Heat Pizza Bar in Tuscaloosa, AL

Basic Information:

Pizza: Heat Pizza Bar
Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 2250 6th Street in downtown Tuscaloosa (east side of the Transit Authority parking garage)
Website: https://heatpizzabar.com/
Date of Review Visit: December 2021
What I Ordered: Meat Lovers pizza (10"); Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $15.66 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Heat Pizza Bar makes wood-fired pizza, and hence this pizza features a thin blackened crust.  My pizza was baked the perfect amount.  This is not my favorite type of crust, but it is pretty good for what it is.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The sauce is where the heat is, and it overpowers any tomato flavor in the sauce and pretty much everything else on this pizza.  I prefer sweet sauces to hot sauces, so this sauce does not score well on my taste palette.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: The cheese is 100% mozzarella, so the taste is fairly bland.  Also, this pizza is somewhat undercheesed.  Fortunately, the cheese does not produce much grease.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: Toppings are usually the centerpiece of a meat lovers pizza, but that is not the case here.  This pizza has plenty of toppings, but they have no unique flavor, or maybe the toppings' flavors get overpowered by the spiciness of the sauce.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The spiciness of the sauce overpowers everything else, so the overall taste is uninspiring.  Score: 6/10.

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has the usual bare and blackened appearance you would expect from a wood-fired pizza.

Dining Atmosphere: Heat Pizza Bar offers a nice cozy but modern dining area.

Customer Service: The service was a little slow, and I was the first person in the door on a Monday evening.

Monetary Value: Even for wood-fired pizza, this pizza is way too expensive for what you put in your mouth.

The Final Judgment:

Based on the number of people who were there on the Monday evening I was, Heat Pizza Bar is popular, but the "heat above everything else" taste is not for me.  Score: 68/100.

Mamma Rosa's Italian Restaurant in Cookeville, TN

Basic Information:

Pizza: Mamma Rosa's Italian Restaurant
Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 200 S. Lowe Ave (2 blocks south of US 70N in downtown Cookeville)
Website: http://www.mammarosasitalian.com/
Date of Review Visit: September 2021
What I Ordered: 2 slices of square (Sicilian) pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Coke to drink
Price: $15.61 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Mamma Rosa's offers two crust options: hand-tossed round and Sicilian square.  As most regular readers of this blog would expect, I chose the thicker square crust.  The square crust is a true thick Sicilian crust.  While I appreciated the heartiness of this crust, my pizza was slightly overbaked, and some parts of the crust were hard and overly crispy.  Overall, I have had better Sicilian crusts that this one.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: The pizza is fairly undersauced.  What sauce does exist has a nice tomatoey taste.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The cheese tastes like high quality provolone or mozzarella.  It appears in high quantity and produces little grease.  The cheese is the strength of this pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage comes in tiny crumbles, and it offers spiciness but no real flavor.  The pepperoni has nice flavor with just the right amount of thickness and spiciness.  Both toppings appear in above average quantity.  Score: 8/10.

Overall Taste: The crust is filling, and you get some spiciness from the sausage.  Yet the overall taste is fairly underwhelming.  This pizza delivers quantity but not flavor to the taste palette.  Score: 6.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza has a nice square pizza appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining room offers a casual dining atmosphere with nice music and pictures on the wall.

Customer Service: The service was slow, but they were very busy on my visit right after a Tennessee Tech football game.

Monetary Value: The quality is solid, but this pizza is very expensive if you buy by the slice as I did.  Buying a whole pizza is more economical, but I had nowhere to store any leftovers.

The Final Judgment:

There are some things to like here, but the cost and lack of flavor keep it from the top of my pizza list.  Score: 77/100.

Hambone's Pizza in Cheyenne, WY

Basic Information:

Pizza: Hambone's Pizza
Number of Locations: 2, 1 in Cheyenne and 1 in Laramie

Location Reviewed: 415 W. 17th Street in downtown Cheyenne, WY (near the corner of 17th St. and Lincolnway)
Website: https://www.hambonespizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: July 2021
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with pepperoni and sausage; 2 cans of Wild Cherry Pepsi to drink
Price: $8.45 (includes drinks and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust on Hambone's Pizza has a nice and crispy but fluffy texture.  It has medium thickness but no independent flavor.  This crust does the job, but I have had better.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: This pizza does not have a lot of sauce, but what sauce does appear has a nice tomatoey taste with only a mild amount of spiciness.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in adequate quantity and produces very little grease.  Like the crust, the cheese also has little flavor.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The sausage comes in small chunks and has just the right amount of spiciness.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 8/10.

Overall Taste: The sausage and sauce combine to give an overall taste that is slightly on the overspiced side.  Also, I would have preferred meatier sausage.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: The large amount of sausage dominates the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining room is just a couple of tables with stool-like backless chairs.  This arrangement is very uncomfortable for people like me who have back problems.

Customer Service:  The service was quick and friendly despite the fact that they were fairly busy.

Monetary Value: For quality pizza, the price is downright cheap. Therefore, the value is high, especially for a downtown location.

The Final Judgment:

Clearly the Hambone is connected to the pizza bone: they make a high quality pizza for a fantastic price.  If I lived in southeast Wyoming, I would come here often.  Score: 83/100.

Abby's Legendary Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Abby's Legendary Pizza
Number of Locations: around 36 in 2 states: Oregon and Washington

Location Reviewed: 2226 Shallock Ave. in Klamath Falls, OR (2 blocks from Sky Lake Medical Center)
Website: https://abbys.com/
Date of Review Visit: July 2021
What I Ordered: small (10") deep dish pizza with Italian sausage and pepperoni; 1 fountain drink
Price: $16.79 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Abby's Legendary Pizza offers 2 crust options: thin and deep dish.  As will come as no surprise to any regular reader of this blog, I chose deep dish.  The deep dish pizza has a nice golden brown pan crust that is about the same thickness as Pizza Hut's pan crust.  My pizza was slightly overbaked and thus a little crispier than I would have preferred.  I've had better pan crusts, but this one ranks pretty high.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: The sauce is very overspiced; I could not taste the tomatoes for all of the spices.  As you would expect for a pan pizza, the sauce appears in high quantity.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: The cheese is a tasty blend of mozzarella and an orange cheese I could not identify.  It appears in decent quantity but produces very little grease.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage is on the spicy side for my taste palette.  The pepperoni is rather bland, and for good reason: they use Hormel pepperoni (like you would buy in the store), and they even advertise this fact.  I hope Hormel pays them a kickback for the advertising, because I doubt it helps them sell pizza.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The spiciness and saltiness tend to overwhelm the taste buds, which is too bad because there are some interesting individual components here.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: This pizza looks like a nice golden-brown pan pizza that has plenty of toppings.  

Dining Atmosphere: The dining room seems to date to the 1990's with video games of slightly newer variety.

Customer Service: The counter service was fast and friendly.

Monetary Value: This pizza has pretty high quality, but it is very expensive even though the counter service saves on the tip.

The Final Judgment:

This pizza tends to overwhelm your taste palette with brute force rather than impress it with a mouthful of flavor.  While I have certainly had worse pizza, Abby's does not rank as legendary in my gradebook.  Score: 77/100.

Cibelli's Pizza in Central Oregon

Basic Information:

Pizza: Cibelli's Pizza
Number of Locations: 5, all in central Oregon
Website: https://www.cibellis.com/
Location: 820 NW 9th Street in Corvallis, OR (Update: this location is now closed.  They have no other locations in Corvallis.)
Date of Review Visit: July 2021
What I Ordered: small (10") meat-lovers pizza (sausage, pepperoni, and bacon)
Price: $12.95 (pizza only, no drink or tip)

Photos:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Cibelli's advertises New York style pizza, and this crust is the typical New York style crust.  It is thick on the outside and thin underneath.  This crust has a fresh bready taste; it is a very good crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza has more sauce than you would expect for a New York style pizza, but it is somewhat overspiced.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The cheese does not add a lot of flavor, and it produces quite a bit of grease.  Also, this pizza is slightly undercheesed.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: As usual for an all-meats pizza, the toppings make or break the pizza.  The sausage comes in nice big chunks with just the right amount of spiciness.  The pepperoni comes in big thin slices without a lot of flavor.  The bacon comes in small crumbles and is only slightly salty.  All toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: The sauce and sausage complement each other well, but the overall taste is somewhat bland even though this is a meat-lovers pizza.  They "only" put 3 meats on their meat-lovers pizza, and some sweet ham would have really added to the flavor.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: The toppings dominate the appearance, and the big slices of pepperoni catch your eye.

Dining Atmosphere: Cibelli's Corvallis location looked like it had a nice dining area even though I ordered take out.

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly.

Monetary Value: This pizza has high quality, but it is fairly expensive, even for a 10" meat-lovers pizza.  Therefore, the value is no better than average.

The Final Judgment:

Though not without flaw, Cibelli's makes a nice pizza.  I would come here regularly if I lived in central Oregon.  Score: 83/100.

Cirello's Pizza in Corvallis, OR

Basic Information:

Pizza: Cirello's Pizza
Number of Locations: 1
Location: 919 NW Circle Blvd. (2 blocks west of SR 99W)
Website: https://www.cirellospizza.com/

Date of Review Visit: July 2021

What I Ordered: Mini (8") pizza with pepperoni and housemade Italian sausage, refillable Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $15.00 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Cirello's is advertised as New York style pizza, but the crust is thicker than what I typically think of as New York style pizza.  The crust has medium thickness and a somewhat crispy texture.  It also has a fresh bready taste.  I like this crust even though it was not what I was expecting.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The sauce appears in high quantity.  It has a nice thick texture, but it is somewhat overspiced.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: The cheese on this pizza is whole milk mozzarella, and it appears in decent quantity.  It also produces quite a bit of grease, which leads to a mandatory deduction.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The sausage appears in nice big chunks, but I was expecting more flavor from a housemade sausage.  The overly spicy composition of this sausage overwhelms what is otherwise a nice fresh taste.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Both toppings appear in above average quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: I like what I am eating to taste like what it is, which is why the spiciness of the sausage and sauce really overwhelm my taste palette.  Some people might like the taste of Cirello's, but it is not for me.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: The big chunks of sausage dominate the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Cirello's has a decent-sized and comfortable casual dining area.

Customer Service: The people working there were very good at ignoring me, even as I was standing at the counter waiting to order.

Monetary Value: This pizza has pretty high quality, but it is very expensive.  Therefore, the value is not good.

The Final Judgment:

A somewhat odd entry in the New York pizza space, I see why some people like Cirello's even though it misses the mark for me.  In Corvallis, I prefer nearby Cibelli's over Cirello's.  Score: 74/100.

Sahara Pizza in The Dalles, OR

Basic Information:

Pizza: Sahara Pizza
Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 918 W. 6th St. on the west side of The Dalles

Website: https://www.saharapizzathedalles.com/

Date of Review Visit: July 2021
What I Ordered: personal (8") Lion's Feast Pizza (all-meats pizza)
Price: $7.99 (pizza only; no drink or tip)
Photos:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Sahara Pizza is not a Chicago-style thick crust, but it is thicker than I was expecting for a west coast pizza.  The crust is crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside.  My pizza was slightly overbaked, hence a small deduction on an otherwise excellent crust.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This pizza is slightly undersauced.  What sauce does appear has a nice tomatoey taste and medium-thick texture.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The 100% mozzarella cheese appears in high quantity.  It does not have a lot of flavor, and it produces a decent bit of grease.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: As with any all-meats pizza, the toppings make this pizza.  All toppings appear in high quantity.  The sweetness of the ham and the slight spiciness of the sausage make a nice combination.  The other meats do not really stand out.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: The sweet/spicy combination of ham and sausage steals the show, the other items add mellow accompaniments.  Maybe this pizza could use a little more sauce or more flavorful other meats.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza looks like the robust pizza it is.  It comes in a tiny box that feels super heavy for its size.

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered take-out, but the small dining area seemed purely functional.

Customer Service: The service was a little slow: I had to wait about 10 minutes past the promised ready time, and they were not busy on my visit.

Monetary Value: The price is downright cheap for pizza this good.

 

The Final Judgment:

Sahara Pizza is an attractive pizza option, especially if you like thicker crust pizzas.  Though not quite elite, I would come here regularly if I lived in The Dalles.  Score: 88/100.