Love this place, cannot really frequent it because of their unique hours. Love the owners, love the stereo arrangement and music selection. If they ever sold, would love to make an offer and keep it the same. read more

Food is really good we're very like them. Great service the girls smile and nice smile read more

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Timeless and nostalgic, The Scheme is the kind of place that draws us into Salina for an evening from wichita. It's an interesting place like no other around central Kansas. Great drinks and truly unique pizza. Worth of a visit the next time you're in Salina Ks read more

Have been coming here since I was a kid over 30 yrs ago. Eclectic place and a must when in Salina. Sad thing is only open th-sun. Pizza never disappoints. Make sure to use the honey for eating your crust. The atmosphere is amazing and complete "eye candy " for any type of person. Have and will always be coming back... read more

Scheme Restaurant Bar - Pano of atmosphere - Pizza Near Me - Salina, Kansas

Great pizza and ambience. Old school place attentive servers. A true gem. Would definitely recommend. read more

Scheme Restaurant Bar - a dog with a pheasant in its mouth - Pizza Near Me - Salina, Kansas

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Best pizza in Kansas. Make sure to dip your crust in honey. Only wish they were open everyday.

Ate here w family ordering some drinks and a dream pizza. We anticipated a longer wait and with good drinks and company, it goes pretty quick. The staff was pretty friendly and the bathroom was reasonably clean. The pizza came and had a lot of hand cut more chunky style of toppings. The critiques i have are preferences and i also ate some leftovers the next day, that lowered my score slightly as i got way more burnt note on the crust and looking under it, there was serious charring. The toppings were too big for reasonable bites and the cheese used was a very stringy mozzarella cheese almost like a cheese stick. It is a decent place and food. For the wait and cost not a must do but also not a never again. read more

Arrived about 7.30 PM and found a seat at the bar. Greatest by lady who explained the menu and took are drink orders. Curious about the building we asked a male overseeing the operation. He advised the building was a old news paper in Salina KS. He has owned it for 38 years. The bar had nice entertainment center playing Jazz and country music. They had a large selection of music for everyone taste. We ordered the Dream Pizza and it was loaded with all are favorite toppings. Enjoyed conversation with the lady running the bar and the bar owner. A lot of regulars having a good time. If ever in area I would make this a stop. Job well done. read more

Scheme Restaurant Bar - Dream Pizza Perfect for 2 Lots of your favorite toppings - Pizza Near Me - Salina, Kansas

Pizza is amazing! Enjoyable environment with wonderful music. Wait staff works to make sure you have a great experience. Bring cash or check. You might want to preorder your pizza. read more

Great pizza and the garbage plate is very good. It's a fun place with Ambience. Fun place to meet friends and family for dinner. Easy to park. read more

This place is incredible. The pizza is 5 star for sure. Love the owner, Duane and his sweet wife! The history on the walls is so interesting. It's like the walls can talk. Thanks for the great service and sharing the "history beyond the walls". We will be back LOTS!!! read more

Yet another visit to family in Salina, and another holiday Scheme Pizza night. This time around, we ordered four large pizzas to go. My stepson, Greg picked them up and brought them home for us all, and no surprise they were FABULOUS! Best pizza in Salina, Kansas. Best pizza in the USA. It's always worth driving all the way from Austin, TX through wintry weather in Oklahoma and Kansas to see the kids and grandkids, but a Scheme pizza dinner is like icing on the cake! Excellent service. Excellent food. Worth the wait and the price every time. Bottom line is that you get what you pay for, and you cannot rush perfection. Regarding the people who have issues with the restaurant hours, they just need to ditch their inflated sense of entitlement and get over themselves. Keep up the good work, Dwayne and Sheryl! read more

Wow, I don't think my experience could have been more the opposite from those with the more negative reviews. A friend and I road tripped to Salina on a Saturday night (picked pretty much at random) just to get out out town. We had been hopping around town visiting a couple of taverns and then went to The Scheme for dinner on the recommendation of our cab driver. Unfortunately we arrived right at closing time, but without hesitation the owners welcomed us in and took care of us. (The remainder of this review is reprinted from a post on my personal blog about that night.) "Large pepperoni!" we blurted out, without thinking about the fact that we'd would not be able to take our leftovers back to the motel for a few more hours. We had some beer and talked with the bartender while we waited for our dinner. She could tell that we were not from around there, so we told her about our bar-hopping mission. She in turn told the owner, and he came out and started talking with us as well. I produced my camera to take a few photos only to find my battery dead. The two of them immediately started digging around in various drawers until they found some fresh AA batteries that they donated to the cause. The pizza arrived, and it was every bit worth the wait. With a braided crust and loaded with cheese, it was mouth-watering goodness thta we pounded away quickly. Still, as expected, we were only able to eat about half of it so put the rest in a to-go box. The owner then gave us the grand tour of the place, which was part bar, part pizza shop, part art museum. Much of the art and memorabilia had an old-west theme and largely dealt with the local history -- including (if I am remembering all this correctly) a young local girl who wrote to Abe Lincoln and told him more people might vote for him if he grew a beard. Or an old friend of the owner's ancestors, Wild Bill Hickok and his girlfriend "Big-Nose" Kate. We ended up staying and chatting with our hosts for about an hour past closing time before grabbing our leftovers and continuing on with our journey. ------------------------------------ (The rest of this has nothing to do with The Scheme, it's the story of the tragic and unexpected demise of the other half of our pizza.) About half an hour after we left The Scheme, an unexpected downpour started. At this point we were on foot, walking from bar to bar in downtown Salina, taking turns tucking our leftover pizza under our arms. The rain was torrential and turned into a flood (I later heard 5"+ fell), and we were out there in it all. About 2 hours had elapsed, and we were standing on the sidewalk in the rain trying to decide whether to call our cab or try to hit one or two more places before closing time. Unfortunately we had not realized just how wet the pizza box had become. The weight shifted. The sound of wet paper sliding apart. The sound of a splash as half a pizza plummeted, in slow motion, to the wet sidewalk. We looked at the pizza, then back at each other, then back to the pizza, then back to each other. In shock and sorrow, we knelt down and started picking up the soggy goodness , dripping it back into the remains of the box. "Screw it, it's pointless" we sighed, and as our hearts sank we tossed the pizza remnants onto a nearby bench and trudged on. "At least that will make a good meal for a homeless person... if it doesn't wash away," I said. "Yeah, you know what that is?" my buddy asked. "It's a 'Bum Feast'. You know, that could make a good band name, 'Bum Feast'." "And the first album could be titled Bum Feast:' Pizza on the Sidewalk'." read more

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The Scheme has two things that set it far and above every other place. The first is the incredible gourmet quality of the meats on their pizza! It is the best I have ever had. I have had pizza from coast to coast and there is simply no place that can match the quality of the meats. The sausages are flavorful, but not greasy. If you have never had buffalo - this is the place to try it. The second thing is that the sauce on their pizza superb. Its as though they have some Italian chef in the back just to make the sauce! Its fresh, and one bite and you feel transported to some other part of the world like Milan, Rome, or something....pinch me am I really in Salina? Its a bit of a drive to get there from Kansas City, but its worth every mile! I usually eat one there, then I buy a couple more to take home. read more

To Duane B aka The scheme Family- So people in Salina like burnt overpriced pizza? Glad I live in Kansas City, where we can get great tasting pizza at a fair price and with fast service. But I do hear you have some new competition in town so good luck staying in business Thanks but no thanks read more

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Food is good, long islands are a must! Prices are steep but you can tell the difference in the quality of food. Cool atmosphere, good service read more

TLDR: not all kitchen staff and servers were wearing face masks. Longer version: I called in an order for pickup. When I went inside to pick up the pizza 2 of the 3 staff members in the kitchen were not wearing face masks, neither was the server who took my payment at the cash register. When I asked about the kitchen staff not wearing masks, I was told that the chef making the pizza was wearing a mask, which was true, but the others were not. I was uncomfortable with some of the staff in the kitchen not wearing masks so I paid and left without waiting for my pizza. To Scheme's credit, they were extremely friendly and the service on the phone and in person was good. read more

So we needed dinner and decided to take a small detour to what people call the most amazing pizza place ever in Salina. Warning! This place takes cash and check only. They also have nearby ATM in walking distance. The atmosphere was interesting to this place and they surly do things different from other place I have been which is good to have a change up on things. They brew their tea fresh every few days, I am not sure if it is different but on Thursday it was chia spice tea. I liked it because it was a good change up on things. This place has odd hours and isn't open every day, I know they are for sure closed on Sunday. On Thursday they closed at 8 I believe so lucky for us for strolling in at 7 pm and ordering a Large Pizza. The pizza was about $25 for a 1 topping pepperoni pizza. The cheese was greasy and paying up extra for a 1 topping there were not a lot of pepperonis on it. I was glad the sauce was not full of a sugar like a lot of other pizza shops, but at the same time the sauce wasn't amazing. My fav part of the pizza for what they did just perfect on was the crust. That crust was so tasty and you could dip it in honey on the side. If I lived in Salina I would possibly stop by here more often but for living out of town I won't be stopping by here again. If you come here call in advance but also ask for a table over a booth. The booths sit funny and made it difficult for me to eat my pizza. Oh yea and this place gets packed and super busy so do keep in mind the staff is trying their best to keep up with all the tables. read more

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The crust of the pizza here is Off The Chain Perfect crispy goodness in every single bite. I loaded an individual pizza with meats and jalapeños. Doesn't get any better. Add some Modelo and it's perfection! read more

Totally gross, pizza was very bland. The decor was very dated and dusty. And was rude to my mom really, will not be back.

The good: Extraordinary pizza, by far the best that I've had in Kansas. The buffalo meat and cheese pizza is definitely crave worthy. The bad: -Very loud music, this is definitely not an environment you want to take somebody to if you're trying to catch up. -they do not take credit cards -for some reason they chose blue glasses where the waitresses have a hard time seeing if they're empty. Wait staff is great, it is just hard to see. read more

I've never written a review on a drink price, but I am now. I order a Pinot Grigio, i should've looked at the wine menu, I did ask for one. Anyway, i was served my wine in a champagne flute, which was super bizarre and not a fun way to drink wine. We ended up not staying for pizza because it would take 45 mins and we were starving. We asked for the drink check and my small Pinot was 10.00!!! I thought she was joking and even asked her if that was the price for a champagne flute of average tasting wine. No offense but this is Salina, KS, not Denver. We went around the corner to another restaurant and paid 3.50 a glass, it tasted just the same. I gave two stars because the waitress was a very sweet girl. read more

STOP and you will not regret! Love the vibe, the space, the food, drink, it's is a 10 out of 10! I love love love the tomato, cheese pizza the hubby prefers the meat meat of the "Dream"... only Long Island Tea I drink is at the Scheme made to perfection. Duane and Sheryl have kept it top shelve on all levels thru the years. A must when in Salina. read more

Scheme Restaurant Bar - Pizza Near Me - Salina, Kansas

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Here's the deal with The Scheme; the food is decent but the service is not good. I wish I had a nickel for every time we decide to "give it one more chance" and are treated rudely by the staff. The atmosphere in the restaurant is nice, dim lights, rustic decor and a really nice looking bar. The pizza, I feel is overrated, even for a town the size of Salina. It's hella expensive, takes forever to get out to you after you order and just really nothing special once it arrives. Don't get me wrong, for a town like Salina where your options are limited as to where you can get non-chain pizza, it's certainly edible-just not particularly memorable. The honey they provide for the crust is for sure the best part. My real problem, and the reason I give the place two stars, is that I have never eaten in a restaurant and felt more unwelcome than I have here. You would think that being a mom and pop place they would take special care to make folks feel welcome, but that is just not the case. They are typically very busy on the weekends, but good luck finding out when they are open, as they basically open and close whenever they feel like it. This makes it frustrating to get a reservation or make plans to go there. The most recent example: the last time my husband and his friends ate there (after making reservations for 8 PM) the owners/employees brought them the check right after the food was brought out (approx. 8:45) and basically started staring them all down and made them very uncomfortable because the waitstaff wanted to go home. The icing on the cake was when my husband and his friends were having a political discussion (same night, in normal voices, not loud or disruptive at all) and the waitress decided to come over and insult them and basically call them idiots. During a private conversation! Unreal. I hate to give this place a negative review, and I am a major supporter of local businesses wherever I go, but Scheme, you MUST improve your customer service ( or at least make phenomenal pizza to make the abuse worthwhile) to get our business back. read more

I love pizza. I love all kinds of pizza: Chicago, NY, brick oven, Neopolitan, California, Mr. Gatti's, whatever! I love pizza. I worked at three pizza places in my poorer years and I think I'm a pretty good judge of quality. That said, I admit, this place left me confused. There's no questioning the quality of the ingredients. Real mushrooms, not canned. Exquisite meats, fresh veggies! The crust was good, the cheese of high quality, but when put all together...I don't know, I'm thinking car crash. Pizza is all about proportions. A good pizza uses the finest ingredients in the right proportions. This place seems to ascribe to the more-is-better philosophy. I ordered one of the specialty pizzas with sausage and onion, mushrooms and hamburger I think. WAYYYYY too much cheese, and all dumped right in the middle of the pie. I spooned it off. The mushrooms, fresh if you recall, were cut as thick as my little finger, and so tasted raw, which indeed they were. The sausage was cut lengthwise and dropped on top after the cheese so when you bit into it you got the entire piece. Folks, the cheese is supposed to hold it all together. That's it's function. The hamburger was a lot like small meat balls. All in all, everything was just too much or too big, except the crust, which was Goldie Locks (just right, but not very tasty). ***Owners, please, take my suggestion. Lay off the cheese; cut the veggies thinner/smaller, let the flavors cook into the pie; halve the size of the meat toppings, they're a bite or more on their own. Hell, you'll save money AND you'll make a better pizza. And please, please, put the toppings on before the cheese. It's like you want me to see that we're getting our money's worth or something. Trust me, if it tastes good, no one will give a rat's @$$ what it looks like. And perhaps most importantly, take your time making the individual pies. Spread the cheese evenly all the way to the edge. Make sure it doesn't glop up in the middle. read more

I grew up in this pizza shop and in all these years, they have yet to disappoint. The pizza topping are fresh and diverse and they have honey on the table to drizzle on the crust. Walk in the front door and you are transformed to a classic western saloon with rustic wooden booths and game trophies on the wall. A fun and tasty experience. read more

This rather dive-y place is definitely worth getting off I-70 for. It is much like an oasis through some possibly deserted streets (it was about 9pm on a Saturday night and we didn't see a single other car out). The bf and I rolled up absolutely starving just as the kitchen was closing... except they let us sneak our order in. We split a large Italian sausage, olives and bell peppers pizza that was phenomenal! Five stars on the pizza all the way - tons of toppings, four different types of mozzarella cheeses from Minnesota, just the right amount of sauce and yummy pretzel crust that tastes great with some honey drizzled on it (just trust me on this one). This place makes great pizza! I had to take off a star for the lack of beer selection (blue moon is the only beer in tap) and the small menu (if you come here for dinner, be prepared to only order pizza). Other than that, I appreciated the eclectic mix of decorations and the staff was very friendly. If I ever find myself back in Salina I will be sure to stop in here again! read more

Wow, this really exceeded our expectations for such a small town. Even in a big city, this place would be a hit. Great atmosphere and extremely friendly waitstaff. We were spending the night in Salina and wanted to eat somewhere other than the usual junk that's near the highway. The Scheme was easy-to find in downtown Salina. The pizza was awesome. A couple of things: We went on a Saturday night and the place was packed. We were lucky to get four spots at the bar--all of the other tables were reserved. The pizza took a while to cook (good pizza usually does). Next time, we'll call ahead with a table reservation and our order. Blue Moon is the only beer on tap. Not being a huge fan of wheat beer I went for a Blvd. Pale Ale (Kansas City) which was quite good. The rest of the bottled beer is the usual stuff. read more

This is a hard review to do and this shows the staff can really take down the ratings. The food would be a 5 star, the time it took to get refills on drinks, our check, pay the check, the food (55 min) took this down to 2.5 star. The price on the pizza is higher and I would not mind paying the price, but would expect real plates or at least nice thick ones, due to needing to use a fork to eat the pizza. The pizza it's self was good and a small pizza will feed 3 people and large 4-5. The crust is homemade and crisp for it being thick. Sauce is homemade and not the sweet stuff you get at Hut or Johns. The beef, sausage and all topping are very good quality. Call ahead and reservation are definitely needed. Bring cash or a check, do debit cards? To the owners: Get better grade of plastic plates, some type of appetizer due to the wait on the pizza and might think about debit or credit cards especially due to one of the pizza's being at $45. read more

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Great pizza and service. The only bad thing is the wait. But it's well worth the wait and make sure to call ahead for sitting.

Finally tried Scheme pizza today and was very impressed! Food was great! Had Buffalo meat, jalapeño, and fresh pressed garlic. The crust is one of the best I ever had. They give you honey to drizzle on the crust as you wish which is a neat little twist. The sauce was fresh and delicious! Different than some sugary based sauces most pizza chains use. The best part was the cheese! I mean the mozzarella is so melty and creamy! I've never had that quality of mozzarella on a pizza. You can tell that they use the best and freshest ingredients available. It IS a little pricey but damn it, do you want Casey's pizza or to eat a pizza that makes you say "WOW!" Can't wait to go back! The environment is awesome too! The owner showed us around, told us some history of the place and shared little stories behind the plethora of AWESOME photos and art on the walls. Felt like walking into a western joint / museum / pizza joint.... Extremely friendly staff. 5 stars!! read more

Scheme Restaurant Bar - Buffalo, fresh pressed garlic and jalapeños - Pizza Near Me - Salina, Kansas

My five star rating is based on the quality / flavor of the pizza. In my work as a pilot, I have traveled almost every state in the USA trying 100s of different pizza restaurants and this is absolutely the best I've ever had. I found this place in the mid-1980s while touring with my band after a tip from a local resident. Since then, I stop through Salina any chance I get to have this pizza. When I lived in Kansas City I would happily spend several hundred dollars in fuel to fly to Salina for a fix. It was only about an hour flight. Now that I live in Louisiana it's not as easy but I think I have a craving for it at some point every day. You'll notice that most of the negative reviews concern service. It's true that the service has been inconsistent and apathetic at times but it's never been terrible or especially unfriendly in my experience. There always has been a bit of an attitude to the place that says "This is the way we do things and if you don't like it, go elsewhere". Yes - Your pizza is going to take 45min to an hour to make. Yes - you will eat off of a styrofoam plate. Yes - you will likely need reservations because the place is damn popular, especially Friday/Saturday. Yes - the decor looks like the inside of a hunting lodge. No -They don't take credit/debit cards. Yes- they only serve pizza. No- the place is not especially "kid-friendly". Yes - they are only open Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Yes - the music is loud. Fans and regulars of The Scheme accept all this because YES, the pizza is that freakin' good. Every ingredient is exceptional and would be delicious on it's own. Fresh meat and veggies. Plenty of cheese. Kind of a sweet sauce. The crust is not exactly thin but it is crisp and some folks like to put honey on the leftover crust and eat it like breadsticks. The pizzas are filling. They are piled with ingredients and weigh a ton so no wonder it takes so long to cook - it's a simple matter of physics. To the previous reviewer who begged the owners to take their advice to "lay off the cheese and put the toppings on before the cheese", I have a suggestion for a pizza place you might like. It's called ... Almost Every Other Pizza Place In The Country. If there's anything that does NOT need changing at the Scheme, it's the pizza recipe. Update 8/13/2015 - I flew into Salina today for a Scheme pizza. I got there as soon as the doors opened and the owner's wife(I think) was there when I walked in. She has always been friendly but was especially so today. The rest of the staff that came on duty today were super attentive and super friendly. I never ran out of drink or had to wait for anything other than that perfect pizza to cook. The pizza was worth the wait as usual. read more

The atmosphere of this place is great for such a small town. It felt like a cool restaurant I would go to back home in Atlanta. The pizza's excellent but a little greasy. A 12 inch pie will leave you with a couple of extra slices because they're so thick. Using the honey on the leftover crust is a must. Be prepared to wait awhile for the food because they do take their time making the pizza. However, while you wait, they do seem to have a decent selection of craft beers and some interesting pieces of decor to check out. Cash or check only! read more

The Scheme is amazing, if a little bit quirky. Definitely call ahead for a table, and consider pre-ordering your pizza. If you don't call ahead you may not get a seat, and if you don't pre-order be prepared to wait a while. Just give yourself plenty of time to sit and have a drink and relax while you wait for your pizza. The Scheme only accepts cash or check, so make sure you stop by the atm. If you can accept the quirks of cash/check only, making reservations or calling ahead, and waiting a long time for pizza, this is the best place in town. Rather than being the kind of place where you run in for a pizza and beer it is the kind of place where you really relax and savor the pizza and beer experience. We lovingly refer to it as "Elitist Pizza," and we love it! read more

We're from out of town. Read all the reviews. Service was good. Reviews said no. Don't get it. She was new and did great. We came on a Sat and time to our food was good. No complaints. Pizza average. Lots of cheese. Unique place we had a good time. read more

Thank you Yelp! After scouring reviews for a place to grab dinner while in town for the night, I decided I'd brave the Scheme, despite some of the foreboding comments I read. Man, awfully glad I did. How awfully glad? Like "my stomach hurts from eating an entire pizza" kind of awfully glad. (It was a small pizza, but that doesn't make it any less gluttonous!) Amazing doesn't begin to subscribe the pizza here. Crust that is crispy but not thin, evenly applied premium toppings, just the right amount of subtle sauce. THIS is what good pizza tastes like. Italian sausage was sliced instead of crumbled. Garlic was in small bits of chopped cloves (not that refrigerated minced stuff). Cheese was amply applied, but not overpowering. A small was way too much for me to try to tackle alone (which didn't stop me from trying) and set me back $12 base price plus $1.75 a topping. I called in my order as I assumed from the reviews here that I would never get a seat. The restaurant was only half full when I arrived at 6:45 pm though - I could have probably sat at the bar to eat. Instead I took it back to my hotel where it was still piping hot despite the freezing temperatures. The staff couldn't have been nicer... everyone I talked to while picking up and paying was pleasant. This is my new "go to" place when I'm in Salina overnight... but only after I lose the two pounds I just put on from a single pizza! read more

Again, this is another deserving 5 stars from me. If you are ever, and I mean ever, in the vicinity of Salina, you must stop at the small town, go into town and eat at one of two places...Scheme being one of them. Scheme has been one of my favorite pizzarias for as long as I have been eating Pizza. The pizza just dances in your mouth as your mouth is dancing for good taste. Oh my gosh, every ingredient that they offer is the perfect ingredient for you. Go to Scheme, or go home is what i say. read more

Thanksgiving tradition for our family! Beer and 2 large "dream pizzas". the pizza is the BEST! The atmosphere is fun and relaxed. The service is great too. We make reservations and pre order for quicker service. read more

Scheme Restaurant Bar - Celebrating loving family and KSU beating KU!!! - Pizza Near Me - Salina, Kansas

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I'm sure the food is great but they need to advertise that they only take cash and checks. So since I didn't have cash we just got drinks and left. Be warned! read more

Great food and service, loved the honey in the pizza. Portions are very generous too. read more

Scheme Restaurant Bar - Pizza Near Me - Salina, Kansas