Brattleboro House of Pizza in Brattleboro, VT

Basic Information:

Pizza: Brattleboro House of Pizza
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 419 Canal St. in Brattleboro, VT (on US 5 just north of I-91, exit 1)

Website: https://www.brattleboropizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: September 2023
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink
Price: $14.09 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Brattleboro House of Pizza has a crispy texture and pleasant fresh taste around the edge.  Unfortunately, it is also too thin and droopy in the middle of the pizza.  I prefer thicker crusts, and I've definitely had better crusts.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: The sauce has a fresh tomatoey taste, and it appears in adequate quantity.  What more could you want?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese is very greasy even though it appears in only average quantity.  The flavor is unremarkable, and adding some parmesan or romano would help with the flavor.  Score: 4/10.

Toppings: The sausage comes in nice, big, fresh chunks with nice pork flavor.  The pepperoni has some pork flavor and just a little hint of spiciness.  Both toppings appear in above average quantity.  Score: 10/10.

Overall Taste: I could have really gotten behind this pizza if it had a thicker crust and more flavorful less greasy cheese.  As is, the overall taste is pleasing but could be better.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The crust and grease dominate the pizza's appearance, which is not the best.  

Dining Atmosphere: Brattleboro House of Pizza has a large and somewhat dated dining room.

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly.

Monetary Value: For decent quality pizza, the price is not crazy expensive for Vermont.  The counter service saves on the tip.

The Final Judgment:

Brattleboro House of Pizza makes a solid pizza that is only a few steps away from being elite.  That said, in Brattleboro, VT I like Brattleboro Village Pizza, which is located 2 exits further north on I-91, better than Brattleboro House of Pizza.  Score: 81/100.

Dino's Pizza and Restaurant in Holyoke, MA

Basic Information:

Pizza: Dino's Pizza and Restaurant
Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 615 Homestead Avenue (corner of Homestead Ave. and Westfield Rd. on US 202)
Website: https://www.dinospizzaholyoke.com/

Date of Review Visit: September 2023

What I Ordered: large (18") pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Coke to drink
Price: $26.56 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Dino's Pizza and Restaurant has a nice crispy texture, but it is not super thin.  This crust has a nice bready taste, and while I wish it were thicker, this crust has plenty going for it.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: The sauce appears in sufficient quantity and has a fresh tomatoey taste.  What more could you want?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: The cheese does not have a lot of flavor, even when you sprinkle on some parmesan.  It does produce quite a bit of grease, which leads to a mandatory deduction.  The quantity is sufficient but only sufficient.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: The sausage is excellent: it comes in nice large chunks with a fresh pork taste and just a little spiciness.  The pepperoni is more average.  The toppings appear in slightly below average quantity.  Score: 8/10.

Overall Taste: The sausage really stands out and turns a rather ordinary tasting pizza into one worthy of a pizza eater's palette.  This pizza would taste better if I had ordered double sausage rather than sausage and pepperoni.  Score: 8.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza looks a little bland due to the sparseness of the toppings.

Dining Atmosphere: Dino's has a casual dining atmosphere with a bar and plenty of TVs to watch, which came in handy on the September Sunday afternoon I came here.

Customer Service: The menu is outdated: increased prices are not reflected in the menu prices.  Other than the menu, the service was quick and attentive. 

Monetary Value: The price is high, but this is a high quality 18" pizza in Massachusetts.  That considered, the value is not as bad as you might expect.

The Final Judgment:

Dino's is not the cheapest pizza around, but it offers quality pizza at a reasonable price.  If I lived near Holyoke, I would be a regular customer here.  Score: 82/100.

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.

Marco's Pizza, Sausage Magnifico

Basic Information:

Pizza: Marco's Pizza
Number of Locations: many nationwide
Location Reviewed: 1815 E. Greenville St. in Anderson, SC

Website: https://www.marcos.com/
Date of Review Visit: August 2023
What I Ordered: large (14") sausage magnifico pizza (2 types of sausage plus extra cheese)
Price: $11.98 (promotional price; includes tax but not drink or tip)

Photos:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The standard crust on Marco's Pizza is the thickest standard crust of any national chain, but the thick crust is needed to support the large volume of cheese and toppings, as described below.  Besides, the crust has a pleasant bready taste, and I like thick crusts.  This specialty pizza has some Roma seasoning on the crust, which I could live without although it does add some extra spice.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: There is plenty of sauce on this pizza, and it has a thick texture with a robust tomatoey taste.  The sauce tastes slightly overspiced to me, but that may be due to my preference for sweet sauces.  Overall, this is a good sauce.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese is a little on the greasy side.  This pizza is supposed to have extra cheese compared to their non-specialty pizzas, but I can't honestly say I could tell a lot of difference: their standard pizzas have plenty of cheese too.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: The two types of sausage form an interesting combination.  The Italian sausage, which comes in large chunks, is their standard sausage; I have always thought highly of it.  It has a little spice but you taste more pork than spice.  The old world sausage comes in slices/cups, and oddly enough it is spicier than their Italian sausage.  No matter what kind of (good) sausage you like, you will find it on this pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Overall Taste: I like the flavor of the sausage combination, but the robustness of the cheese and toppings are what really stand out with this pizza.  This is hearty fare for the serious pizza-eater.  I like this pizza's taste, but you have to decide if it is what you want.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The golden brown pizza looks great.  Even the box is one of the best looking pizza boxes I have ever seen.

Dining Atmosphere: The small dining room at the Anderson location is purely functional.

Customer Service: The service at the Anderson location is quick and accurate.  Magnifico!

Monetary Value: The quality is quite high, and even at the regular menu price of $15.99, the price is reasonable.  Thus, the value is quite high.

The Final Judgment:

A clone of their pepperoni magnifico, I like this clone better than the original, partly because I like sausage more than pepperoni.  Order and enjoy!  Score: 91/100.

Mazzio's Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Mazzio's Pizza
Number of Locations: around 100 across 9 states, based in Tulsa, OK
Location Reviewed: 3030 W. Okmulgee Street in Muskogee, OK (corner of US 69 and US 64 Bus.)
Website: https://www.mazzios.com/
Date of Review Visit: April 2023
What I Ordered: large (14") deep dish 6 meats pizza and a fountain drink
Price: $20.89 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Mazzio's Pizza offers two crusts.  As will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog, I chose the deep dish.  The deep dish pizza has a thicker than average crust, but it is not a true Chicago-style deep dish as you would find at Uno's.  This crust has a nice crispy on the outside chewy on the inside texture, but the taste was somewhat on the salty side.  While I like this crust better than some thinner crusts, I have had far better deep dish crusts than this one.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: This pizza has plenty of sauce, but it comes with a strong garlic taste.  I do not like the taste of garlic, and therefore I don't like this sauce.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, but the cheese produces very little grease.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: The toppings add to this pizza's salty taste. The sausage comes in nice chunks and has just the right amount of spiciness.  The other toppings were unremarkable, but they do appear in plenty of quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The salty and garlicy tastes overpower everything else, so the overall taste does not meet my taste palette.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: All toppings are placed toward the center of the pizza, so the outer area has a very bare appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The restaurant in Muskogee has a nice but somewhat dated dining room.  I enjoyed the 70's disco music.

Customer Service: The service was counter service, and it was quick and friendly on my visit.

Monetary Value: Mazzio's offers decent quality at a reasonable price, and therefore it offers pretty high value.

The Final Judgment:

Mazzio's makes a passable pizza, but the toppings and crust are too ordinary to allow this pizza to be anywhere near elite.  The garlic taste is also a negative kicker for me, but I know other people find it appealing.  Score: 74/100.

Luigi's Italian Restaurant in Bartlesville, OK

Basic Information:

Pizza: Luigi's Italian Restaurant
Number of Locations: 2, both in northeast Oklahoma
Location Reviewed: 1409 SE Washington Blvd. in Bartlesville, OK (on US 75 just north of Walmart)

Website: http://luigisinbartlesville.com/
Date of Review Visit: April 2023
What I Ordered: 12" pizza with pepperoni and Italian sausage
Price: $19.48 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The pizza at Luigi's Italian Restaurant has a thin and flaky crust.  My pizza was baked to perfection, which is hard to do with this style of crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza does not have much sauce, and the sauce that does appear has a very mild taste.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese, but it produces some grease.  Thus, a mandatory deduction applies.  Score: 8/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is fantastic: it comes in thick slices with just the right amount of spiciness.  The sausage is of the greasy pellet variety that disintegrates in your mouth.  Both toppings appear in adequate quantity.  Score: 8/10.

Overall Taste: Never have I seen such bad sausage on such a good pizza.  Other than the sausage, there is nothing to complain about with this pizza's taste.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has an evenly cut appearance.  It looks fine except for the horrid pellet sausage.

Dining Atmosphere: Luigi's restaurant has a great large dining room with good lighting and Italian music.

Customer Service: The service was quick and attentive.

Monetary Value: Granted this is a 12" pizza, but the price is still on the high side.  Hence, the value is not great.

The Final Judgment:

This pizza would be fantastic had I chosen my toppings more carefully.  That said, I enjoyed my meal here, and I recommend Luigi's to anyone in northeast Oklahoma.  Score: 84/100.

Pizzini's Pizza in Bethany, OK

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizzini's Pizza
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 5025 N. Rockwell Ave. in Bethany, OK (northwest side of Oklahoma City near Wiley Post Airport)

Website: https://www.pizzinispizzamenu.com/?utm_source=gbp
Date of Review Visit: April 2023
What I Ordered: large pizza with pepperoni and sausage
Price: $10.84 (includes tax but not drink or tip)

Photos:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust on Pizzini's Pizza has a medium thickness and a chewy texture.  It has no real flavor, bready or otherwise.  My pizza was baked to perfection, and this is an above average crust.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: While not terrible, the sauce is slightly overspiced, and the pizza is slightly undersauced.  Therefore, there is room for improvement here.  Score: 6/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese, and it produces little grease.  While I do not know the exact cheese blend they use, I tasted a little parmesan or Romano, so the cheese has a little flavor too.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni comes in thin and crispy slices with only a little pork flavor.  The sausage is the horrid pellet variety.  Both toppings appear in adequate quantity.  Score: 5/10.

Overall Taste: The overall taste is a little on the bland side, even with the overspiced sauce.  Some better sausage would really help.  Score: 6.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The appearance looks bland, especially with the pellet-like sausage.

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered to go, but Pizzini's has a purely functional dining area with dirty ceiling tiles and a dirty floor.

Customer Service: The service was quick and attentive.

Monetary Value: I got this pizza on a manager's special, but even at the regular price the price is low and the quality is decent.  Therefore, the value is quite high.

The Final Judgment:

Pizzini's is a solid pizza option but nothing more.  If I lived near Bethany, OK, I would come here at least occasionally, maybe more.  Score: 75/100.