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.