Pie Five, Richmond Heights - Visited November 2016

It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was actually my turn to select a place to eat lunch. In honor of Black Friday, I decided to pick something close to the holiday shopping meccas of Walmart, Best Buy and Target - the brand new Pie Five Pizza located next to the Menards in Richmond Heights. Coming from Strassner, we could see the restaurant at the corner of Hanley and Strassner/Bruno but we were not sure how to enter the Menards plaza to get to the restaurant. We turned north onto Hanley and turned into the plaza from there, but we later realized it would have been easier if we had just entered directly from Bruno.

When we entered the restaurant the place was fairly empty and they had some menus at the entrance so we could try to figure out what to eat. I had already decided on a five star pan pizza and a small Italian salad, but they offer quite a selection of topping options including a number of other specialties. My son ordered the chicken carbonara pizza, my wife ordered a plain cheese pizza, and my mother-in-law selected a pizza with green peppers and mushrooms, all of them on the thin crust. Once we gave the orders and went over to pay we noticed all their desserts, so we ordered one ultimate brownie for my mother-in-law and two turtle brownies for the rest of us. That made all of our orders "bundles" with drinks at a reasonable price.

We noticed they had one of those big fancy drink dispensing machines which always seem to be more trouble than they are worth and which slow people down. Three different teas, utensils, napkins and condiments were also there by the drinks. The sitting area was fairly roomy with two HDTV's mounted on the wall, but one thing we noticed was that at lunchtime the sun was streaming into the southern large panels of windows (along Bruno) which could have been really annoying if we were sitting in the middle of the dining area. We were lucky enough to select a shaded area so we did not have to deal with the sun. They may want to install some shades on that side to diffuse the very bright sunlight at times.

As we were sitting down our pizzas came out and we carried them to our table. It only took about 5 minutes since we paid for the pizzas to appear, just as advertised.

Five Star Classic Pan Pizza

Italian Side Salad

Chicken Carbonara Pizza (thin crust)

The pizzas were hot out of the oven and looked pretty good. The Five Star pan pizza was loaded with toppings, and probably weighed three times as much as the thin crust cheese pizza although both were essentially the same price in the bundle. The pizzas tasted okay, but in truth they were nothing special. They were much better than the gross pies at Doughocracy, but did not have the flavor of a top quality independent pizza parlor like La Pizza, or even a different chain like Jet's. Their crust was well cooked but did not have much flavor, with the thin crust lacking crispiness, and the thick crust lacking a hearty chewiness. It definitely was not bad, but at the same time was not super exciting. The salad was not bad, with the dressing having a nice balsamic flavor and the cheese adding a good texture, but the greens were pretty lackluster.

Overall the place was very efficient and seemed well run, but the pizzas lacked anything that made them stand out. They were consistent and well cooked, but the crust and sauce did not have anything to make them memorable. The restaurant is a nice addition to the Menards Plaza, and with the neighboring Penn Station and a nearby Noodles & Company adds some nice variety to the eateries in that shopping area. We just wish the pizza was better! The pizza is better at the Twin Oak across Hanley, but unfortunately that place is quite a bit more expensive for what you get. I think we will probably just end up going back to La Pizza again instead. Their dining area might be tiny, but they have the best pizza around.

Food, Service & Ambiance