Ole? The Ninja puts Fiesta Pizza to the test.
After a brief hiatus, the Ninja is BACK! Greetings pizza fans. Thank you for your patience, I tip my hat to you.
This month, the Ninja tried Fiesta Pizza II. Just a hop, a skip & a jump away from East Falls, Fiesta is located on the corner of Henry & Jamestown in Roxborough.
The word Fiesta conjures up images of Mexico in the Ninja’s head…which then makes the Ninja think of the famed Taco Bell ‘Mexican Pizza‘ – fun fact: it’s neither Mexican, nor pizza, but mucho delicioso at 2AM.Nevertheless, like previous reviews, this pizza will be limited to a plain cheese pie in the largest size offered. Will a pizza from Fiesta be a party in my mouth or a party in my pants? Read on to find out.
The Ordering Experience (2.5 out of 5)
Much like other pizza shops of the 21st century, we have some options here:
- In Person
- Over the phone
- GrubHub App
- The Fiesta Pizza website
The ninja placed his order over the phone at 8:35PM and the pizza arrived at 9:25PM. While not terrible considering the shop is located outside of the neighborhood, the Ninja would like to see a quicker delivery time than 50 minutes, especially at that hour of night.
The Pizza Experience
Presentation (4 out of 5)Pretty standard, generic box, in fact, we have seen this box before. Test your ‘Pizza Ninja Review’ knowledge:
Which EF shop uses the same box?
- Golden Crust
- Slices
- Apollo pizza
Correct answer: Slices
Would love to see Fiesta go with a custom box that plays up on the Fiesta name. For the shortcomings in the box, what we have inside is a really, really good-looking pizza. I mean seriously, it almost looks perfect. It’s Fiesta’s XL version. The cheese has been cooked to an amazing golden brown. Underneath, the crust also has a beautiful color to it. Hopefully it tastes as good as it looks.
Cheese (2 out of 5)
This cheese is on the verge of being “extra cheese”. There is a lot. In Fiesta’s defense, the crust, which we get to later on in the review, is thicker than normal. So the amount of cheese is a suitable ratio to the crust density. With that being said, it’s more cheese than you would normally find on a pie. Unfortunately, for as good as the cheese looks, it didn’t leave much in the taste department. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great. It was just sort of ‘meh’.
Sauce (3 out of 5)
The sauce is probably the only saving grace here. A little on the sweeter side. Nice consistency, with some faint notes of herbs and spices. On the downside, the sauce almost gets lost in the equation with the sheer amounts of cheese and crust flanking it on either side.
Crust (2.5 out of 5)
Oh boy, this is THICK crust. I wouldn’t consider this a ‘thick crust’ pizza, but this is certainly the thickest-thin crust that the Ninja has reviewed thus far. Not crisp, very spongy. While it’s not undercooked, the sheer size means it can’t help but flop over in your hand. It’s a filling crust, but again nothing too crazy or memorable here taste wise.
Conclusion (2.8 out of 5)
At $13 for the XL (a full $3 less than the XL “Beast” from Slices), Fiesta offers a big pizza at a big value – yet a small taste. Lots of cheese, thick – spongy crust, low flavor. If you have a craving for Ellio’s but don’t want to be bothered with firing up the ‘ol toaster oven, Fiesta is for you.
The ninja can’t help but wonder if this pizza is better suited to having toppings on it to help enhance the overall flavor. As a cheese pizza alone, it falls short. For the Guy Fieri in all of us, the XL Fiesta cheese will NOT take you to Flavortown.
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