Pizza Hut, Big New Yorker Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizza Hut
Number of Locations: many nationwide
Location Reviewed: 1647 E. Greenville St. in Anderson, SC (near Publix and behind Chick-Fil-A)

Website: https://www.pizzahut.com/
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)

Photos:

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

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.

Overall 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: 6.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: There is a clear circular pattern in the pepperoni, which gives this pizza an unusual swirl-like appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: I used to really enjoy the dining atmosphere at Pizza Hut, but these days the service and dining atmosphere vary widely across locations.  The Anderson location performs quite well on these criteria except that...

Customer Service: ...the service at the Anderson location can be slow at times.

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

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: 72/100.