Review: Anthony's Pizza

Based on a visit from 2 Oct 17, Oct 18, 2017

Location: Andrews Air Force Base - Base Exchange food court

Anthony's Pizza is a place that anyone who has spent a decent amount of time on military bases is definitely familiar with. It is the AAFES (Army & Air Force Exchange Service) pizza chain, and once upon a time was located at just about every Army and Air Force base in the world. Due to many factors, including bad publicity, a rise in viable options, and a questionable product, Anthony's Pizza is a dying brand. Honestly, I don't understand the hate. Many people dismiss it as unappealing, but I find it to be a perfectly acceptable option. I think it beats the pants off of the chain that is currently replacing Anthony'...(more)

Review: MOD Pizza

Yet another quick fired type of place, Mar 21, 2018

Location: 12274 Jefferson Ave, Newport News, VA

I first went to one of these custom-made quick-fired style pizza places back in 2012 or 2013 in Charleston, South Carolina after a race. I thought it was cool, but I did not anticipate how the segment would explode. MOD Pizza marks the 4th or 5th place like this that I have tried, and it might just be the best so far. When you enter, you jump right in a line to have your pizza made to order, just like how Subway makes you a sub. Once done, they chuck it in a zillion degree over to cook super fast and then there you go. The pricing is really simple - pay for the size and type of crust you want and away you go. There is no real...(more)

REVIEW: Cheesecake Factory

The cheesecake is good, but how about the pizza?, Dec 15, 2017

Location: 1796 International Dr, McLean, VA - https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com//

The last night in DC the wife and I went to the Cheesecake Factory that was really close to our hotel in a nearby mall are that was really nice. This place has a huge menu and I don't always get pizza there, but like most places that offer pizza and other things - I usually get the pizza. The restaurant, as always, is fairly fancy and nice. It seems like the place should be more like an Applebee's, but it goes the fancier route and that works out for it, I guess. The service was good and timely and before long I was presented with the followi...(more)

REVIEW: Mellow Mushroom

Very mellow, but hold the mushrooms, please, Nov 22, 2018

Location: 12090 Jefferson Ave., Newport News, VA

For the longest time, I had no idea that Mellow Mushroom was even a thing. It wasn't where I grew up nor anywhere I visited. Then we moved to Georgia and after a long day of looking at houses, we did a search for pizza places and up comes Mellow Mushroom. Turns out that the place is legit and we ended up going there relatively often while in Georgia. Years later, we move to Virginia and there is also a MM here fairly close to where we live. This particular visit is not from our first time there, but after we had already been in town a couple of years. MM is fairly divisive it seems - some many people really like it, but a vocal ...(more)

REVIEW: Domino's

Way better than they used to be, Jul 27, 2019

Location: 12538 Warwick Blvd, Newport News, VA

I've always been a Domino's Pizza apologist. Even before they revamped their pizza in 2009, I thought it was pretty good. Good enough to have when I had a coupon or they had some sort of deal at least. Back in the mid-90s, they had breadsticks they called twisty bread and they were amazing. After the pizza revamp, Domino's went from pretty decent to really great. I love everything about this pizza. The crust is seasoned and zesty and makes it into a great breadstick once that is all that is left. The pizza tracker app is genius and I love knowing almost exactly when the driver is going to arrive. The pizza only took around 22 minu...(more)

REVIEW: Donato's Pizza

So much better than it used to be, Sep 8, 2019

Location: 12515 Jefferson Ave, Newport News, VA - www.donatos.com

Back in 1997 or 1998, I got a second job working at a pizza place that was walking distance from my house in Dayton, Ohio. During my interview, the manager gave me an individual pizza and I thought it was ok at best. I worked there for a while, probably between 6 and 12 months, and each shift I got a free individual pizza. No matter how I made it, I thought it was just ok. Once I stopped working there, I did not try it again for quite a while. Then, sometime later when I finally did go back, they had changed things up to include different crusts. The hand-tossed, in parti...(more)