Monday, July 2, 2018

Mesa Pizza in Minneapolis, MN

Basic Information:

Pizza: Mesa Pizza
Number of Locations: 3, 2 in Minnesota and 1 in Iowa)
Location Reviewed: 1323 4th Street SE in Minneapolis, MN (in Dinkeytown)
Date of Review Visit: June 2018
What I Ordered: 2 slices of sausage and pepperoni pizza; can of Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $9.25 (includes drink and tax)
Photo:

Summary Review: 2 stars (out of 5)


Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Mesa Pizza has a very hard texture; it is hard to bite and chew.  It tastes reheated, as is usual for pizza by the slice.  I’ve had worse crusts, but this crust does not do much for me.  Score: 3/10.

Sauce: This pizza has very little sauce, although what sauce does exist has a nice tomatoey flavor.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: There is not much to say about the cheese’s flavor: even sprinkling on some parmesan helps only a little.  It does appear in decent quantity.  Score: 4/10.

Toppings: Mesa has a wide variety of ready-to-reheat pizza types to choose from.  On my pizza choice, the pepperoni is unremarkable and low in quantity.  The sausage is strange: it comes in big rectangular slices and tastes more like goetta (for those of you from Ohio who know what goetta is) than the Italian or pork sausage you normally find on a pizza.  I really didn’t recognize it as sausage at first.  The slices of sausage cover nearly the entire pizza, which I guess is a plus.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: The overall taste is pretty nondescript; enough said.  Score: 5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The block-shaped sausage dominates the pizza’s appearance, and thus the appearance is most ususual.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining atmosphere is the typical crowded downtown atmosphere except that it was nearly empty at 12:30pm on a Wednesday.

Customer Service: The service was counter service and was fine.

Monetary Value: The price is low at 2 slices of pizza plus a drink for less than $10, but the quality is also below average.

The Final Judgment:

The Dinkeytown part of Minneapolis has a college town feel, and Mesa Pizza is a college town pizza.  While not the worst, it is definitely not the best.  Score: 61/100.