Big Daddy's Pizzeria in Pigeon Forge, TN

The Facts:

Pizza: Big Daddy’s Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 3, all near the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee)

Location Reviewed: 3053 Parkway in Pigeon Forge, TN

Website: https://www.bigdaddyspizzeria.net/

Date of Review Visit: May 2016

What I Ordered: small (10”) Boo Boo Bomber pizza (i.e. pepperoni pizza)

Price: $11.06 (pizza only; includes tax)

Photos:

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Big Daddy’s crust has the not-too-thick not-too-thin style that can be rather unappetizing, but it comes across pretty well on this pizza.  Some flour baked into the crust provides nice texture.  This crust is not fantastic, but it is not horrible either.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: I could barely taste the sauce, and not because it doesn’t exist.  In fact, the quantity is slightly above average.  The sauce just doesn’t have much flavor.  I also found small chunks of tomato in the sauce, a personal pet peeve of mine: I don’t want to find chunks of anything in my sauce.  I have had far better pizza sauces than this one.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: The cheese comes in a thick yummy layer.  The 100% mozzarella blend does not have the most flavorful taste, but the excellent quantity makes the cheese the strength of this pizza.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni appears in average quantity.  I could taste the spices in the pepperoni, but they are not overwhelming.  For only a one-topping pizza, the toppings are decent overall.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: The cheese really saves what is otherwise a fairly dull-tasting pizza.  Nothing about this pizza really offends the taste buds but nothing really impresses them either.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pepperoni was not evenly applied, so the pizza looked a little bare.

Dining Atmosphere: Big Daddy’s offers a casual family-oriented dining atmosphere with a nice video game arcade for the young and young-at-heart.

Customer Service: The service was quick and attentive.

Monetary Value: The quality is slightly above average and the price is slightly above average, so the price/quality value ratio grades out about average.

The Final Judgment:

Big Daddy’s Pizzeria makes a just slightly different than average pizza.  It is worth coming here occasionally for a change of pace, but there are better pizzas around.  Score: 53/80.

Rudino's Pizza and Grinders

Basic Information:

Pizza: Rudino’s Pizza and Grinders

Number of Locations: 6, mostly near Raleigh-Durham, NC

Location Reviewed: 4022 Village Park Drive in Knightdale, NC (between Just Tires and Auto Bell Car Wash)

Website: https://rudinos.com/

Date of Review Visit: March 2016

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

Price: $13.79 (pizza only; includes tax)

Photos:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Rudino’s has slightly above average thickness.  The crust’s crispy well-baked outer shell makes for one of the best crust textures I have ever eaten.  The crust also has a nice fresh bready taste.  Magnifico!  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a very sweet taste, and I like sweet tasting sauces.  Thus, I like this sauce.  The quantity of sauce is about average.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: The cheese tastes like good-quality mozzarella or provolone.  It appears in about average quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The sausage also has a sweet taste with just a little spice; it tastes like a sweet Italian sausage.  The pepperoni comes in thin and crispy (slightly burnt) slices with very little taste.  In hindsight, to match the sweetness of the sauce I should have ordered the honey ham topping instead of the pepperoni.  Both toppings appear in excellent quantity.  Score: 8/10.

Overall Taste: The sweet taste from the sauce dominates the taste buds, but it also tastes very salty, saltier than any pizza I have eaten recently except Pizza Hut.  The extreme salty taste drags this score down a bit.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: Rudino’s cuts their pizza into an odd criss-cross pattern instead of the usual wedges.  The cut gives an odd but OK appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered carry out, but the dining room seemed to have a nice casual dining grill/bar atmosphere.

Customer Service: The service was quick and attentive.

Monetary Value: The price is high, but 1) this is good quality pizza and 2) this is a 12” pizza.  Rudino’s offers no smaller sizes, which limits your options in terms of limiting the price.  Overall, the value grades out about average.

The Final Judgment:

Rudino’s Pizza is not quite elite, but it is a very good if slightly overpriced pizza option.  If I lived in Raleigh-Durham, I would come here rather frequently.  Score: 87/100.

Famous Pizza in Anderson, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Famous Pizza and Restaurant in Anderson, SC

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 1417 Pearman Dairy Road (on SR 28 just south of Whitehall Rd.)

Website: (none)

Date of Review Visit: March 2016

What I Ordered: small (10”) meats pizza; Mello Yellow to drink

Price: $12.73 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: I would classify Famous Pizza as Greek-style: the crust is thick and crispy around the edges but very thin underneath.  Even worse, the crust on my pizza was wet and soggy underneath from grease, so much so that it could not support the toppings.  The fresh bready taste around the edges is passable, but the texture and the crust underneath the pizza need some work.  Score: 4/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a very tomatoey taste; I could taste no spices whatsoever.  Usually I complain about sauce being overspiced, but this one fails in the opposite direction.  The quantity of the sauce is sufficient, so it could be worse.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: The cheese looks and tastes like 100% mozzarella, so the taste is a little bland.  The cheese is applied in good quantity, but it produces more grease than good quality cheese should.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: Pellet sausage alert!  Pellet sausage is never a good sign, and this pizza is no exception.  The rest of the toppings have some spicy heat but little flavor.  The salami (part of the meats pizza toppings package) tastes odd with the rest of the spicy Greek/Italian meat toppings.  All toppings appear in sufficient quantity.  Overall, I have had worse, but I have definitely had better.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: There is really not a lot to commend the taste of this pizza.  The salami and other toppings clash violently on the taste palette, and the soggy crust is a real turnoff even though it only indirectly affects the taste buds.  Score: 6/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is fine except for the pellet sausage.

Dining Atmosphere: The restaurant features a nice homey casual dining area.

Customer Service: It took me 5 minutes to get a waitresses’ attention even though there was only one other customer in the restaurant when I walked in.  Once the service started, it was fine.

Monetary Value: Famous Pizza’s topping pricing scheme forced me to order the meats pizza in order to maximize the value: it is only a few cents more expensive than my usual 2-topping small pizza.  That said, the price is about average (for a meats pizza), and the quality is about average.  Thus, the value is about average.

The Final Judgment:

Famous Pizza does not rank so famously in my book.  There are far better pizza options in Anderson such as DaVinci’s.  Score: 67/100.

Shakey's Pizza Parlor

Basic Information:

Pizza: Shakey’s Pizza Parlor

Number of Locations: about 50, mostly in southern California

Location Reviewed: 2437 E. Glenn Ave. in Auburn, AL (Update: this location is now closed.  Only locations in California and Washington remain open.)

Website: http://www.shakeys.com/

Date of Review Visit: January 2016

What I Ordered: Small (10”) pan pizza with Italian sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $12.19 (includes drink and tax)

Photo:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Shakey’s offers two crust options: traditional thin and sourdough pan. As regular readers of this blog would expect, I chose pan.  The crust has a near-perfect texture: crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  I could not taste the sourdough, but the crust tasted like good quality bread.  I like it.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This pizza is very undersauced.  When I did get a lick of sauce, it had a sweet taste similar to Papa John’s, which I liked.  Overall, this sauce is good, but the pizza needs more of it.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: This pizza is definitely not undercheesed: a nice layer of mozzarella or provolone blankets the pizza.  The cheese does not produce too much grease, so it is good quality.  Sprinkling on some parmesan only enhances the flavor.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The Italian sausage is downright terrible: it comes in large pellets that dissolve into grease when you bite them.  The pepperoni is a little better: it comes in thin slices that are only slightly spicy.  Overall, the toppings need improvement.  Score: 3/10.

Overall Taste: The good and bad really clash here.  This pizza tastes like good quality pizza if your bite includes only crust and cheese, but you learn otherwise when you bite into the toppings.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is fine except for the pellet sausage.

Dining Atmosphere: The restaurant has a nice casual dining atmosphere, but the dining area is too large: I was the only customer in the building at 5:30 pm on a Thursday.

Customer Service: Shakey’s offers counter service rather than table service, but I had no trouble ordering.

Monetary Value: The price is reasonable, but the quality is only OK.  Thus, the value is only slightly better than average.

The Final Judgment:

Shakey’s is a decent pizza option, but there are better.  It could be a real winner with some better toppings.  Score: 78/100.

Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria

Basic Information:

Pizza: Grimaldi’s Coal Brick-Oven Pizzeria

Number of Locations: about 50 across 12 states

Location Reviewed: 6401 Bluebonnet Blvd. in Baton Rouge, LA (Update: this location is now closed.  Grimaldi's has no current locations in Louisiana.)

Website: https://www.grimaldispizzeria.com/

Date of Review Visit: January 2016

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

Price: $15.81 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The name and dining atmosphere at Grimaldi’s screams New York, but the crust on Grimaldi’s pizza is actually the crispy thin southern style.  The crust is slightly charred, as is usual for a brick-oven pizza, but I could taste the charring of the crust a little more than I would have preferred.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a nice thick texture, and it is slightly spiced without being overspiced.  Overall, this sauce is excellent, and it is the strength of this pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese blend is 100% mozzarella, so it produces a rather bland taste.  Sprinkling on the parmesan provided helps but only a little.  The pizza is slightly undercheesed.  On the bright side, the cheese produces no grease, so there is a redeeming quality on this criterion.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: The toppings appear in moderate quantity.  I tasted no spices in the Italian sausage at first, but the spiciness built the more I ate.  The real problem with the toppings is the pricing scheme.  Each topping is the same price regardless of pizza size, so the personal size is a real loser.  There was only one of me, and I came here on a hiking trip, thus making me unable to store leftovers.  Therefore, my only choice was to order a personal size pizza, so I had to order only one topping to keep the price reasonable.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: The excellent sauce saves what is otherwise a fairly bland overall taste.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is OK except for the undercheesing.

Dining Atmosphere: Grimaldi’s offers a pleasant upscale dining atmosphere with a touch of class without being pretentious.  Pictures of New York dot the walls.

Customer Service: The service was fine on my visit, but I should note that they re-light the oven every day right before dinner rush, and they cannot bake pizzas while the oven is being re-stoked.  Thus, I had to wait about 20 minutes before they could take my order.

Monetary Value: And now we finally get to the New York aspect of this pizza: the price!  The quality is good, but this pizza is very overpriced, especially for the personal sized pizza due to the topping pricing scheme described above.  For what you put in your mouth, this pizza is not worth the price.

The Final Judgment:

I might come here for a change of pace, but the price would keep me from being a regular, and I would never order the personal size pizza if I lived nearby (and therefore had a refrigerator to store the leftovers).  In the brick-oven pizza category, I prefer Brixx over Grimaldi’s.  Score: 74/100.

Sophia’s Pizzeria in Hartsville, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Sophia’s Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 128 East College Avenue in Hartsville, SC (near Coker College)

Website: https://hartsvillesbestpizza.com/

Date of Review Visit: December 2015

What I Ordered: Small (10”) pizza with Canadian bacon and pepperoni; Mr. Pibb to drink

Price: $10.72 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Sophia’s Pizzeria makes Greek-style pizza.  The pan crust has a perfect texture: crunchy on the outside but chewy on the inside.  My pizza was baked the perfect amount.  Greek pizza is not my favorite style, but this crust is excellent.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: On the other hand, the sauce on this pizza is not the best.  The sauce does not have much taste, and the pizza is slightly undersauced.  When I did get a taste of just the sauce, it tasted somewhat overspiced.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: The cheese tastes like good quality provolone, and it appears in good quantity.  Sprinkling on the parmesan they bring to your table (without you asking for it) only adds to the flavor.  What’s not to like? Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The Canadian bacon is excellent: it tastes like ham with a little extra sweetness, as it should.  The pepperoni is pretty average: it comes in thin slices and produces a lot of grease.  I could taste some spices in the pepperoni, but it is not good quality meat.  Both toppings appear in good quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: This pizza produces a nice balance of crunchiness and gooeyness, spiciness and sweetness.  While not quite top-quality, everything comes together pretty well.  Score: 8.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The toppings just under the cheese produces and excellent appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining atmosphere is that of a typical small town diner: homey but a little stale.

Customer Service: The service was quick and attentive on my visit.

Monetary Value: Sophia’s makes pretty good quality pizza, and the price is reasonable.  Thus, the value is better than average.

The Final Judgment:

Their URL says it all: Sophia’s Pizzeria makes Hartsville’s best pizza, and it stacks up pretty well on an absolute basis too.  Score: 85/100.

Peppino's Pizza in Athens, GA

Basic Information:

Pizza: Peppino’s Pizza

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 950 Whitehall Road in Athens, GA (corner of Milledge Ave. and Whitehall Rd.)

Website: https://peppinos.wixsite.com/athens

Date of Review Visit: November 2015

What I Ordered: 1 slice of pizza with Italian sausage and pepperoni; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $5.50

Photo:

Summary Review: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Peppino’s Pizza comes in the very thin New York style with only a narrow thick area around the edges.  I couldn’t taste (or hardly even find) the crust under the pizza, but the crust around the edge had a decent well-baked bready taste.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: This is an odd situation.  The pizza is very undersauced, but what sauce there is has a nice tomatoey taste.  Unfortunately, the sauce is probably the strength of this pizza.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in average quantity, but it produces a lot of grease.  Sprinkling on some parmesan slightly improves what is a rather bland taste.  Overall, this cheese is pretty bad.  Score: 3/10.

Toppings: Both toppings appear in good quantity.  The pepperoni slices are very thin; they have a little spice but no real flavor.  The sausage is tastier than the pepperoni, and it appears to be freshly sliced.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The super thin crust ensures that this pizza has little substance, and the bad cheese really hurts the overall taste.  There are worse-tasting pizzas around, but this one is far from the best.  Score: 6.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: Peppino’s Pizza looks like the cheaply made college town pizza that it is.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining room has a nice casual atmosphere with booths and TV’s.

Customer Service: The restaurant has counter service, and the service worked fine on my visit.

Monetary Value: For only 1 slice of medium-quality pizza, the price is actually fairly high.  Thus, there is no real value to be found here at all.

The Final Judgment:

For a quick single slice snack, Peppino’s Pizza is passable, but there are far better pizza options in Athens.  Score: 66/100.