Editor’s Note:
Wes Hennings never met a meal he walked away from and is an opinionated eater! Each Thursday he shares the results of a business lunch he’s had with a colleague as a way to advise our business community on the good, bad, and tasty across the CSRA. He doesn’t let ABD or the restaurant know where he is going and his opinions are his own. He grades the restaurants he visits on a 1-5 scale with “5” being outstanding. We call this our “Real Business Lunch Review”.
Food Quality: 5
Service: 3
Business Meeting: 3
Value: 5
Overall Rating: 4 out of 5
I’m beginning to think that if you work/live downtown, you just don’t ever anticipate eating out for lunch. Restaurant after restaurant that you drive by or try to patronize is closed to start the week. So, when I found the Pizza Joint open on a Monday, I was thrilled. Not to mention, my wife was my dining partner for the day, and she is perhaps the world’s foremost connoisseur of pepperoni pizza.
After our dining experience, I wasn’t quite as excited about my find. Yes, the food was great, but the overall experience was a bit wanting, which is a definite bummer for a place that basically has a food monopoly on Monday afternoons.
Even at high noon, the restaurant was pretty sparsely populated, which is perhaps the reason its dining neighbors don’t feel the need to open. It took a few seconds to get a cursory greeting and be told to sit anywhere we liked. That was the start of a service experience I wasn’t fond of. It just felt like the pace was a bit too slow for a pizza joint in the afternoon. It’s certainly not a five-course meal, and I’m not looking to have a long meal over a number of drinks, so it would be nice to get in and out a bit more quickly. There was also no shortage of staff hanging about, so it would be tough to use the new standard excuse.
The food was the high point. We started with dough balls which were nice and buttery, if not a little dry. But we followed this up with a pepperoni slice and a Stromboli. The Stromboli is a dish I’ve had numerous times in my tenure in Augusta, but it feels like it was elevated during the pandemic, with a better crust, ooey gooey cheese, and a nice portion of meat.
The slices are also as big as ever, and clock in at just around $4. They can definitely be the entire meal, so it’s one of the best values around. Again, my wife, the semi-pro pizza judge, gave it the stamp of approval.
But perhaps the oddest part was the volume and genre of the ambient music. It was at just a loud enough level to be noticeable above your conversation. That’s all well and good, as I usually just crank up my speaking volume. However, we were in heavy metal if not bordering on thrasher, so it was hard to concentrate above. So, the dim lighting, music, and run-down ambiance make it not as ideal a place to discuss business or really discuss anything at all.
The Pizza Joint has always been one of those staples in my mind. It’s always around and available if you need it, even on a Monday afternoon. It’s a reliable spot to get a slice, even if it’s not the best place to enjoy a meal. If this was a late-night eating review or a list of the best places to grab a beer, this would be a totally different vibe. But for now, I think next time I wanna eat downtown, I’ll wait till the other spots open back up later in the week.
Pizza Joint
1245 Broad Street
http://www.thepizzajoint.net/pizzajoint.net
