Critic's Review
This place opened in August and in the old days I'd check it out right away, but I've lost my enthusiasm for pizza in South Florida. My routine of eating a pizza every Sunday with a bottle of wine died off a long time ago. Eating bad pizza just isn't enjoyable, and certainly not worth the calories. I do still drink the wine, however.
With the Giants playing on TV at 4:25, I took in the early games at Bokampers, and decided that I'd pick up a pizza here on the way back. I left Bokampers at 3:50 and ordered an 18" pizza with 1/2 sausage as I walked back to my car. It took way too long to order the simple item; I don't get why I need to hold, then give them my name, then verify 3 times what I ordered. He told me how much it was going to be; I thought it was a bit high, but maybe they'd raised their prices from the ones listed on their web site? Whatever.
I was only 5 minutes away, so I parked out front and listened to the end of the Dolphins game. They told me it would be 20 minutes; I went inside after 15 minutes had elapsed.
There was a couple ordering some stuff, and there seemed to be some confusion, so I took a seat and waited for the dust to clear. "I'm just picking up", I stated.
Bad music was blaring; this is not a place to eat in.
The guy asked if I wanted to pay while I was waiting, Not Really, but I agreed anyway. When I got the receipt to sign, I noticed that they'd charged me $2.29 for the 1/2 topping, which is absurd. I recognized the price as the full topping price from the menu.
I questioned the guy, asking if they really charged me the same for a 1/2 topping as a full topping, and he seemed incredulous about it. "Let me checkyes I guess we did". I queried him about whether they just put a full topping on 1/2 the pie, but he seemed not to know anything. Is it possible that I'm the first person to order a 1/2 topping in 4 months? A pizza place that doesn't have a 1/2 topping policy? If you don't "do" half toppings, tell me on the phone and I'll take a whole topping.
The thing that really ticked me off is that before he gave me the pizza, he looked at it, as if to check to see how much sausage was on the pizza. He just handed me the pizza without offering me anything, so I assumed that it was ok. When I put it in my trunk, I checked the pizza, and I was pissed. Clearly I got cheated.
The "half" of the pizza with the toppings isn't even half the pizza!
I've since discovered that the cashier, Scott K, has been involved with the place since Day 1, so he's not just some guy they hired last week. He certainly had the power to do something to remedy the situation, and chose to do nothing. It seems impossible that he didn't know that they were charging for a full topping.
Ok, so maybe I overpaid a dollar; annoying but not life-changing.
When I got home, the first thing I do is check the crust. This is a C-. Very dense.
It was still hot and I grabbed a slice to try it. It seemed tough and chewy; underneath was the explanation.
Shoe leather. Yikes, this slice was inedible. Sadly the rest of the pie wasn't much better.
Have these guys ever cleaned their oven stone since they opened? This pizza was a total disaster.
I ended up not eating the pizza. Later that evening, I scraped off the cheese and sausage and made a rigatoni dish. Not exactly what I had in mind.
Conclusion
Another amateur pizza operation opens up in Fort Lauderdale. Why are these guys charging the same as other, established places? Why would I choose to buy a pizza from these guys? After 4 months they still don't have a 1/2 topping price policy?
This is why I don't eat pizza much anymore. It's unfortunate because Pizza used to be a big part of my life.
1 star straight down the line. There's nothing to see here. A waste of $18.63.