Pizza Joint

Sorry, but giving this place 5 stars is ludicrous. No way. Never would I ever give this place 5 stars, ever. Ever.
First, let’s have a brief discussion of taste. I understand that there are many different schools of thought and approaches to pizza consumption according to preference. But is there a Sloppy-​Mess-​in-​a-​Box school of thought? A Tomato-​So-​Unripe-​You-​Can-​Feel-​the-​Crunch school of thought? How about So-​Salty-​I-​Am-​About-​To-​Pass-​Out Pizza? Any takers? Would anyone out there spend their Friday choking down a pile of salty garbage? Cause I just did, and man, do I feel like a chump.
That seems as good a segue as any into a discussion of price, and this is really the bulk of my argument against Portland Pizza Joint. I will illustrate my point by taking a sample of the City of Portland’s 10 most popular pizza restaurants according to Unilocal reviews and comparing them according to price. Bear with me here, because I’m going to get a little long winded here.

As a basis for comparison, I purchased the 16″ Greek pizza, which includes Tomato Slices, Prosciutto, Red Peppers, Greek Olives, and Feta Cheese, No Sauce. I elected to remove the Prosciutto. In cases where there isn’t an exact analog for Pizza Joint’s Greek Pizza No Prosciutto, I will list pricing for the closest approximation according to their menu:
Otto (Listed twice on Unilocal): $ 23.00
Flatbread: $ 19.25
Portland Pie: $ 21.54
Slab: $ 24
Leonardo’s: $ 19.95
Pizza Villa: $ 16.50
Bonobo: $ 16.25 (bad comparison because 13″, not 16″)
Anthony’s: $ 18.99
…wait for it…
Pizza Joint: $ 30.45
So Pizza Joint is $ 10.06 more expensive than the average cost of the other places listed, $ 20.28.
More to the point, a consumer could spend upwards of 33% less on their pizza at an assortment of other restaurants in Portland, all of which are more highly regarded by more customers. So my question is, why? Why would anyone give it five stars? Why would my coworker call this place the Best Pizza in Portland during our lunch break today? (C’mon, Dave)
So in conclusion, I have two tips:
First, to the proprietor — if pizza is in the name of your establishment, you shouldn’t have a bad pizza on your menu. Your staff should be incapable of producing a bad pizza, especially if your pricing suggests as much.
Second, to people considering trying this place — buy a $ 10 scratch ticket on your way to Flatbread.

Tasty but holy expensive for pizza. Let me say, they do load it with toppings and it is good. However, a 16 inch two topping pizza and 2 sodas for $ 33 is a bit much. There is nothing super special about this pizza to justify the price.

I’m really at more of a three and a half stars here, but it is my husband’s favorite place, so that throws it to a fourth star. They are generous with their toppings, and for what they’re charging, they’d better be. I always have pepperoni and pineapple because I like sweet and salty, my husband pepperoni and olive because he just loves salt. There’s not much to say, pizza is good, but very pricey, and it’s well worth your while to just pick it up instead of waiting for delivery.

What the hell is it with pizza in this area?
It seems like every pizza in southern Maine is the same — thickness somewhere between thin and deep dish, flavorless dough, flavorless crust, flavorless sauce and flavorless cheese. Bland, boring, unmemorable and often downright anger-​inducing. Oh yea — Did I mention flavorless? There is seriously little to get excited about if you are a pizza lover in this area, unless you don’t know better. (I have learned one thing — avoid any roach trap that calls itself «Insert Town Name Here House of Pizza».)
There are a few outliers. Pizza by Alex in Biddeford is OK if you want a personal pizza, but really it’s nothing special. (I do like their Greek pizza.) Portland Pie is a step above mediocre — same style as the typical area pizza, but at least has some flavor. Seacoast in Wells comes close — thin like a NYC/​Jersey/​Philly pizza, but doesn’t quite nail it.
Naturally, Otto’s in Portland kills, but that’s more of an artisan pizza experience. I don’t always want pears, mashed potatoes, duck confit, braised antelope and any of the other myriad exotic pizza toppings they decide to pull out.
So where does a Philly ex-​pat turn for a solid traditional pizza up here? In my case at least, I turn to the Pizza Joint, albeit reluctantly.
First, the bad stuff — what a freakin’ ripoff. $ 30 bucks for a large plain pizza. Seriously, I have an urge to stick the hot pizza box up their collective ass every time I mortgage my house to get my fix. But, they deliver (as in they do it right — although they do deliver pizza in a literal sense as well). The crust is pillowy/​chewy, just as it should be. The foldable slices are reminiscent of a Jersey slice, with just the right amount of smoky oven char on the underside of the dough. The cheese is full of flavor, a bit stringy in the right way (if they don’t skimp — they are a little inconsistent there, but when they are generous it’s perfection). The sauce falls short, but gets a passing grade.
Want toppings? I hope you picked up a second job, but they do load em up if that’s your thing. I love pepperoni and mushroom, but i find they charge too much AND put too many toppings on. They should cut back on price and portion for toppings. The overload is unnecessary, and dilutes the experience of a quality pizza.
The Pizza Joint is a 4-​star pizza, but they lose a star for overcharging their customers and not maintaining consistency from pie to pie, store to store. A couple of times, the pizza was overcooked, charred black on the bottom. Given the price, oh boy did that piss me off.
I still haven’t figured out why they charge so much. This would be my Friday night pizza once or twice a month, but given the prices I can’t bring myself to ring them up more than every 3 months. I’m not a cheap man. But get over yourselves guys… I hope another pizza expert moves into the area so that i can delete your number from my cell. But until that day comes, you have me by the… Insert Anatomical Reference Here.

Ordered 2 slices of pepperoni and an order of mozzarella sticks set us back a little over $ 16 which we thought was a little pricey. These were SLABS of pizza with 3 – 4 pieces of roni deep in places. That would explain the swimming pool of grease on the slices. It was impossible to do the ol’ fold and eat as the crust fell apart.
Mozzarella sticks did not appear to be fried? Wife saw them come out of the pizza oven? I dunno. I do know that although they were hot, they had NO flavor and the marinara sauce was not good. We tossed half of the order. How do you mess these up?
Perhaps just the crew working on the day that we went, but that does’t cut it. I wish them luck and am happy to hear that folks enjoy their orders.

This is my favorite traditional pizza in Portland — - a city where it seems difficult to say that you actually want to order a standard pepperoni pizza (the idea seems overshadowed by the likes of mashed potato, pork and mango and other creative concoctions).
Sometimes, you just need a standard pizza. I love this place. Thin (ish) crust, and toppings galore. i get the standard pepperoni which is thick cut– crispy and plentiful.

When we order delivery it usually comes between Otto and Pizza Joint depending what style we are in the mood for. Pizza Joint is a little (ok, maybe a lot) greasier but oh so good. Crust is perfect, thin without being crunchy like a cracker. We just get the standard cheese or pepperoni so I can’t comment on the more creative toppings but it’s always delicious. I did order the wings one time and they were just ok, but I still give this place 5 stars because the pizza is really where they shine. Quick delivery time as well.

We live in the neighborhood, so we just pick up our pizza, so I have no comment on the delivery charges.
Very generous on the toppings and exceptional crust. I thought the price was very fair. For $ 12 – 14, two adults got a really good dinner.

Delivery order of a 10″ Spinach, Garlic, Genoa Salami pizza and a Sm Steak Bomb. 2 2-​liters of soda. After tax and tip: $ 38.
First and foremost — excellent food! Everything was amazing and I can’t say enough about the sub roll– that bread is the bee’s knees! Sooo good. I should have requested mayo on the Bomb, that would have made it absolute perfection!
But I will say, even though the food is excellent, let’s call a spade a spade. This place is astoundingly expensive. This is a pizza joint! There’s no reason any pizza should cost $ 50! Granted the 50 dollar pizza is a 20 inch with 4 toppings but that’s still ridiculous in my opinion. This is a place where 16 inch cheese pizza is still going for almost twenty dollars! The quality is great I think it’s excellent food however the price point is far too outlandish and for that reason I will never order from here again service was fine the food is excellent but those prices are just ridiculous for a pizza joint.

This is not Ottos or Flatbread. This is the Joint. This is football Sunday pizza. This is Friday night pizza. little pricey, but worth it sometimes. pepperoni is great.

Sorry Pizza Joint guy.
I really thought your pizza was as close to NY /​NJ style pizza than just about anywhere I have found outside that area. I am not going to knock Maine pizza — it’s a different style /​culture thing — and people here like that style. It’s what they grew up with and I respect that. I don’t care for 95% of the pizza I have had since moving here — but like I say, that’s my opinion, and I mean no insult or am trying to be a «Foodie».
And I am not here to mention the other places I found in this area that make a great pie.
I really thought your pizza hit home, Pizza Joint Guy. I would have given 4.5 starts if I could have — but the price of your pie was off the charts. So I am insulted and wont return on that basis alone. And I don’t want to hear the «finest ingredients» crapola.
I know what it costs to make a great pie, and I know from where I grew up (from away) that places that offered their special night pizza deals, you could pick up 2 quality pies for what one of yours costs. Suggestion — do some kind of promotion, and you will see more traffic — unless you are doing just fine with less volume at a ridiculous price.
Hey Pizza Joint Guy — whatever floats your boat. But I will NOT criticize your pie, it was spot on, I just can’t justify paying that for a pizza. It would be cheaper to have one of my Goom-​bahs from my hometown freeze and Fedex me a few pies, when I am Jonesin,

For me there are 3 pizza places in Portland. Stavros, Angelones and this place. Sandwiches are decent here too. The best part about this joint is the 5 or 6 different size pizzas you can get. Not to mention the massive amount of meat you get on a pie

I have always love the Pizza Joint pizza… while I can’t say that it is the best in town… such as the wood smoked pizza of Flat Bread or Otto’s. I go there. It is always pipping hot… made by people who are serious about making a good pie. It is less trendy just really good.

As a woman who is PIZZA obsessed, I have to say this pizza is excellent and unlike any other in the Portland area. It almost melts in your mouth. It is more expensive than most but completely worth every penny!

The best pizza north of Boston. It is expensive though, but its worth it. I’ve been going here as long as I could remember. I just wish they had pizza like this out in AZ. Can not wait when i visit Maine again to get another one.

While you’ll hear a lot of complaints from others about The Pizza Joint’s price or delivery time, neither of these have been an issue for me (and i live on Munjoy Hill.)
I was honestly a bit shocked when we first ordered for a delivery and the guy quoted tthe price, somewhere in the ballpark of 38.00 with delivery charge. But, when my kids and i couldn’t finish the pie (never a problem when we order anywhere else) i was impressed.
I have 4 kids and with myself and my wife that’s 6 people (4 of whom can put away some pizza.) The 18″ pizza –we usually just do the pepperoni– is enough for all of us. Compare that to some of the other pizza places where it takes 2 large pizzas at close to or more than what we paid for the giant pizza from the pizza joint, and we often still feel hungry when we’ve finished it. We have spent upwards of 50 – 60 dollars at ottos on slices or pizzas. That’s never a problem when i get the big pizza from here.
I would like to add that they have never been late delivering, and i once called them as i was leaving the BJ’s parking lot for a pick up on my way home (i live on the Hill.) i was there in 12 minutes and they had my pizza ready and waiting for me when i got there. They also sell cold beer six-​packs right in the lobby that you can take with you, that saved me a trip to another store… an added plus in my book (they don’t do this where i am from in California.)
As far as taste goes, i really like their sauce, the crust isn’t the thinnest and doesn’t always have that charred bottom i love in traditional NY style pies, but the pepperoni always has that crispiness that many other places lack and their is no skimping on either the cheese or the toppings.
While this isn’t a gourmet NY style pizza it’s also not that Pizzahut– Dominos’ super bready crust (which many places around here have) either. On a pizza type scale It’s closer to the gourmet style and worth the price. If you are complaining about the price you probably ordered too much pizza.

Tonight I ordered a 16″ pizza from Pizza Joint with a $ 3 coupon that I had in my Portland Dine Around book. I called and was stunned when they told me the total was going to be $ 34. I’ve NEVER paid that much for a pizza before in my life.
Granted, the toppings were $ 3 each for the size we ordered (should onions really be as expensive as, say, pepperoni or sausage?) and they were very generous with them. BUT the pie was soggy in the middle and really had too many toppings to be enjoyed. We’ll have leftovers for the next two meals I think.
This pizza isn’t really that great. The price is not even competitive with nicer (and yummier) pizza places around town like Otto’s or Flatbread. Oh well — live and learn I guess.

I have ordered several times since my old review, the pizza is still just as good and just as expensive. But I must say that quality of service as well as delivery time has improved immensely!

Quite possibly the best pizza I’ve ever had. Fantastic thin crust slightly charred on the bottom, great sauce and tons of thick cut pepperoni also slight charred around the edges and FRESH mushrooms. Was a little stunned when I paid $ 24.61 for a 16 inch 2 topping pie, but when I got it home and ate it, I didn’t care one bit.