Roma Italian Restaurant in Texarkana, AR

Basic Information:

Pizza: Roma Italian Restaurant

Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 511 E. 51st Street in Texarkana, AR (north side of I-30 just east of the state line)
Website: https://www.romaitaliantexarkana.com/
Date of Review Visit: February 2025
What I Ordered: large (16") pizza with Italian sausage, pepperoni, and Canadian bacon; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $24.91 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 4.5  stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The pizza at Roma Italian Restaurant has a New York style crust with a nice crispy texture and medium thickness.  The crust is very blackened underneath, which suggests my pizza was slightly overbaked, but only slightly.  Score: 9/10

Sauce: This pizza has plenty of sauce, which is odd for New York style pizzas.  The sauce is slightly overspiced, but only slightly.  Score: 9/10

Cheese: This pizza comes with a nice layer of yummy, stringy cheese.  The cheese appears in adequate quantity and doesn't produce a lot of grease.  Perfecto!  Score: 10/10

Toppings: The Italian sausage is lightly spiced and appears in large yummy chunks.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  The Canadian bacon tastes like fresh city ham, as it should.  All toppings appear in adequate quantity.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: The spices in the sauce slightly overpower the other flavors on this pizza, but overall everything works together pretty well.  Score: 8.5/10

Pizza Appearance: The pizza's appearance is a little bare around the edges, especially for a 3 topping pizza.

Dining Atmosphere: Roma has a nice casual dining atmosphere with pleasant music, lighting, and a touch of class.  I enjoyed eating here.

Customer Service: I really enjoyed the service; it was quick and attentive.

Monetary Value: above average quantity plus above average price equals average value.

The Final Judgment:

I had some tasty pizza and an enjoyable dining experience at Roma.  This pizza is some slightly better toppings and a slightly better sauce away from being elite.  Score: 88/100

Johnny's Pizza House in Northern Louisiana

Basic Information:

Pizza: Johnny's Pizza House
Number of Locations: around 45, mostly in Louisiana

Location Reviewed: 6138 Greenwood Road in Shreveport, LA (west side of Shreveport near I-20 exit 10)
Website: https://www.johnnysph.com/
Date of Review Visit: December 2021
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink
Price: $12.80 (includes drink and tax)

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Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The pizza at Johnny's Pizza House has a thin crust similar to Donatos, a pizza from Ohio I like very much.  The crust has a nice crispy texture, and my pizza was perfectly baked.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza features plenty of sauce that has a nice tomatoey taste.  Fantastic!  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, but the cheese still produces a decent amount of grease.  Thus, the mandatory grease deduction applies, plus a little more.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: The toppings appear in above average quantity, but neither topping has much independent flavor.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: The cheese and toppings have very little taste, and they keep the overall taste score well below what it could/should be.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a well-balanced square cut appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The location I visited has a nice casual dining area.

Customer Service: The counter service is quick and friendly.

Monetary Value: Johnny's Pizza House offers pretty good quality for a low price, so the value is excellent.  The counter service also helps save on the tip.

 

The Final Judgment:

I really wanted to like this pizza, but the cheese and toppings just aren't elite.  Therefore, this pizza is good but a notch below the best.  Score: 86/100.

Roma Italian Restaurant in Harrison, AR

Basic Information:

Pizza: Roma Italian Restaurant
Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 1320 Highway 62/65 N in Harrison, AR (beside Super 8)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/RomaRestaurantHarrison/
Date of Review Visit: May 2021
What I Ordered: small (12") pizza with Italian sausage and Canadian bacon; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $15.66 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Roma Italian Restaurant has a classic crispy on the outside but nice and fluffy on the inside texture.  This is not Chicago-style thick crust, but it is slightly thicker than average.  Overall, I really like this crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza does not have a lot of sauce, and the sauce that does appear has a strong garlic taste.  The garlic taste is way too strong for my palette.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: The cheese is a tasty blend of mozzarella and Romano, and it appears in high quantity while producing little grease.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage is a little bland, but the Canadian bacon tastes like nice fresh ham.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: The heavy garlic flavor in the sauce really weighs down the overall taste on what is otherwise an excellent pizza.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a nice well-balanced appearance that is very white due to the cheese.  

Dining Atmosphere: Roma's has a large dining room with cloth napkins and other touches of class.

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly.

Monetary Value: This pizza is not cheap, but the price is reasonable given the high quality.  Therefore, the value is pretty good.

 

The Final Judgment:

Roma's is a great pizza option if you like garlic.  I don't like garlic, so I think it is good but not great.  Still, I wish I lived closer to Harrison, AR so I could come here more often.  Score: 88/100.

La Torcia Brick Oven Pizza Company in Arkansas/Texas

Basic Information:

Pizza: La Torcia Brick Oven Pizza Company
Number of Locations: 15 across 3 states
Website: https://www.brickovenpizzacompany.com/
Location: 814 US 62 in Harrison, AR (beside Sofa City)
Date of Review Visit: May 2021
What I Ordered: 10" pizza with Italian sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $17.45 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Most brick oven pizzas feature a thin and crispy crust, and I was expecting such here.  However, it turns out I got only the crispy part.  This crust has plenty of body, and I found it to be an unexpectedly good crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce does not have a lot of taste, tomato or otherwise.  It appears in high quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The cheese is supposed to be a five cheese blend, but it tasted like plain mozzarella to me.  The cheese appears in high quantity and does not produce much grease.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The Italian sausage is nice: it comes in big chunks and is just a little spicy but not too spicy.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Both toppings appear in sufficient quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The Italian sausage saves what would otherwise be a very bland overall taste.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: Brick Oven Pizza Company serves its pizza in a nice pan, maybe a thicker pan than necessary.

Dining Atmosphere: The location in Harrison offers a nice dining area with a typical casual dining atmosphere.

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly.

Monetary Value: This pizza is not cheap, but it is not too expensive for brick oven pizza even if this is not a typical brick oven pizza.  Thus, the value is OK but not great.

 

The Final Judgment:

This pizza was not what I expected from a brick oven pizza place, but it is not bad.  That being said, in Harrison, AR I prefer nearby Roma's Italian Restaurant over Brick Oven Pizza Company.  Score: 80/100.

Larry's Pizza in Central Arkansas

Basic Information:

Pizza: Larry’s Pizza

Number of Locations: 11, all in central Arkansas

Location Reviewed: 12911 Cantrell Road (Update: this location is closed, but several locations remain open in central Arkansas.)

Website: https://larryspizzaofarkansas.com/

Date of Review Visit: March 2017

What I Ordered: Medium pizza (12”) with sausage and pepperoni

Price: $12.20

Photos:

Summary Review: 1.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Larry’s Pizza is of the ultra thin and crispy southern style.  My pizza was baked just the right amount, which is not easy to do when the crust is this thin.  Overall, this crust has good texture and consistency, but it has absolutely no flavor.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: There is almost no sauce on this pizza, and what little sauce there is has no flavor.  While thin crust pizzas are usually lightly sauced, Larry’s takes that principal to the extreme.  Score: 1/10.

Cheese: This pizza tastes fairly salty, probably due to the cheese.  The cheese appears in sufficient quantity, but it has no flavor.  (Do you see a trend developing?) Score: 4/10.

Toppings: The sausage is of the pellet variety with some spices but, I repeat again, no flavor.  The pepperoni is a little better: it is crispy, and you can actually taste the meat.  Both appear in good quantity.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: The best tasting thing about this pizza might be the crust, which means that the overall taste is pretty bland.  Score: 5.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The toppings dominate the pizza’s appearance, as you would expect for a thin crust pizza.

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered carry-out, but this location has a nice large dining area with a Cici’s style party room.

Customer Service: The service was questionable: the lady taking my order did not know how large a medium pizza was.

Monetary Value: Even for a 12” pizza, this pizza is very overpriced relative to what you put in your mouth.  Larry’s offers a lunch and dinner pizza buffet that would help on the price, but the buffet was not open when I stopped by in the mid-afternoon.

The Final Judgment:

I could see coming here as an alternative to Cici’s, but save for the occasional self-gourding via pizza there are far better pizza options around.  Score: 59/100.