Pizza Plus in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizza Plus

Number of Locations: 52, mostly in Tennessee and Virginia
Location Reviewed: 606 E. 5th Street in Big Stone Gap, VA
Website: https://pizzaplusinc.com/
Date of Review Visit: April 2026
What I Ordered: small pizza with sausage and pepperoni, Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $15.85 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: Pizza Plus offers 2 crusts: thick and thin.  It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog that I chose thick.  The thick crust is somewhat thick, but it is not a true deep dish.  It has a nice and crispy texture on the outside.  My crust was somewhat soggy underneath, which is never a good thing.  Score: 6/10

Sauce: The sauce has a discernable but not particularly strong tomato flavor.  It appears in adequate quantity.  Score: 8/10

Cheese: This pizza has sufficient cheese with decent flavor when you sprinkle on some parmesan.  But this cheese produces more than sufficient grease, which leads to an automatic deduction.  Score: 7/10

Toppings: The sausage looks like the horrible pellet variety, but in fact it has a little spiciness without being overspiced.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Both toppings appear in plenty of quantity.  Score: 8/10

Overall Taste: This pizza would have a very bland overall taste were it not for the sausage.  Score: 7.5/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a very average appearance; it is dominated by the toppings.

Dining Atmosphere: Pizza Plus has a casual dining atmosphere similar to an old-fashioned Pizza Hut.  The Big Stone Gap location has some Roku televisions for entertainment.

Customer Service: on the casual side.  They have no knives to cut your pizza with, only forks.  I couldn't cut my thick crust with a fork, so I had to pick it up with my hands and eat it the "American way."

Monetary Value: This pizza has decent quality, but the price is pretty low, so the value is fairly high.

The Final Judgment:

I first encountered Pizza Plus when I visited my cousins in Tennessee many years ago.  I thought pretty highly of it then, and I still do today.  While it may not be unique enough to be your favorite pizza, it is worth coming here regularly.  Score: 81/100

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

Paisano's Pizza in Washington, DC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Paisano’s Pizza

Number of Locations: around 40, mostly near Washington D.C.

Location Reviewed: 1500 Central Park Blvd. in Fredericksburg, VA (across the parking lot from the Central Park Walmart)

Website: https://www.paisanospizza.com/

Date of Review Visit: May 2018

What I Ordered: medium (12”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink

Price: $16.78 (includes drink and tax)

Photo:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust has a fresh bready taste, but the texture is what really makes this crust special.  The light and fluffy texture makes this crust seem thinner than it is, and it is plenty thick enough to support all of the toppings.  This is one of the best crusts I have eaten recently.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a nice thick texture and a nice tomatoey taste.  It appears in good quantity.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in very good quantity, and sprinkling on some of the free parmesan really adds to the flavor.  The decent amount of grease leads to a mandatory deduction.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is pretty tasty, but the sausage steals the show: it comes in nice chunks with just the right amount of seasoning.  Both toppings appear in excellent quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: The overall taste would be a rare perfect 10/10 were it not for the high amount of grease I tasted.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza looks like the robust pizza that it is.

Dining Atmosphere: Paisano’s Fredericksburg location has a very bright dining area with lots of big windows and nice, white tables.

Customer Service: The service was counter service, and it was excellent.

Monetary Value: This is a high quality 12” pizza, but wow do you ever pay for it: I have gotten 16” pizzas for less than the price I paid here.  You could blame the D.C. area’s confiscatory meals tax, but that would be like blaming a stale crouton for a bad salad.  On the bright side, the counter service saves on the tip.

The Final Judgment:

Paisano’s Pizza makes America’s capital proud.  If I lived in the D.C. area, I might not come here every week due to the price, but I would certainly come here.  Score: 90/100.

Gino’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant in Chesterfield, VA

Basic Information:

Pizza: Gino’s Pizza and Italian Restaurant

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 6429 Centralia Road in Chesterfield, VA

Website: https://www.ginospizza-va.com/

Date of Review Visit: May 2018

What I Ordered: small (12”) pizza with Italian sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $11.56 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust on Gino’s pizza has a fresh bready taste, but it is too thin to support all of the pizza’s toppings.  My pizza was also slightly overbaked.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a nice thick texture and a yummy tomatoey taste.  It appears in good quantity.  What’s not to like?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, and what cheese exists has no distinctive flavor.  The cheese also produces quite a bit of grease.  This is the weakness of this pizza.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: Both toppings appear in excellent quantity and have just the right amount of spiciness.  On the down side, the sausage may be the saltiest sausage I have ever eaten on a pizza.  Score: 8/10.

Overall Taste: Everything comes together pretty well, with the saltiness of the sausage being the only real detraction.  Score: 8.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is nice and tidy.

Dining Atmosphere: Gino’s restaurant sports a fantastic but dimly lit casual dining area with some pop music and TV’s for entertainment.

Customer Service: The service was excellent.

Monetary Value: For a good quality 12” pizza (not the usual 10” that most restaurants call a small), this pizza is downright inexpensive.

The Final Judgment:

Gino’s is a nice pizza place in suburban Richmond.  I would come here often if I lived in the area.  Score: 85/100.

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Brixx Wood Fired Pizza

Number of Locations: 20 across 4 states; based in Charlotte, NC

Location Reviewed: 30 Town Square Blvd. in Asheville, NC (in Biltmore Town Square shopping center)

Website: https://brixxpizza.com/

Date of Review Visit: January 2015

What I Ordered: 10” 4x4 pizza (4 meat, 4 cheese); Mr. Pibb to drink

Price: $15.19 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Brixx’ pizza has a crispy thin crust that is partly blackened due to the wood fired baking technique.  The crust has very little taste; it mainly stays out of the way so that the other tastier items on this pizza can shine through.  My pizza was baked perfectly, which is hard to do in the high heat of a brick oven.  The crust is not the strength of this pizza, but it is pretty good for what it is.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: This criterion is not applicable: the particular pizza I ordered has no sauce.  I want to give a final judgment score out of 80, so I took an average of the scores from the other criteria and rounded up.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: The 4x4 pizza features a mixture of 4 cheeses: mozzarella, parmesan, gouda, and goat.  This mixture sports a flavorful taste, and it is applied with plenty of quantity.  Freshly grated parmesan applied by the waitress at my table is always a nice touch.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage is too spicy for my taste, but the prosciutto and bacon are among the best I have ever had.  All toppings appear in plenty of quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: Everything comes together to yield a light and flavorful taste that I really like.  This pizza wins your taste palette with subtlety rather than brute force.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The slightly blackened crusted gives a nice well-baked appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Brixx’ restaurants have an upscale casual dining atmosphere.  There are large TV’s and paintings for sale on the walls.

Customer Service: The service at Brixx is among the best I have ever experienced at a pizza restaurant.

Monetary Value: As you would expect for pizza this good, the price is not cheap.  Brixx only makes 10” pizzas, so you get no help on price by ordering larger pizzas as you might at other pizzerias.  Every pizza has its weakness, and this is it for Brixx.

The Final Judgment:

I might not be a regular here due to the price, but for special occasions Brixx can hardly be beat.  I highly recommend Brixx when you want a first class pizza experience.  Score: 88/100.

Monte Carlo Italian Restaurant in Lynchburg, VA

Basic Information:

Pizza: Monte Carlo Italian Restaurant

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 3230 Old Forest Road in Lynchburg, VA (across the road from Wal-Mart)

Website: https://www.montecarlova.com/

Date of Review Visit: May 2014

What I Ordered: Large (16”) pizza with Italian sausage and pepperoni

Price: $15.65 (pizza only)

Photos:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: This restaurant may be in Virginia, but the style is as New York as you can get.  The floppy, thin crust will not hold the toppings unless you fold it.  The only real gripe I have about this crust is that the pizza was somewhat underbaked: the crust was even slightly doughy in places.  The underbaking might be due to the fact that I was sitting in the lobby waiting for the pizza.  Overall, New York style pizza, welcome to Lynchburg!  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: There is not much sauce on this pizza, which fits with the ultra-thin crust.  What sauce there is has good taste, consistency, and seasoning.  The sauce does not stand out on its own, but it goes well with the rest of the pizza.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The cheese tastes excellent, even aged, and it appears in good quantity.  What’s not to like?  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: Both the pepperoni and sausage have good taste, and the freshness of the sausage is evident by the fact that it is hand-sliced.  Only a slight skimping on quantity prevents a perfect score.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: The pizza is a little greasy, but overall it tastes like a good New York style pizza.  I like it.  Score: 8.5/10.

Pizza Appearance:  The pizza appears a little bare due to the lack of toppings, but otherwise the appearance is fine. 

Dining Atmosphere: The dining room is exquisite: it looks like a 5-star dining room, or as close as I ever get to 5-star dining.  I used to dine in at Monte Carlo all of the time just to sit in the dining room.  

Customer Service: The take-out service is slow: I had to knock on the counter several times to get someone’s attention.

Monetary Value: The quality is very high, and the price is reasonable given that this is a 16-inch pizza, not the 14-inch pizza some pizzerias call a large.  Thus, the value grades out well.

The Final Judgment:

Owned and run by an immigrant from Sicily, Monte Carlo has much going for it and little going against it.  Monte Carlo is not quite my favorite pizza in Lynchburg, but it is very good.  Score: 89/100.