Pizza Review: Connie's, Home Run Inn, Jack's, Tombstone

About three weeks ago in my rhetoric class I was introduced to a new assignment. The goal was to successfully evaluate an album, a food/drink product, or a restaurant. At first I wasn’t so sure about what I wanted to do, but I eventually chose to review frozen pizzas. The reason why I chose to do this was because I rarely eat frozen foods and figured it might even be fun. I purchased these products at my local Walmart and evaluated the pizza’s appearance, taste, and cost. After trying each brand I had come down to what I thought was the best. Each pizza was rated from one (being the worst) and ten (being the best).

Connie’s- In comparison to other frozen pizzas Connie’s appeared to almost look restaurant made. It took about 19 minutes to cook. The recommended cooking time was 16-20 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The overall taste wasn’t too bad. It had greasy, uncured pepperoni which wasn’t too salty. However, the pork taste in the pepperoni stood out a little more than expected. The slices of pepperoni were on the thicker side and were a little bigger than the average frozen pizza would have. Connie’s pizza had a bold oregano taste which I personally didn’t enjoy. 

The cheese flavor surprisingly seemed a little dull. I initially thought the cheese would be flavorful considering it was a combination of mozzarella, parmesan, and romano. On the plus side there was A LOT of cheese on the pizza. The sauce was good and there was an adequate amount. It has a delicate tomato taste but aside from that no real flavors popped out. The crust itself was neither crispy nor soft and seemed to be a little dense. However, its subtle buttery notes enhanced the pizza’s overall flavor. Connie’s pizza received a seven out of ten. Its total cost was $5.98

Connie's pizza before and after.

Home Run Inn- Home Run Inn’s pizza looked more like a typical frozen pizza. It took about 11 minutes to cook. The recommended cooking time was 8-12 minutes at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The uncured pepperoni slices were thin but had good flavor. Just like Connie’s, the pepperoni was greasy but the taste turned out to be more subtle. The pepperoni was also in a more “orderly” fashion, and there weren’t as many slices. Home Run Inn’s crust had a notable yeast taste that wasn’t too overpowering. The yeast flavor in the crust seemed to have a perfect balance which I thoroughly enjoyed. 

A plus is that the crust appeared to have a little flakiness to it.  However, it was much harder to cut. The mozzarella taste stood out but there wasn’t anywhere near as much cheese as Connie’s. Home Run Inn’s sauce had a rich tomato flavor, almost like marinara you would use to dip breadsticks or calamari into. The texture of the sauce was almost chunky. Home Run Inn scored an eight out of ten. Its total cost was $5.00

Home Run Inn's pizza before and after.

Tombstone- Tombstone appeared most like a frozen pizza. It took about 17 minutes to cook. The recommended cooking time was 16-18 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The pepperoni was salty and greasy, but not too thick or thin. The flavor was pleasant. Tombstone’s sauce was pretty bland with the exception of a subtle and almost unidentifiable sweet taste. Personally, I thought the sauce tasted a bit strange and didn’t enjoy it. The cheese had a strong mozzarella taste but the flavor didn’t seem overwhelming. 

One thing to note was that the cheese was stretchy and somewhat dense. Tombstone's crust was soft, airy and spongy. The crust flavor itself did not have much taste aside from a subtle, buttery note.  However, the ends were nice and crispy. There were random small chunks of pepperoni that had a smoky and salty flavor. These small chunks were almost unseen on pizza’s packaging. Tombstone gravely received a four out of ten. Its total cost was $3.97

Tombstone's pizza before and after. 

Jack’s- Jack’s took about 12 minutes to cook. The recommended cooking time was 11-13 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  The cheese in the middle appeared to not melt completely and was lighter than the rest of the pizza. It was a little chewy and was of course mozzarella. The pepperoni wasn’t too thick or thin and was about average size. It was greasy, salty and tasted a bit like salami. The pepperoni also had a mildly sweet taste to it as well.

 The texture was a little strange… I found it to be similar to deli meat. The tomato sauce had a “zing” to it. You could really taste the tomato with a blend of garlic and other spices. The crust wasn’t difficult to cut and the ends were nice and crispy. To my disappointment the crust didn’t taste like much.  Jack’s received a five out of ten. Its total cost was $2.50

 

 Jack's before and after. 

Rating

Home Run Inn's- 8/10

Connie's- 7/10

Jack's- 5/10

Tombstone's- 4/10

Home Run Inn scored the highest rating due to its rich and flavorful sauce, renowned crust and overall delicious taste. Connie's came in to a close second. It might have come in first if it weren't for the bold oregano taste. Jack's came in third place due to its ordinary appearance and taste. Finally, Tombstone's came in last place. Just about everything but the sauce was fine... I just didn't dig its sweet and unusual taste.