Trio Brick Oven Cafe in Downtown Greenville, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Trio Brick Oven Cafe
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 22 N. Main Street (downtown Greenville at the corner of Main St. and Coffee St.)
Website: https://triocafe.com/
Date of Review Visit: December 2024
What I Ordered: personal (10") sausage and pepperoni pizza; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $22.48 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust:  As you would expect for a brick oven pizza, Trio's crust is thin and crispy, but I have had thinner.  It has a slight fresh bready taste.  It also has the usual burnt black spots that comes from the hot brick oven.  While brick oven is not my favorite style of crust, this crust is pretty good for its category.  Score: 8/10

Sauce: This pizza has very little sauce.  This sauce has a heavy garlic taste but not as heavy as the bread they serve for an appetizer.  I don't like tasting garlic, and this is not my favorite style of sauce.  Score: 4/10

Cheese: This pizza features a blend of several types of cheeses, but it would have more flavor if parmesan was one of the cheeses.  This pizza is slightly undercheesed, but only slightly.  The cheese does not produce a lot of grease.  Score: 9/10

Toppings: The sausage is a sweet Italian sausage, and it has very little spice or flavor.  The pepperoni has a small amount of spiciness.  Both toppings appear in decent quantity.  Overall, the toppings are OK, but they produce no flavors that really stand out.  Score: 7/10

Overall Taste: The garlic in the sauce dominates the taste.  I don't like garlic, and therefore I don't like this pizza's overall taste.  Score: 6.5/10

Pizza Appearance: The cheese blend gives the pizza's appearance some nice color.  Otherwise, this pizza looks like a typical thin crust brick oven pizza.

Dining Atmosphere: the dining room is surprisingly large for a downtown location.  They have a nice variety of seating and plenty of TVs for entertainment.

Customer Service: The service was fast even though I came here on a Saturday afternoon before Christmas when they were very busy.  My pizza arrived before I finished the appetizer bread.

Monetary Value: You're paying for the downtown location: the pizza's price is very high relative to what you put in your mouth.

The Final Judgment:

Trio is a nice place to dine when visiting downtown Greenville, but it is not one of my favorite pizzas.  In this region's brick oven pizza category, I like Brixx better.  Score: 73/100

Marco's Pizza: Triple Pepperoni Magnifico

Basic Information:

Pizza: Marco’s Pizza

Number of Locations: many nationwide

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

Website: http://marcos.com/

Date of Review Visit: November 2024

What I Ordered: Large (14”) Triple Pepperoni Magnifico pizza (3 types of pepperoni plus extra cheese)

Price: $11.99 (on promotional special; includes pizza only)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

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.  I like the cheese but don't like the grease.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: True to its name, this pizza does indeed have 3 types of pepperoni.  The old world pepperoni comes in thin slices that cup as the pizza bakes.  The traditional pepperoni stays flat on the pizza.  The "spicy" pepperoni is not that spicy, and it comes in thin shreds.  The combination produces an interesting mix of pork and spice, and it also produces a lot of grease.  Score: 8/10.

Overall 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.  The grease is a real turn-off.  I like this pizza's taste, but you have to decide if it is what you want.  Score: 8.5/10

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

Dining Atmosphere: The Marco's in Anderson has a small dining area with a few tables and chairs; it is functional but no more.

Customer Service: Rarely have I had issues with the service at Marco's.

Monetary Value: The quality is quite high, and even at the regular menu price, the price is reasonable.  Thus, the value is quite high.

The Final Judgment:

Marco's is my favorite national chain pizza.  Even though I like their sausage pizzas more than this one, I would still recommend this pizza to pepperoni lovers.  Score: 88/100

Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille in Shelby, NC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 233 Lafayette Street in downtown Shelby, NC (corner of Lafayette and Graham Streets)
Website: https://pleasantcitywoodfiredgrille.com/
Date of Review Visit: November 2024
What I Ordered: create your own pizza with pepperoni and sausage
Price: $15.96 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review:  2 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The pizza crust at Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille is a thin crust, but it is not as crispy as you would expect for a wood fired pizza.  In fact, the texture is more spongy than crispy.  Also, a large area of the crust is bare.  This crust is OK, but it is not my favorite crust by far.  Score: 5/10

Sauce: This pizza does not have much sauce, as you would expect for a thin crust pizza.  What sauce does exist has a slightly spicy flavor, and you can't really taste the tomatoes.  This is not my favorite kind of sauce.  Score: 3/10

Cheese: All of the cheese is in the center of the pizza, so the quantity is not as high as you might think.  The cheese has a nice stringy texture, but it produces a decent amount of grease.  Score: 6/10

Toppings: The pepperoni has nice flavor with just the right amount of spiciness.  The sausage has little distinct flavor.  The toppings appear in above average quantity.  Score: 7/10

Overall Taste: Nothing adds any real flavor, so the overall taste is on the bland side.  Score: 6.5/10

Pizza Appearance: The wide ring of bare crust around the edge mars the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille has a large casual dining room in an older building that has nice character.  I would have enjoyed dining here except that...

Customer Service: ...the service here is questionable.  They sat me at a table that was clearly dirty.  The server brought me the wrong check and tried to hand me a knife pointy-end first.

Monetary Value: average quality at average price equals average value.

The Final Judgment:

Normally I enjoy wood-fired pizza, but this wood-fired pizza needs some improvement.  Pleasant City Wood Fired Grille is one of the few sit-down pizza options in Shelby, NC, but you might be better off (or at least save some money) if you order take-out and eat at home.  Score: 64/100

Pizza House of Powdersville, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizza House of Powdersville, SC
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 50 Halter Drive in Powdersville, SC (I-85, exit 40 near SR 153 and River Road)
Website: https://pizzahousepowdersville.com/
Date of Review Visit: November 2024
What I Ordered: large (14") pizza with pepperoni and sausage
Price: $24.28 (pizza only; includes tax)
Photos:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The pizza at Pizza House of Powdersville has a somewhat thin, kind of flaky, and very crispy crust.  It has an interesting cheesy flavor that tastes a little bit like a Cheese-it.  While this kind of crust is not my favorite kind of crust, it is unusual enough and tasty enough to be intriguing.  Score: 9/10

Sauce: This pizza is very undersauced, so much so that I never got a real taste of the sauce to determine what it tastes like.  I guess that means the sauce blends in well with the rest of the pizza.  Score: 3/10

Cheese: This pizza has a thick yummy layer of white cheese, probably provolone or mozzarella.  It does produce a decent bit of grease.  Score: 9/10

Toppings: The sausage is fantastic: it comes in thick cut slices and has a pleasant meaty flavor.  The pepperoni is less distinguished but still has a nice flavor.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 10/10

Overall Taste: Everything comes together very well with the cheesy taste of the crust complimenting the abundant "regular" cheese.  I would have liked to have tasted more sauce.  Score: 9/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a well-balanced white appearance due to all of the cheese.

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered take-out, but they have a nice medium-sized casual dining area.

Customer Service: The "Head Honcho," as his placard calls him, took my order, my money, and handed me my pizza very professionally and expediently.  The service seems to be great here.

Monetary Value: Pizza House makes high quality pizza, but the price is not cheap.  In fact, it is fairly expensive relative to what you put in your mouth.

The Final Judgment:

Oh for some more and better sauce!  While not quite elite, Pizza House of Powdersville is good enough and different enough that you should give it a try.  Score: 82/100

Pizza Bella in Woodstock, VA

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizza Bella

Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 1013 S. Main Street in Woodstock, VA (in Shenandoah Square strip mall near Food Lion)
Website: https://landing.arrowpos.com/home/pizzabella
Date of Review Visit: November 2024
What I Ordered: personal (10") meat lovers pizza; Mr. Pibb to drink
Price: $14.86 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Pizza Bella has a nice crispy-but-not-too-hard texture.  It has moderate thickness and a surprisingly bready taste.  I like this crust.  Score: 10/10

Sauce: The sauce has a fresh tomatoey taste.  This pizza is slightly undersauced, so a slight deduction applies.  Score: 9/10

Cheese: There is not a lot of cheese on this pizza, but it does produce a decent amount of grease.  Hence, this cheese is not the best.  Score: 6/10

Toppings: The sausage comes in greasy balls with just the right amount of spiciness.  The pepperoni has decent thickness and a nice pork flavor, but the real winner is the ham: it has a delicious fresh pork flavor.  All toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: The pork flavor from the meats, tomato flavor from the sauce, and bready flavor from the crust work together very well.  I like the overall taste of this pizza.  Score: 9/10

Pizza Appearance: The toppings dominate the appearance, as you would expect for a meat-lovers pizza.

Dining Atmosphere: Pizza Bella has a large casual dining room.  Some of the booths are a little tight and therefore a little hard for large people like me to sit in.

Customer Service: The server was quiet but quick and attentive.

Monetary Value: Pizza Bella delivers high quality pizza at a reasonable price, and therefore it represents high value.

The Final Judgment:

Pizza Bella makes a pizza bella, which is Italian for beautiful pizza.  If I lived in the northern Shenandoah valley, I would come here often.  Score: 88/100

Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza in Indianapolis, IN

Basic Information:

Pizza: Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza
Number of Locations: 6, all near Indianapolis, IN
Location Reviewed: 9165 Otis Avenue in Indianapolis, IN (1 block east of Fort Harrison State Park)
Website: https://www.jockamopizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: October 2024
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with sausage and pepperoni
Price: $16.24 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza is somewhat thin and somewhat hard.  The crust tends to crack underneath the pizza, which makes the pizza hard to eat.  You can barely taste the bread that makes up this crust.  I don't like the texture or taste of this crust.  Score: 4/10

Sauce: The sauce is slightly overspiced, but only slightly.  It appears in upper levels of quantity, which is rare for a thin crust pizza.  Score: 8/10

Cheese: The cheese appears in high quantity and produces little grease.  Thus, it scores at the upper end in my rating system.  Score: 10/10

Toppings: The sausage is pretty tasteless and bland.  The pepperoni has a little pork flavor but no more.  Both toppings appear in adequate quantity.  Score: 7/10

Overall Taste: The overall taste is on the bland side.  The overspicing of the sauce actually helps the overall taste; this may be the first time I have written that statement.  Score: 7.5/10

Pizza Appearance: The pizza has a very white appearance due to the cheese.

Dining Atmosphere: The Fort Ben location has an excellent large dining room with large windows and comfortable seats.

Customer Service: They cooked my pizza fast, but everything else was slow from refilling my drink to bringing my check.

Monetary Value: The price is too expensive relative to what you put in your mouth.

The Final Judgment:

Jockamo Upper Crust Pizza makes a passable pizza, but it does not score on the upper end in my rating system.  On the Indianapolis pizza scene, I prefer Jack's to Jock (amo's).  Score: 76/100

516 Pizza Pub in Northwest Ohio

Basic Information:

Pizza: 516 Pizza Pub
Number of Locations: 2, both in northwest Ohio
Location Reviewed: 27072 Carronade Drive in Perrysburg, OH (near Kroger at I-75 exit 193)
Website: https://www.pizzapub516.com/
Date of Review Visit: October 2024
What I Ordered: large (16") pizza with pepperoni and sausage
Price: $25.50 (pizza only; includes tax)
Photos:

Summary Review:  4 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at 516 Pizza Pub is not a pan crust, but it is a thick crispy crust.  My pizza seemed slightly overbaked, and therefore the crust seemed slightly burnt.  This crust is not bad, but I've had better.  Score: 7/10

Sauce: This pizza has lots of sauce.  The sauce has a rich tomatoey taste, but it is also slightly overspiced.  Score: 8/10

Cheese: This pizza features a thick layer of yummy cheese.  The cheese does produce a decent amount of grease, so a mandatory deduction applies.  Score: 9/10

Toppings: The toppings get lost in the cheese and sauce, but this pizza still has plenty of toppings.  The pepperoni comes several slices thick and has great flavor with just a bit of spiciness.  The sausage comes in nice large chunks with not as much flavor.  Score: 10/10

Overall Taste: except for the slightly burnt taste, everything comes together well.  The overall taste prioritizes quantity over quality, and this pizza is for hearty pizza eaters only.  Score: 8.5/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a burnt appearance due to the overbaking.  Otherwise, it looks like the thick robust pizza it is.

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered to-go, but 516 Pizza Pub has a casual dining room with a full service bar in the center, a pool table near the front, and lots of TV's.  The overall atmosphere is an odd mix of bar and pizza restaurant.

Customer Service: They took my order at the bar.  The service was quick and friendly.

Monetary Value: This pizza is very expensive, even for a 16" pizza.  Therefore, the value is not the best.

The Final Judgment:

As I carried this pizza up to my hotel room, I kept thinking that this may be the heaviest pizza I have ever carried.  516 Pizza Pub is not for people who want flavorful delicacies, but it is for people who want hearty, robust, filling pizza.  Score: 80/100