Gelsosomo's Pizzeria near Chicago, IL

Basic Information:

Pizza: Gelsosomo's Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 10, mostly near Chicago, IL
Location Reviewed: 5184 S. Franklin Street in Michigan City, IN (in front of Meijer on US 421 just north of I-94 exit 34B)
Website: https://gelpizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: September 2024
What I Ordered: small (10") deep dish pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $24.88 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
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Summary Review:  4.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: Gelsosomo's offers a true Chicago style thick crust that is at least 2 inches thick.  The crust has the crispy texture you would expect, and the sauce and cheese blend well with the crust.  Score: 10/10

Sauce: This pizza has lots of sauce.  The sauce had a nice tomatoey taste at first, but a bitter flavor grew on my taste palette the more I ate.  I would like this sauce more without the bitter end.  Score: 8/10

Cheese: This pizza has a thick layer of cheese baked right on the crust, which is where it should be for a deep dish pizza.  I like it.  Score: 10/10

Toppings: The sausage comes in nice big chunks and has a mildly spiced pork flavor.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Both toppings appear in abundant quantity.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: The big gobs of sauce dominate the taste, and therefore this pizza has more of a bitter taste than I prefer.  Score: 7.5/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza looks like the robust deep dish pizza it is.

Dining Atmosphere: Gelsosomo's has a nice casual dining atmosphere with nice booths and a few TVs for entertainment.  I enjoyed the dining experience here.

Customer Service: The table service was quick and attentive on my visit.

Monetary Value: While the price is expensive, it is not the most expensive pizza of this type I have ever had.  Thus, the value is about average.

The Final Judgment:

I enjoyed the food and service at Gelsosomo's.  Only a fresher, more tomato-tasting sauce like the sauce at Lou Malnati's or Uno's keeps this pizza from being elite.  Score: 86/100

Toppers Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Toppers Pizza
Number of Locations: around 70, based in Whitewater, WI
Location Reviewed:21461 E. Moreland Blvd. in Waukesha, WI (on US 18 just west of I-94, exit 297)
Website: https://www.toppers.com/
Date of Review Visit: September 2024
What I Ordered: large (14") pizza with sausage and pepperoni
Price: $9.45 (pizza only; includes tax)
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Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Toppers Pizza has a fluffy and airy texture.  The thickness is not too thin, but it is not a northern-style pan crust either.  They coat the crust with a yellow garlic sauce that I don't particularly like because I don't particularly like garlic.  Score: 8/10

Sauce: The sauce has a nice tomatoey flavor, and it appears in above average quantity.  What's not to like?  Score: 10/10

Cheese: The cheese appears in satisfactory quantity, but it produces a lot of grease and has little flavor.  This cheese is OK but surprisingly not elite given that Toppers is based in Wisconsin.  Score: 7/10

Toppings: The pepperoni has just the right amount of spiciness. I thought the hand-pinched sausage would be the star of this show, but it's not: it has minimal flavor and and almost burnt texture.  Both toppings appear in above average quantity.  Score: 8/10

Overall Taste: The sauce and crust work together pretty well.  Less grease and tastier toppings would make this pizza a real winner.  Score: 8/10

Pizza Appearance: My pizza had an uneven cut.  The seemingly burnt sausage dominates the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining area is only a few tables with stools, which makes dining-in rather painful for those of us with back problems.

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly.  The toppings they put on my pizza did not match my order, but they remade my pizza for free and let me keep the "wrong" pizza.

Monetary Value: At this price, Toppers is one of the best pizza bargains I know of.

The Final Judgment:

Toppers markets to young college-age people, and the high grease factor makes it suitable for people not yet worried about their health.  I would sanction making Toppers part of a well-balanced pizza diet, especially for budget-conscious pizza eaters.  Score: 86/100

Brother's Italian Cuisine in Anderson, SC

Basic Information

Pizza: Brother's Italian Cuisine

Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 2105 S. Main Street in Anderson, SC
Website: https://www.facebook.com/p/Brothers-Italian-100086016486770/
Date of Review Visit: August 2024
What I Ordered: Large pizza (14") with sausage; 2 sodas to drink
Price: $21.39 (includes 2 drinks and tax but not tip)
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Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust has medium thickness; it looks and tastes like a hand-tossed crust.  The crust is more bready than you would expect for a crust like this one, and it has a fresh bready taste.  Score: 10/10

Sauce: The sauce has a fresh pleasant taste, but the pizza is somewhat undersauced.  Score: 8/10

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, but it does not produce much grease.  Score: 8/10

Topping: The sausage is not overspiced, and in fact it does not have a lot of flavor at all.  It has a slight fresh pork taste, and it appears in sufficient quantity.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: a little on the bland side, mainly due to the blandness of the sausage and the lack of sauce.  The crust might be best tasting part of this pizza.  Score: 7.5/10

Pizza Appearance: a little bare, partly because this is a 1 topping pizza.  The whiteness of the cheese makes it look slightly underbaked, but it was baked the right amount.

Dining Atmosphere: nice no frills casual dining atmosphere with a couple of TVs for entertainment.

Customer Service: a little slow, especially in terms of refilling our drinks.

Monetary Value: Brother's makes quality pizza at a reasonable price, and therefore the value is quite high.

The Final Judgment:

Brother's Italian Cuisine is a quality if unspectacular pizza option.  While it is not my favorite pizza in Anderson, it deserves a spot in your pizza rotation.  Score: 81/100

Red Tomato Greek and Italian Cuisine in Anderson, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Red Tomato Greek and Italian Cuisine
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 3907A Clemson Boulevard in Anderson, SC (across the street from Anderson Ford)

Website: https://theredtomatorestaurant.com/
Date of Review Visit: May 2024
What I Ordered: small (9") pizza with sausage, pepperoni, and ham; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $13.83 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

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Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Red Tomato makes southern-style thin crust pizza.  It is hard to bake this kind of pizza perfectly, and my pizza seemed to be a little overbaked: the crust was too hard to be described as crispy.  This isn't my favorite kind of crust, and it is not done particularly well.  Score: 4/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a fresh taste and appears in adequate quantity, but it is a little overspiced.  This is not a bad sauce, but for a restaurant named Red Tomato I really expected an elite sauce.  This sauce is nowhere near elite.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of yummy stringy cheese that produces very little grease.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage and ham have a nice fresh pork flavor.  The pepperoni comes in thin slices that were somewhat burnt, again probably because my pizza was overbaked.  All toppings appear in satisfactory quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: Red Tomato offers an odd mix of things to like and things to not like.  The overall taste is held back by the overspiced sauce and by the fact that my pizza was somewhat overbaked.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a nice tidy appearance, and it comes served on an expensive-looking wooden platter.

Dining Atmosphere: Red Tomato has a small dining area that is beautifully decorated with nice music and comfortable seats.

Customer Service: The service was friendly, attentive, and very southern on my visit.

Monetary Value: This pizza is not crazy expensive for a nice dining experience and decent quality pizza.  Thus, the value ranks quite high.

The Final Judgment:

Red Tomato has its strong points, but they need to use more tomatoes and be more precise with the baking.  In this part of Anderson, I like DaVinci's more but Fyre less.  Score: 83/100.

Brittany's Brick Oven Pizza in Madison, IN

Basic Information:

Pizza: Brittany's Brick Oven Pizza (B-Bop's)
Number of Locations: 1
Location Review: 2034 Lanier Drive in Madison, IN (on SR 7 just south of SR 62)

Website: https://www.brittanyspizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: May 2024
What I Ordered: personal (6.5") Sinister Six pizza (6 meat pizza), Mr. Pibb to drink
Price: $13.58 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

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Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Locally known as B-Bop's, Brittany's Brick Oven Pizza uses an award-winning recipe for their crust that requires slow proofing the dough for 2-4 days.  The crust comes out crispy and even blackened, but it still has a fresh doughy taste.  This is one of the best crusts I have ever had.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a thick texture and fresh tomatoey taste.  It appears in adequate quantity.  What's not to like?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza has a nice thick layer of yummy white cheese that does not produce a lot of grease.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: Strangely enough, only the bacon stands out among the toppings: it is slightly crispy and has a slight smoky flavor.  The other 5 meats blend together to produce a fresh pork flavor but are indistinguishable from each other.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: I would have liked to have tasted the individual meats a little more, but the overall taste is hard to beat.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The blackened areas give this pizza very much a wood-fired appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: B-Bop's has a basic dining atmosphere with nice chairs and 1960's music programming on TV's.

Customer Service: The service was quick and witty.

Monetary Value: For high quality pizza, the price is surprisingly low.  Large pizzas are an even better value.

The Final Judgment:

We have a new high scoring pizza!  B-Bop's is a tiny shop in a small town, but you won't find better pizza anywhere.  Score: 96/100.

Lombardi's New York Pizza and Wings in Evansville, IN

Basic Information:

Pizza: Lombardi's New York Pizza and Wings
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 3311 N. Green River Road in Evansville, IN (south side of Schnuck's parking lot)

Website: https://www.facebook.com/lombardispizzaandwings/
Date of Review Visit: May 2024
What I Ordered: 1 slice of pepperoni pizza, 1 slice of sausage pizza, fountain drink
Price: $8.06 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

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Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: True to its name, Lombardi's makes New York style pizza, and therefore it has a thin, floppy, foldable crust.  They sell pizza by the slice, but the crust is not hard and crispy like most pizza by the slice places.  In the pizza by the slice universe, this is a solid crust.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: As usual for New York style pizza, this pizza is somewhat undersauced.  What sauce exists has a fresh tomatoey taste.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: Unfortunately, this pizza is also somewhat undercheesed.  The cheese does not produce much grease, so that's a plus.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: The sausage is so sparse I ordered a 2nd slice just so I could judge the sausage; it has a pleasant pork flavor.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Score: 5/10.

Overall Taste: The sparse toppings really let this pizza down, and the overall taste is a little unremarkable due to the lack of toppings.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza's appearance looks sparse due to the lack of toppings.

Dining Atmosphere: Lombardi's had quick counter service from a friendly guy on my visit.

Customer Service: The dining room is the bare minimum with no TV's or other entertainment.

Monetary Value: Pizza by the slice usually has high value due to its low price, and this one is no exception.  The better-than-expected quality helps on the other side of the value equation.

 

The Final Judgment:

Lombardi's is some more and better toppings away from having one of the best pizza-by-the-slice options I have ever eaten.  Despite its flaws, I recommend coming here for a quick lunch if you are in the Evansville area.  Score: 79/100.

Rustic Farms Pizza in Greenville, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Rustic Farms Pizza
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 7611 White Horse Road on the northwest side of Greenville, SC (just south of US 25 and SR 183)

Website: https://rusticfarmspizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: March 2024
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with pepperoni and Italian sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $18.36 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Rustic Farms Pizza is thin and crispy but not super thin like some southern-style pizzas.  This crust is not too hard, and my pizza was baked to perfection.  Excellent!  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza is undersauced and very overspiced.  They sprinkle even more spices on top of the pizza, and the spices really overwhelm pretty much everything else.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in decent quantity and has inoffensive flavor, but it produces quite a bit of grease.  Hence, the usual mandatory deduction for grease applies.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The sausage has a mild flavor for an Italian sausage, and it gets covered up by, you guessed it, the spices in the sauce.  You have to cleanse your palette and then eat just a piece of sausage in order to taste the sausage's mild seasonings, which actually produce a pleasant seasoned pork flavor.  The pepperoni steals the show: it is what some pizza places call old world pepperoni with just the right amount of zip, and it cups as the pizza bakes.  Score: 10/10.

Overall Taste: This pizza could be a real winner, but the spices in the sauce and on top of the pizza overpower everything else.  Thus, the overall taste leaves somewhat to be desired.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a balanced fresh appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Rustic Farms has a nice large dining room that is good for eating as a group or eating alone.

Customer Service: The service was quick and attentive on my visit.

Monetary Value: Rustic Farms makes high quality pizza, but the price reflects it.  Thus, the value is about average.

The Final Judgment:

Rustic Farms falls into the same trap so many other pizza places do.  I honestly don't understand why so many pizza places cover up so many good flavors with so many spices.  Thus, this pizza scores about the same as so many other good but not great pizzas.  Score: 82/100.