Category: Regional Chain (about 70 locations, mostly in Ohio)
Website: https://www.eastofchicago.com/
Location: 111 Pike Street in Marietta, OH (on SR 7 about 1 mile west of I-77)
Date of Review Visit: October 2023
What I Ordered: medium (12") Authentic Chicago Style pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $22.69 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: East of Chicago Pizza offers several crust styles, but I chose the Authentic Chicago Style pizza.  As advertised, this crust is a true Chicago style crust similar to Uno's or Lou Malnati's.  This crust is thick and crispy but soft enough you can cut it with a fork.  It's a great crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: Also true to the Chicago style, this pizza has a thick layer of sauce.  The sauce has a nice tomatoey taste, but you can also taste and find bits of other things in the sauce.  I don't like finding bits of anything in my sauce, so a small deduction applies.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: The cheese comes in a nice thick layer on top of the crust but below the sauce and toppings. Again, this is true Chicago style.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: I had a hard time finding the toppings amidst all of the sauce, so maybe the toppings are too sparse.  Both toppings taste OK, but I have had fresher-tasting sausage and pepperoni elsewhere.  Score: 8/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: East of Chicago Pizza has an almost perfect appearance for a Chicago style pizza, i.e. it is dominated by the sauce and crust.  Their Marietta location has a nice casual dining atmosphere with a couple of TVs for entertainment.  The service was friendly, helpful, and prompt.  Score: 10/10.

Value: East of Chicago does not make cheap pizza, but I've paid a lot more for similar pizzas elsewhere.  Thus, the value is better than you might think.  Score: 6/10.

Taste: The sauce dominates the taste buds, and not just with tomato taste.  I would have liked to have tasted the toppings more.  Score: 17/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Chicago style pizzas are typically my favorite kind of pizzas, and East of Chicago delivers what the name promises.  If I still lived in Ohio, I would head to East of Chicago (and not Lake Michigan) regularly.  Score: 70/80.

LaRosa's Pizzeria in Cincinnati, OH: Montgomery Inn Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: LaRosa's Pizzeria
Business Category: Local Chain (over 60 locations, mostly near Cincinnati, OH)
Website: https://www.larosas.com/
Location: 3291 Heritage Green Drive in Monroe, OH (near SR 63, in the same strip mall as Kroger)
Date of Review Visit: October 2023
What I Ordered: small (8") pan Montgomery Inn Pizza with pulled pork, 20 oz. Cherry Coke to drink
Price: $11.75 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: LaRosa’s offers three choices for crust: thin, super crust, and pan.  On this visit, I chose my usual choice: the pan crust, the thickest of the three options.  The pan crust has perfect thickness; it has the crunchy outside but chewy inside texture that makes for a good thick crust.  The pizza is well-baked, and the bottom of the crust has that special LaRosa’s taste that I still have not quite figured out.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce on this pizza is Montgomery Inn's standard barbecue sauce.  Although it is a tomato-based barbecue sauce, it is very sweet, sweeter than any tomato sauce I have ever tasted.  I like this sauce on ribs more than I like it on a pizza.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The pizza is well-cheesed, and LaRosa’s uses only high quality provolone cheese, the perfect pizza cheese.  Hence, there is a very small amount of grease.  Perfecto!  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The pulled pork is very tender and has a fresh pork flavor.  The pork comes in large chunks, and therefore it tends to be concentrated on some parts of the pizza and scarce on others.  Score: 9/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The concentrations of the pork give the pizza an unbalanced appearance.  The Monroe location has no dining room, although many of LaRosa's locations have nice casual dining rooms.  I have always enjoyed the service at LaRosa's.  Score: 8/10.

Value: The price is somewhat low given the quality of pizza and dining experience you get.  LaRosa’s stacks up far better than its casual dining competitors in this category.  Score: 8/10.

Taste: The sauce makes the overall taste of this pizza too sweet, a statement I have rarely made in this pizza blog.  Eating this pizza is more like eating cheese covered pork on bread than eating a traditional pizza.  Score: 15/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

LaRosa's and Montgomery Inn are both Cincinnati legends, and I make sure to eat at both every time I go to Cincinnati.  But I prefer them separately rather than this combination, and I prefer LaRosa's double sausage pizza to this pizza.  Score: 68/80.

Cavoni's Pizza and Grinders in Battle Creek, MI

The Facts:

Pizza: Cavoni's Pizza and Grinders
Business Category: single store
Website: https://www.cavonispizzagrinders.com/
Location: 5424 Beckley Road Suite D (in Minges Creek Plaza near Big Lots)
Date of Review Visit: October 2023
What I Ordered: small (8") pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink
Price: $12.92 (includes drink and tax)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Cavoni's Pizza has a fairly thick crust that looks hand-made.  It has a nice crispy texture, and it does a good job of supporting the rest of the pizza.  I like this crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce is way too spicy; I tasted more spices than tomatoes.  It appears in average quantity.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: This pizza comes with a nice thick layer of cheese.  The cheese does not produce much grease.  It also does not have much flavor until you sprinkle on some parmesan.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is unremarkable.  The sausage has a little spice but not much other flavor.  For veteran pizza eaters, I will remark that this sausage tastes like Domino's sausage from 25 years ago, which I liked more than the sausage Domino's uses today.  That's not exactly a high endorsement, but it's something.  Both toppings appear in sufficient quantity.  Score: 6/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The thick crust dominates the appearance, and it looks kind of odd sitting on a contoured plate.  Cavoni's has a small casual dining room with no TVs or anything else for entertainment.  The service is counter service, and it was quick and friendly on my visit.  Score: 7/10.

Value: The price is low for decent quality pizza, and hence the value is quite high.  Score: 10/10.

Taste: The spiciness of the tomato sauce and sausage dominate the tongue, so the overall taste is unimpressive in spite of this pizza's other positive qualities.  Score: 13/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

I like Cavoni's, but they need to upgrade their sauce and toppings to become elite.  Score: 60/80.

Brattleboro House of Pizza in Brattleboro, VT

The Facts:

Pizza: Brattleboro House of Pizza
Business Category: single store
Website: https://www.brattleboropizza.com/
Location: 419 Canal St. in Brattleboro, VT (on US 5 just north of I-91, exit 1)
Date of Review Visit: September 2023
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink
Price: $14.09 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Brattleboro House of Pizza has a crispy texture and pleasant fresh taste around the edge.  Unfortunately, it is also too thin and droopy in the middle of the pizza.  I prefer thicker crusts, and I've definitely had better crusts.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a fresh tomatoey taste, and it appears in adequate quantity.  What more could you want?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese is very greasy even though it appears in only average quantity.  The flavor is unremarkable, and adding some parmesan or romano would help with the flavor.  Score: 4/10.

Toppings: The sausage comes in nice, big, fresh chunks with nice pork flavor.  The pepperoni has some pork flavor and just a little hint of spiciness.  Both toppings appear in above average quantity.  Score: 10/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The crust dominates the pizza's appearance.  Brattleboro House of Pizza has a large and somewhat dated dining room.  The service was quick and friendly.  Score: 8/10.

Value: For decent quality pizza, the price is not crazy expensive for Vermont.  The counter service saves on the tip.  Score: 8/10.

Taste: I could have really gotten behind this pizza if it had a thicker crust and more flavorful less greasy cheese.  As is, the overall taste is pleasing but could be better.  Score: 15/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Brattleboro House of Pizza makes a solid pizza that is only a few steps away from being elite.  That said, in Brattleboro, VT I like Brattleboro Village Pizza, which is located 2 exits further north on I-91, better than Brattleboro House of Pizza.  Score: 61/80.

Dino's Pizza and Restaurant in Holyoke, MA

The Facts:

Pizza: Dino's Pizza and Restaurant
Business Category: single store
Website: https://www.dinospizzaholyoke.com/
Location: 615 Homestead Ave.
Date of Review Visit: September 2023
What I Ordered: large (18") pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Coke to drink
Price: $26.56 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Dino's Pizza and Restaurant has a nice crispy texture, but it is not super thin.  This crust has a nice bready taste, and while I wish it were thicker, this crust has plenty going for it.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The sauce appears in sufficient quantity and has a fresh tomatoey taste.  What more could you want?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese does not have a lot of flavor, even when you sprinkle on some parmesan.  It does produce quite a bit of grease, which leads to a mandatory deduction.  The quantity is sufficient but only sufficient.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: The sausage is excellent: it comes in nice large chunks with a fresh pork taste and just a little spiciness.  The pepperoni is more average.  The toppings appear in slightly below average quantity.  Score: 8/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service:  The pizza looks a little bland due to the sparseness of the toppings.  Dino's has a casual dining atmosphere with a bar and plenty of TVs to watch.  The menu is outdated: increased prices are not reflected in the menu prices.  The service was quick and attentive.  Score: 6/10.

Value: The price is high, but this is a high quality 18" pizza in Massachusetts.  That considered, the value is not as bad as you might expect. Score: 7/10.

Taste: The sausage really stands out and turns a rather ordinary tasting pizza into one worthy of a pizza eater's palette.  This pizza would taste better if I had ordered double sausage rather than sausage and pepperoni.  Score: 17/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Dino's is not the cheapest pizza around, but it offers quality pizza at a reasonable price.  If I lived near Holyoke, I would be a regular customer here.  Score: 62/80.

Pizza Hut, Big New Yorker Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: Pizza Hut
Business Category: National chain
Website: https://www.pizzahut.com/
Location: 1647 E. Greenville St. in Anderson, SC (near Publix and behind Chick-Fil-A)
Date of Review Visit: August 2023
What I Ordered: Big New Yorker Pizza (16" pizza with double pepperoni and extra cheese)
Price: $16.34 (includes tax but not drink or tip)

The Micro:

Crust: Pizza Hut has many "interesting" crusts, and you can add to that long list the Big New Yorker crust.  This crust has a nice fresh taste and below average thickness, but it is too crispy to be foldable like a true New York style crust.  While I have had worse crusts, I prefer their pan or stuffed crusts to this one.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: The pizza has sufficient sauce, but the sauce has an almost bitter taste.  Also, the sauce tastes canned rather than fresh.  I prefer sweet sauces, and while I have certainly tasted worse sauce, there is room for improvement.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: There is supposed to be "extra cheese" on this pizza, but extra must be relative; this cheese appears in only average quantity.  Also, something on this pizza makes it taste very salty.  The breadsticks dipped in pizza sauce do not suffer from a salty taste, so I am thinking it is the cheese.  Score: 4/10.

Toppings: Pepperoni is actually my favorite topping at Pizza Hut, partly because their sausage is rather horrible.  The pepperoni comes in thin slices with just a little spiciness.  If this pizza has "double" pepperoni, I would call their "single" pepperoni half pepperoni, i.e. the quantity is acceptable but not overwhelming.  Score: 7/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: There is a clear circular pattern in the pepperoni, which gives this pizza an unusual swirl-like appearance.  I used to really enjoy the service and dining atmosphere at Pizza Hut, but these days the service varies widely across locations, as does the dining experience.  The Anderson location performs quite well on these criteria.  Score: 8/10.

Value: The price is quite low for a decent quality 16" pizza, and therefore the value is quite high. Score: 8/10.

Taste: The salty taste overrides almost everything else on my tongue and really brings this score down.  This is not the worst-tasting pizza I have ever eaten, but it is a far cry from the best.  Truth be told, I have always thought Pizza Hut's breadsticks taste better than their pizzas.  Score: 13/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

The Big New Yorker is not my favorite pizza at Pizza Hut, which in turn is not my favorite pizza provider, even among the national chains.  That said, I come here fairly often, so maybe my actions speak louder than my reviews.  Score: 52/80.

Marco's Pizza, Sausage Magnifico

The Facts:

Pizza: Marco's Pizza
Business Category: national chain
Website: https://www.marcos.com/
Location: 1815 E. Greenville St. in Anderson, SC
Date of Review Visit: August 2023
What I Ordered: large (14") sausage magnifico pizza (2 types of sausage plus extra cheese)
Price: $11.98 (promotional price; includes tax but not drink or tip)

The Micro:

Crust: The standard crust on Marco's Pizza is the thickest standard crust of any national chain, but the thick crust is needed to support the large volume of cheese and toppings, as described below.  Besides, the crust has a pleasant bready taste, and I like thick crusts.  This specialty pizza has some Roma seasoning on the crust, which I could live without although it does add some extra spice.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: There is plenty of sauce on this pizza, and it has a thick texture with a robust tomatoey taste.  The sauce tastes slightly overspiced to me, but that may be due to my preference for sweet sauces.  Overall, this is a good sauce.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese is a little on the greasy side.  This pizza is supposed to have extra cheese compared to their non-specialty pizzas, but I can't honestly say I could tell a lot of difference: their standard pizzas have plenty of cheese too.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: The two types of sausage form an interesting combination.  The Italian sausage, which comes in large chunks, is their standard sausage; I have always thought highly of it.  It has a little spice but you taste more pork than spice.  The old world sausage comes in slices/cups, and oddly enough it is spicier than their Italian sausage.  No matter what kind of (good) sausage you like, you will find it on this pizza.  Score: 10/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The golden brown pizza looks great.  Even the box is one of the best looking pizza boxes I have ever seen.  The service at the Anderson location is quick and accurate.  Magnifico! Score: 10/10.

Value: The quality is quite high, and even at the regular menu price of $15.99, the price is reasonable.  Thus, the value is quite high. Score: 8/10.

Taste: I like the flavor of the sausage combination, but the robustness of the cheese and toppings are what really stand out with this pizza.  This is hearty fare for the serious pizza-eater.  I like this pizza's taste, but you have to decide if it is what you want.  Score: 19/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

A clone of their pepperoni magnifico, I like this clone better than the original, partly because I like sausage more than pepperoni.  Order and enjoy!  Score: 71/80.

Mazzio's Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: Mazzio's Pizza
Business Category: Regional Chain (locations in 9 states, most numerably Oklahoma)
Website: https://www.mazzios.com/
Location: 3030 W. Okmulgee Street in Muskogee, OK (corner of US 69 and US 64 Bus.)
Date of Review Visit: April 2023
What I Ordered: large (14") deep dish 6 meats pizza and a fountain drink
Price: $20.89 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Mazzio's Pizza offers two crusts.  As will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog, I chose the deep dish.  The deep dish pizza has a thicker than average crust, but it is not a true Chicago-style deep dish as you would find at Uno's.  This crust has a nice crispy on the outside chewy on the inside texture, but the taste was somewhat on the salty side.  While I like this crust better than some thinner crusts, I have had far better deep dish crusts than this one.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: This pizza has plenty of sauce, but it comes with a strong garlic taste.  I do not like the taste of garlic, and therefore I don't like this sauce.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, but the cheese produces very little grease.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: The toppings add to this pizza's salty taste. The sausage comes in nice chunks and has just the right amount of spiciness.  The other toppings were unremarkable, but they do appear in plenty of quantity.  Score: 7/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: All toppings are placed toward the center of the pizza, so the outer area has a very bare appearance.  The restaurant in Muskogee has a nice but somewhat dated dining room.  The service was counter service, and it was quick and friendly on my visit.  Score: 7/10.

Value: Mazzio's offers decent quality at a reasonable price, and therefore it offers pretty high value. Score: 8/10.

Taste: The salty and garlicy tastes overpower everything else, so the overall taste does not meet my taste palette.  Score: 14/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Mazzio's makes a passable pizza, but the toppings and crust are too ordinary to allow this pizza to be anywhere near elite.  The garlic taste is also a negative kicker for me, but I know other people find it appealing.  Score: 54/80.

Luigi's Italian Restaurant in Bartlesville, OK

The Facts:

Pizza: Luigi's Italian Restaurant
Business Category: local chain (2 locations, both in northeast Oklahoma)
Website: http://luigisinbartlesville.com/
Location: 1409 SE Washington Blvd. in Bartlesville, OK (on US 75 just north of Walmart)
Date of Review Visit: April 2023
What I Ordered: 12" pizza with pepperoni and Italian sausage
Price: $19.48 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: The pizza at Luigi's Italian Restaurant has a thin and flaky crust.  My pizza was baked to perfection, which is hard to do with this style of crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza does not have much sauce, and the sauce that does appear has a very mild taste.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese, but it produces some grease.  Thus, a mandatory deduction applies.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is fantastic: it comes in thick slices with just the right amount of spiciness.  The sausage is of the greasy pellet variety that disintegrates in your mouth.  Both toppings appear in adequate quantity.  Score: 8/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: This pizza has an evenly cut appearance.  Luigi's restaurant has a great large dining room with good lighting and Italian music.  The service was quick and attentive.  Score: 10/10.

Value: Granted this is a 12" pizza, but the price is still on the high side.  Hence, the value is not great.  Score: 4/10.

Taste: Never have I seen such bad sausage on such a good pizza.  Other than the sausage, there is nothing to complain about with this pizza's taste.  Score: 16/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

This pizza would be fantastic had I chosen my toppings more carefully.  That said, I enjoyed my meal here, and I recommend Luigi's to anyone in northeast Oklahoma.  Score: 64/80.

Pizzini's Pizza in Bethany, OK

The Facts:

Pizza: Pizzini's Pizza
Business Category: single store
Website: https://www.pizzinispizzamenu.com/?utm_source=gbp
Location: 5025 N. Rockwell Ave. in Bethany, OK (northwest side of Oklahoma City near Wiley Post Airport)
Date of Review Visit: April 2023
What I Ordered: large pizza with pepperoni and sausage
Price: $10.84 (includes tax but not drink or tip)

The Micro:

Crust: The crust on Pizzini's Pizza has a medium thickness and a chewy texture.  It has no real flavor, bready or otherwise.  My pizza was baked to perfection, and this is an above average crust.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: While not terrible, the sauce is slightly overspiced, and the pizza is slightly undersauced.  Therefore, there is room for improvement here.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese, and it produces little grease.  While I do not know the exact cheese blend they use, I tasted a little parmesan or Romano, so the cheese has a little flavor too.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni comes in thin and crispy slices with only a little pork flavor.  The sausage is the horrid pellet variety.  Both toppings appear in adequate quantity.  Score: 5/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The appearance looks bland, especially with the pellet-like sausage.  I ordered to go, but Pizzini's has a purely functional dining area with dirty ceiling tiles and a dirty floor.  The service was quick and attentive. Score: 5/10.

Value: I got this pizza on a manager's special, but even at the regular price the price is low and the quality is decent.  Therefore, the value is quite high. Score: 8/10.

Taste: The overall taste is a little on the bland side, even with the overspiced sauce.  Some better sausage would really help.  Score: 13/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Pizzini's is a solid pizza option but nothing more.  If I lived near Bethany, OK, I would come here at least occasionally, maybe more.  Score: 55/80.

Panera Bread, Pepperoni Foccacia Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: Panera Bread
Business Category: national chain
Website: https://www.panerabread.com/en-us/home.html
Location: 103 Station Drive in Anderson, SC (in Anderson Station shopping center, behind Texas Roadhouse and Quik Trip)
Date of Review Visit: March 2023
What I Ordered: Pepperoni Foccacia Pizza, fountain drink
Price: $16.88 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Given that this pizza is made by Panera Bread, you would expect the crust to be a strength, and indeed that is the case.  The crust has a fresh bready taste.  It is a thick crust that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  My pizza's crust was a little on the hard side, which leads to a small deduction.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This sauce has a thin texture and a strange orange color.  The taste is slightly spicy, and it tastes more like a mild sriracha sauce than anything you would normally see on a pizza.  Sriracha may be my least favorite flavor in the world, and therefore I seriously considered giving this sauce a score of zero.  Score: 1/10.

Cheese: The cheese is 100% mozzarella, so it does not have much flavor.  The odd part about the cheese is the application: it looks like they took a log of cheese and applied a few thick slices rather than spreading it evenly over the pizza.  The cheese formed a thick layer where it existed, but I would rather have the cheese spread more evenly.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni has a nice pork flavor and appears in adequate quantity.  Score: 8/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The blackened crust around the edge makes the pizza look a little burnt.  The dining room has a nice quick casual dining atmosphere with a pleasant color scheme.  The service is always quick and professional at Panera.  Score: 9/10.

Value: Panera doesn't make inexpensive food, and thus the value here is not that great. Score: 3/10.

Taste: The sauce ruins the overall taste, which is too bad because I liked some of the other individual flavors on this pizza.  Score: 12/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

I really like Panera's pepperoni mozzarella melt baguette, so I decided to try their foccacia pizza.  This would be a solid pizza but for the sauce, and in the future I will stick with the baguette, which has no sauce.  Score: 49/80.

Sky's Pizza Pie in Pensacola, FL

The Facts:

Pizza: Sky's Pizza Pie
Business Category: Single Store
Website: https://www.skyspizzapie.com/
Location: 5559 N. Davis Highway (just north of Home Depot)
Date of Review Visit: February 2023
What I Ordered: 2 slices of pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $13.19 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Sky's Pizza Pie makes New York style pizza, so it comes in the expected large slices with a thin crust underneath.  The crust on the outside is too crispy for the slice to be foldable, as often happens on reheated pizza slices.  There is nothing really special about this crust.  Score: 5/10.

Sauce: As usual for a New York style pizza, there is not a lot of sauce.  What sauce does appear has a nice fresh tomatoey taste.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: This pizza does not have a lot of cheese, but it does produce a decent bit of grease.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: Both toppings come in thin slices and appear in adequate quantity.  The sausage has little flavor.  The pepperoni has just the right amount of spiciness.  Score: 7/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The thin sausage slices dominate this pizza's appearance.  The pizza slices are large enough to take up the entire tray.  Sky's has a no frills casual dining atmosphere.  The service was quick and friendly. Score: 9/10.

Value: Sky's is on the expensive side for reheated pizza.  They have some very large pizza sizes that would score high on value, but I had nowhere to store leftovers on my visit.  Score: 6/10.

Taste: The overall taste is pretty unremarkable due to the flavorless toppings.  Score: 12/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

The overly crispy crust and bland toppings hold this pizza back.  A lot of people like this pizza place, but its score does not go to the sky in my system.  Score: 53/80.

Angelo's Italian Restaurant in Kingsland, GA

The Facts:

Pizza: Angelo's Italian Restaurant
Business Category: Single Store
Website: https://www.angelositalianrestaurantga.com/
Location: 1371 Highway 40 East (1st traffic light east of I-95, exit 3)
Date of Review Visit: February 2023
What I Ordered: large (16") pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $21.16 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: The crust on Angelo's Italian Restaurant's pizza has a crispy texture with medium thickness.  I could taste the freshness in this crust.  Unfortunately, my pizza was also slightly overbaked.  I would have really liked this crust if it were not overbaked.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a thick texture with a nice tomatoey taste.  It appears in high quantity.  The pizza tastes spicy due to spices they sprinkle on top of pizza, not due to the sauce as with many pizzas.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese is 100% mozzarella.  The taste is a little bland, but it appears in adequate quantity and leaves very little grease.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The sausage comes in tiny crumbles and adds no independent flavor.  Likewise the pepperoni adds a little spice but nothing else.  Both toppings appear in only adequate quantity.  Score: 5/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: This pizza looks like what it is: a medium-thickness crust pizza with too many spices on top.  Angelo's Italian Restaurant has a small homey dining area that was quite crowded when I came here on a Friday afternoon.  The service was pretty quick considering they were busy.  Score: 9/10.

Value: The price seems a little high, but this is a quality 16" pizza with a drink, so the value grades out better than you might initially think. Score: 8/10.

Taste: The spices sprinkled on top of the pizza combined with the spiciness of the sausage and pepperoni overwhelmed my taste palette.  It is just too much spiciness for me.  Score: 14/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Angelo's Italian Restaurant would win my golden oven pizza award with some better toppings and fewer spices to cover up the other flavors.  I still like it better than OPS Pizza Kitchen across the street, and I see why this restaurant is so popular.  Score: 61/80.

Marco's Pizza, Pepperoni Magnifico

The Facts:

Pizza: Marco’s Pizza

Business Category: National Chain

Website: http://marcos.com/

Review Location: 1815 E. Greenville St. in Anderson, SC

Date of Review Visit: January 22, 2023

What I Ordered: Large (14”) Pepperoni Magnifico pizza (2 types of pepperoni plus extra cheese)

Price: $10.99 (on promotional special; includes pizza only with tax)

The Micro:

Crust: The standard crust on Marco's Pizza is the thickest standard crust of any national chain, but the thick crust is needed to support the large volume of cheese and toppings, as described below.  Besides, the crust has a pleasant bready taste, and I like thick crusts.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: There is plenty of sauce on this pizza, and it has a thick texture with a robust tomatoey taste.  The sauce tastes slightly overspiced to me, but that may be due to my preference for sweet sauces.  Overall, this is a good sauce.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese is a little on the greasy side, but there is plenty of it.  You can even see the cheese baked into the edge of the crust.  This pizza is supposed to have extra cheese compared to their non-specialty pizzas, but I can't honestly say I could tell a lot of difference: their standard pizzas have plenty of cheese too.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: This pizza has plenty of pepperoni, as its name implies.  The old world pepperoni comes in thin slices that cup as the pizza bakes, while the traditional pepperoni stays flat on the pizza.  The old world pepperoni is slightly spicier than its traditional counterpart.  I like the pepperoni combination here, but I like the sweet/spicy combination of Marco's ham and Italian sausage more.  Score: 8/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The golden brown pizza looks great.  Even the box is one of the best looking pizza boxes I have ever seen.  Magnifico!  Score: 10/10.

Value: The quality is quite high, and even at the regular menu price, the price is reasonable.  Thus, the value is quite high.  Score: 8/10

Taste: The robustness of the cheese and toppings are what really stand out with this pizza.  This is hearty fare for the serious pizza-eater, not a light snack for the delicate among us.  I like this pizza's taste, but you have to decide if it is what you want.  Score: 18/20

The Final Judgment:

Marco's is my favorite national chain pizza.  Even though I like one of their non-specialty pizzas more than the Pepperoni Magnifico, I would still recommend this pizza to pepperoni lovers.  Score: 69/80