Who would have ever imagined that Pizza Den has been a Salem, Virginia landmark for over 30 years!…read moreNot I, when I drove by the restaurant with a simple front, yet with an impressive outdoor sign.
After having been selected as number 4 of Yelp's Top 50 most prolific Elites of 2025, a year when I also was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Photographer of the Year Award at their Yelpies 2025 Award Ceremony, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, and where last year I was awarded the Yelp Triad Squad Yelper of the Year Award, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and businesses, and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And Pizza Den in Salem, Virginia, is a perfect example.
After doing my research before visiting the restaurant, I found out that Pizza Den has been a long-standing, family-friendly pizza restaurant, well known for its Hollywood and rock 'n' roll theme, buffet, and free arcade games. Currently it is owned and operated by friends of the original owners (the Moran family) who strive to keep the Pizza Den legacy alive by offering "great food in a family fun environment."
In planning my visit, I phoned them and found out that the buffet hours were from 11AM to 2PM and from 4PM to 9PM, Tuesdays through Saturdays, even though they're open for business from 11AM through 9PM. They are closed Sundays and Mondays.
I arrived on a Tuesday at around 4:10 in the late afternoon for an early dinner, and there was already a group of four adults dining there, seated at the main dining room. I was impressed by how clean and well-maintained the restaurant was for its age. It had a combination of booths and tables for customers to dine at. The second dining room had the salad, pasta, and pizza buffet set-up, as well as the softdrink machine. It also had a modern, colorful, jukebox, playing some great top hits of all times. And the third dining room had long tables with chairs for large groups on one side, and the arcade games on the other side.
A very friendly and warm lady welcomed me and took me to the other dining room where the salad bar was already set up with fresh vegetables, salad dressings, and condiments, including bacon bits. Thin crust pizzas were being made from scratch, including the pizza dough. The lady, who doubled as my host and server, asked me what I wanted to drink and brought an iced Coke to my table. She was very welcoming and hospitable and asked me to let her know if there was a particular pizza I wanted them to include in the buffet. At first I thought it was the toppings, but then I learned they meant different pizza styles as well. Besides their woodfired thin crust, they also made New York style, as well as deep dish style pizzas. And I know by experience this is true. At my request they made from scratch a pepperoni and mushroom deep dish pizza, and put out in the buffet for me and the other customers to enjoy. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and the quality food they offer. Even for dessert they made a cherry pizza and a cinnamon one.
This place is a gem of a pizza restaurant and the City of Salem best kept secret. You have a clean, friendly and hospitable environment, with a great variety of freshly made salads, pastas, and pizzas of different styles, softdrinks of many flavors, top hit songs for the older customers and free arcade games for the younger ones, all at a reasonable and affordable price for all to enjoy.
