Pizza Oven

Update 5/28/10: The Mineral Point location of Pizza Oven is now Dahmen's Pizza Place.

In a word: Familiar.

The specs: #0488 
Address, hours & details via Isthmus; Madison Games Day, Eat Drink Madison, 77 Square; official web site;

Latest Pizza Oven news and reviews

We ate the BBQ chicken pizza, the Meat Pyramid pizza, a perch fry, and three sodas.
The bill was $40, or $8/person, plus tip.
Aine, JM, John, and Nichole gave Pizza Pit Oven an A-; Jordan gave Pizza Oven a B+ (see our grading rubric).

Pizza Oven is a credit to the strip mall it shares on Mineral Point with Madison Sourdough and Qdoba. A local mini-chain, this location disguised its former Hootertude well. Jordan observed that the wood-paneled rooms and giant lettuce bowl on the salad bar looked like they had been transported unchanged from the 70s suburban pizzerias of his childhood (think Shakey's). Only the Ms Pac Man machine was missing (though there was a small game room near the front door).  As an aside, why, are video games and pizza so synonymous? One would think that greasy food and twitch reflexes would be at odds, but no.

We had a little fun at the expense of whoever assembled the menus, picking out all the typos we could find. It'll be a while before we forget desert sticks and Zinfidel wine.

Let's get the non-pizza food comments out of the way. If we've discovered one thing eating at all the pizza places in Madison, it's that you should stick to pizza if it appears in the restaurant's name. The pieces of perch in the Friday fish fry were dark and crusty outside, but soft, almost textureless, inside, which drew unappetizing comparisons to Twinkies. The shoestring fries, however, were good.

The pizza was excellent. We went for the thin crust, which was flaky and light. On the BBQ chicken pizza, tender white meat chicken was accompanied by ample cheese and a good balance of flavors. It was rather heavy and wet, with a very sweet sauce applied with a heavy hand. It was best when piping hot. (It was our second choice after the Hawiian [sic] that was foregone due to a shortage of pineapple.)

The intriguingly-named Meat Pyramid of pepperoni, sausage, ham, and bacon instantly became John's favorite since Glass Nickel. Jordan was sort of hoping the meat would actually rise up in a pyramid from the pizza (original emphasis). Aine noted, ever with a practical mind, that the toppings being equally distributed meant they didn't weight the pizza down.

We'd come back. We hope the area can sustain Rosati's and Pizza Oven, lest they do each other in and let some inferior 'za swoop in.

Comments

[L]

Aine, JM, John, and Nichole gave Pizza Pit an A-; Jordan gave Pizza Oven a B+.

did you go to different restaurants or just a typo? just trying to help :)

[Tracy]

Living withing walking distance of both Pizza Oven and Rosati's creates a bit of a dilemma for us. Pizza Oven (the eastside version) provided a lot of the pizza I ate in my college days. (I'll never forget calling them up at 4pm to see if they were delivering yet. "We're gettin' ready," came the response.) And the restaurant was plastered with vintage advertisements, which was great. But their current incarnation has a huge drawback: they don't have Canadian bacon. Since that's my all time fave on a pizza, Rosati's is still getting my business.

[Brandy Hagen]

Pizza Oven's best feature is their Monday-Friday lunch buffet. We had their pizza once for dinner, carry-out, and while still good, their lunch buffet is far better. They have a constant stream of pizza, salad bar, soup and 2 pasta dishes. I do like the Madison location but the Monona location really has a family pizzeria type of feel (if that's a real "feel").

[Jimmy Sulivan]

This pizza is far from thick and greasy. The Pizza Oven is a far cry from the "Big name chains" generic version pizza. The staff is your average friendly Joe. The young buffet cooks take great pride and joy in their art. I believe this strip mall might not be big enough for two pizza joints but I see this young crowd coming out on top. Cheers to homemade pizza!!

[catwoman]

we went to the lunch buffet (west side location) today. They're also offering the buffet on Monday-Wednesday nights now - not sure if this is permanent or just an introductory special. The pizza was good, tho not great - we liked the thin, crispy, yeasty crust, although the sauce could have used more oomph. Salad bar was standard. Lasagna was pretty good; mac and cheese would have benefited from a more assertive cheese and a bit more salt, but this is a personal thing. But we'll be back. There aren't many pizza buffets around anymore, and it's cheap and the food is decent.

[Clint]

Under new ownership on the west side as Dahmen's Pizza. Pizza was delivered barely warm, and cheese bread was of the day-old, styrofoam like, unchewable variety. As Pizza Oven or Dahmen's, this place cannot grasp cutting into slices rather than squares even by request(0 for 3 so far.) Better options around for less money. But the cheese bread is inexcuseable. By the way, Tiff and I would like to dine with you soon!

[catwoman5]

Went over to Dahmen's (formerly Pizza Oven - West) today. The salad bar was OK but was heavy on the fattening toppings (croutons, ham, cheese, eggs) and light on vegetables. The pizza was pretty awful - I've had better frozen pies. Tried the mac & cheese for curiosity's sake - tasteless. The proximity to Memorial High might save the place (lunch and after-school crowd) - otherwise, I can't see it lasting. The employee was very friendly, though!

[catwoman5]

Note that my comments above where about Dahmen's - NOT Pizza Oven. Pizza Oven's pizza wasn't great - but it was OK. I might have gone back at some point - but I won't go back to Dahmen's.

[JimR]

They look like some awesome pizzas, might have to check them out one day

[PoppyMW]

My family and I recently ate at Dahmen's Pizza Place and it was an excellent experience! The pizza was the best that we have ever had and the beer prices were very very reasonable. Our kids enjoyed the games there as weel

[ppeople123]

I think all the references of Dahmen's Pizza Place should be removed. Pizza Oven still exists at it's original location in Monona. It's too confusing, and unfair to Pizza Oven that the reviews are now intermingled.

[catwoman5]

Good idea - either remove them or move them over to the Dahman's review. Otherwise, it's a bit confusing.