Unlimited Pizza @ US Pizza–Last nail in the coffin

 

So here is the deal, how many of us know if there is another chain of pizzas that exists with the name US Pizza, I assume very less. In the times of Pizza Hut, Dominos and Pizza corner; US Pizza is trying hard to make its name known but getting nowhere. US Pizza outlets are located all around Bangalore, 13 of them apparently !! The one that I visited was located at 9th Block Jayanagar.

I personally love Dominos but what caught my eye was this enticing offer from US Pizza,

So I and my wife went for a brunch on Sunday to try out our luck with the Vegetarian offer. I read one review that said the service wasn’t great but food was good; experienced by a group of 4-5 bachelor guys. Still expectations were not high and we ordered 2 vegetarian unlimited pizza meals.

First Course was Salads, they have a complete salad bar with almost 10-15 different type of salads, dressings and fruits,

We tried almost all the salads in small bites and all of them were phenomenal for the price we were about to pay. And that led to a promising prospect to look forward to have something even better.

Then came the Soup, which tasted like salted tomato ketchup, it definitely wasn’t freshly made; to me it would have been perfect base for the Paneer butter masala gravy.

Next was the Garlic bread and Pizza,

So here is where all the beans were spilt, The garlic bread was good but the Pizzas were not so much. The problem was the crust and the issue was either of the following,

1. Either the Pizza base was old and hence was chewy, hard and dry, Or

2. They make a large size Pizza and serve a slice to everyone who opted for unlimited Pizza meal; they just heat up the leftover slices from previous batch made few minutes ago and serve again later.

So how much ever hungry you might be but will not enjoy more then 2-3 slices and might switch to Salads and Garlic breads.

Then arrived the last course, Brownie with Ice-cream, which was good for the money we paid,

First of all US Pizza is in no competition to Pizza Hut, Dominos and Pizza Corner but they are trying hard to get people with these kind of great deals BUT until and unless you do not provide and equivalent or superior quality; no one will return !!! The only thing I can think of is their targeted customers are college students and bachelors for whom quality is secondary !!

Here is my report card for US Pizza (Vegetarian Unlimited Pizza Meal),

Price – 9/10

Taste – 6/10

Service – 8/10

Ambience – 7/10

Value for money – 6.5/10

Will I go back – I don’t think so

Caffe Pascucci where you get Wood Fire Pizza

Pizza Pizza Pizza, everyone loves Pizza and that’s why there are now zillion of pizza factories offering numerous pizza selections from thin crust to stuffed crust etc. Opportunities are many and yet the true flavour needs to be discovered. There is barely any pizzeria that is serving a pizza worth your money. If it’s inexpensive it’s no good and if it’s good then it’s overpriced !!

And there is yet another pizzeria called “Caffe Pascucci”. The name is “Caffe Pascucci” but the board on main road reads “Wood Fire Pizza”. It would appear that one single place has 2 names !!

Address:- 690/8, 14th Main, 15th Cross, 2nd Phase, JP Nagar, Bangalore

So they serve wood Fire Pizza, Do you care where they make their pizza ? Do you even know what the difference ? What is the difference between the pizza that is served here or Pizza hut or Dominos or Pizza Corner ?? None

I and my wife went in here at around 9 pm Saturday night and astonishingly place was jam packed. This gave us optimism that this is a sign of a great place to get some remarkable pizzas. We were seated down inside the enclosed area (By the way, you can opt to sit out in open or inside). The attendant came to our assistance without ado. The prices looked on a higher side but once you have eaten pizzas in Dominos, Pizza Hut or Pizza Corner then what’s an expensive Pizza

We ordered 3 courses,

1. Cream of Mushroom Soup 1 by 2

2. Garlic Bread

3. Grilled Zucchini Pizza

The prices are absolutely lesser then big and old Pizza trademarks but more than price one has to serve respectable quality food and provide upright service if they want to run their business for long.

Well it looked like that this café/restaurant has got fame in a very less time and now want to attend to each and every customer as they arrive. Basically this restaurant does not want any customer to go away just because there wasn’t any table available. If they do not have place for new customers; they make sure that customers who are currently dining, must eat fast, pay and LEAVE.

If you see what we ordered, was fundamentally a 3 course meal and ANY restaurant in world would serve you in order 1, 2 & 3. But service here is FAST, it was so fast that they served us 1-2-3 at the same time !!! In below pic you can actually see the soup bowl with SOUP in it !!

I had a hard day and wasn’t in mood to argue but this did not happen only with me. It was happening almost with everyone and frequently pizzas were going back because typically main course is eaten after appetizer. This was the first time I was having my main course along with my Soup . Even while eating as soon as I took last spoon of soup the soup bowl was gone before I sipped it !! Just because there were few people waiting outside !!

That was about service, now let’s come to the food,

1. Cream of Mushroom was just scrumptious. The measure of half soup was even more then solo portions at many places.

2. Garlic bread was awful; it was stone-cold, looked butchered with uneven slices and no hint of any garlic whatsoever.

3. Roasted Zucchini pizza was excellent and delicious.

For some strange reason they don’t serve any soft drinks which all big Pizza brands have made our habit. As an alternative you can go for array of beverages. A regular Liquid refreshment is priced almost identical as an average Pizza here!!

Overall it wasn’t a bad place to pizza at all but it’s not the place for heavy eaters because a single pizza won’t be enough for 1 as it is in pizza hut. This place is about flavour and it has got that. But I know a place that serve exactly the same pizza at somewhat lower amount or maybe same price but I guess Pizza is larger in size; just half a mile away from this place; Pizza stop.

I might not come back to Café Pascucci again just because of its service and little pricey affair when I know I am getting same thing for a lesser price nearby.

My Report Card for Café Pascucci (JP Nagar) based on my only visit,

Price – 6/10

Taste – 8/10

Service – 5/10

Ambience – 6/10

Value for money – 7/10

Will I go back – Sure if Pizza Stop is closed?

Pizza Stop: A Pizza Delight (Updated)

Dominos, Pizza corner, pizza hut, US Pizza and many more but if you have visited Europe then I am sure that you would not like any of the brands I have cited above, I give you Pizza Stop,

Pizza stop is a much unrecognized pizza chain which could be found at around 5 locations in Bangalore, Pizza Stop basically is an Italian pure vegetarian restaurant, they do not say that we are pure vegetarian anywhere but I guess its pure veg because you cannot find any single no-veg dish in here.

We went to the JP Nagar branch which is recently opened; some 15 days back and hence the setup and ambience wasn’t up to the mark but wasn’t bad either. They have a very small and yet dominant collection of food to offer which includes thin crust pizzas baked fresh directly from the oven.

We ordered Spinichi Fungi Tripolati and I was just lost in the taste, the pizzas were so good that I have decided not to go to regular famous pizza chains anymore,

Well I loved the place and would definitely recommend you also to visit it the next time you crave for a good pizza,

Update: I recently visited the place again and to my surprise the prices have skewed up a little,

My report Card for the Pizza Stop JP Nagar is

Price – 8 7/10

Taste – 9/10

Service – 6 5/10

(They have only 1 waiter as of now and they really need to improve on that)

Ambience – 5/10

Value for money – 8 7/10

Will I go back – Without any doubt