Your Pie, 225 Palm Bay Road NE, Palm Bay FL. 32904
2.5 Stars (Chain Restaurant Review)
This location of a relatively new on-the-scene rapidly expanding chain in Hammock Landing is what I refer to as "fake" Palm Bay. The Landing is a testament to open-air shopping and a sign of the rapid destruction of '80s mall life, c'est la vie. I always feel like I'm in some Fellini movie when I come here and half expect a purple unicorn to prance by symbolizing forgotten dreams of youth.
Your Pie is a franchise that began in Athens, Georgia in 2008 after the founder, Drew French returned from his honeymoon in Italy inspired by the brick oven pizza places that dot the countryside. With over one hundred locations from the Carolinas to Montana, they are sure to be near you soon. The franchise I visited is owned by Bismash Patel. Bismash can be seen daily literally busting his behind in support of his staff. If the Big Boy rated solely on service and service alone, this place would be 5 stars all the way, just based on Bismash's work ethic and professionalism. However, that is not the case here at BBDO where we are only concerned with the food for sale.
To that end, I placed an order for one Chicken Pesto Pizza and a Pasta Bowl. Taking a seat, I eagerly turned my gaze toward the open kitchen and watched them concoct my order. I love watching people make pizza dough and knowing this was going to be fresh had my mouth watering in anticipation. It wasn't all that long before my order was in front of me and my nostrils were filled with delicious aromas wafting up from the still-steaming grub. As the dough is paramount to a fantastic pizza, I will begin my review there. Taking a bite I was unpleasantly surprised. I watched them toss it and bake it, but it has the taste of a frozen pizza. In other words, it was far below average and to top it off (pun intended) the chicken was either freezer-burned, overcooked or just poor quality as it had the consistency of a red gym ball from the 70s. At this point, it was all I could do not to absquatulate, but I had a job to do so I remained seating and moved on to the Pasta Bowl.
While I didn't have a problem with the Pasta Bowl as the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente, again the flavorings were nothing spectacular and were found to be about par for the course. After watching them make everything, I have to say the end result just doesn't cut it. I have no doubt at all that Bismash could make any place better, perhaps he is better suited to the role of efficiency consultant as he seems to be able to make any place run like a well-oiled machine, even one with below-average offerings.
The Big Boy says, "There are better build your own, watch them bake it in a brick oven pizza places. In fact, they are becoming a dime a dozen. Try one of those and skip this place until Bismash can rectify the quality of ingredients sent to him by corporate." read more