Lilly’s Pizza

Lilly’s is my go to pizza place in town!
Everything about Lilly’s is awesome! The service, the location, the environment, the drink specials (and several varieties of beer on tap) and especially the pizza!
The «Sir Walter» is to die for!

We love the GF pizza here and my fav salad is the roasted veggies. Sadly the last few times we’ve been the service has not been very good and the food quality has gone down. It will still be a goto in a pinch bit we’ll be trying out some of the other pizza joints that have popped up in downtown Durham. I

I like the bartender Don he was very efficient and observant. Their ingredients are quality and their crust is very tasty. However their kitchen is slower than molasses on a cold day. I wouldn’t recommend going on a Friday or Saturday simply for that reason. Otherwise it’s a fine establishment.

I have eaten at the Durham location multiple times now. Everytime I have been amazed with the food I ordered. Both pizzas and salads. I had the roasted veggie salad last night with a lemon vinaigrette and have to say it was probably one of the best salads I have ever eaten.
I ordered a couple of there special pizzas on previous occasions and liked them all as well.
That being said their food is awesome I will be back on that alone.
But their service was not so great. My glass was consistently empty and we had to wait a good 15 mins to get our check and a to go box because we weren’t able to finish everything. That was after we had to flag down a waiter who wasn’t the one who was originally serving us.
So long story short. Food is great but service needs work. Don’t go expecting a quick meal.

To be fair, we went on a Monday night with few people having dinner, so while the service was pleasant I can’t speak to how it would be when busy. The pizza here was excellent — the crust is a great mix of crunchy and chewy, and the preset options (you can also build your own) were a delightful mix of quirky and delicious. I got the Big Star, which had a base of pesto, a blend of mozzarella/​parmesan/​gorgonzola/​fontina cheeses, roasted red peppers, & pistachios. Definitely a pizza you would get nowhere else. You can get your pizzas personal size or larger, and there’s a selection of beers, wines, and other alcoholic options. Definitely a unique spot, and worth a visit!

I joined Unilocal just because of Lilly’s service. It started off amazing. Breadsticks, soooo good. Then salads took a long time to get to us but were the best and are a must for sure.
Then everybody around us were being served as our server did a magic trick and disappeared. We were there over an hour until our food arrived. Maybe two hours but we were too busy with family in town to really notice the exact time.
Anyways, its a shame as the food is pretty good and they allow servers like this to constantly screw up when its really not that busy or large of a space to do so.
My parents came into town and i brainstormed with my brother on the place to go. Like i said it started off perfect then the server dude wearing a shirt saying «the struggle is real» disappears. Oh yeah, he spilled drinks twice. Once in the beginning and then as he delivered the über late pizza.
We had kids waiting over an hour for slices. I mean that makes no sense at all. Slices.
I never complain but this was like a friggin prank show. I was almost expecting cameras to come out. They did comp us a couple pizzas. I just hope a manager or owner works it out as the food is pretty excellent. The side salads are mindblowing.

Nothing in Durham like Lilly’s! This is some of Durham’s very best pizza. The décor on the inside is interesting but the food is amazing.

Quick, easy, and tasty place to grab a bite. I stopped in here while in town on business travel, and I was able to quickly get a nice quiet table on the patio. My server was friendly and helpful — he suggested a local IPA that was exactly what I was seeking. I had a Caesar salad and a slice with pesto, mozzarella, Italian sausage, and tomato slices. I love that you can build-​your-​own slice here — great for when you’re on your own. The Caesar salad was pretty basic, but their homemade croutons were really good. And the pizza was just what I was looking for, cooked to order with fresh ingredients. I’ll definitely be back if I’m in the area again and have a taste for pizza.

I was quite excited to try Lily’s pizza based on some of the reviews and pictures here. I went there on a Saturday afternoon and they weren’t busy, so I figured it wouldn’t take long to be served. Wrong. Waited approximately 30 minutes for food.
I ordered a personal create your own pizza with just pepperoni and Italian sausage while my husband ordered the meat lasagna. I figured with such a long wait the food must be amazing. Wrong again. The pizza looked great, but looks can be deceiving. I rarely say this, but there was too much meat for the crust to support. Further, the meat was flavorless and oily. Ahh, yes, the oil. The pizza was extremely soggy, and the bottom of the pizza was completely covered in oil! When I bit into the pizza, all of the toppings slid off. I’ve never understood how pizza could be bad until I had a slice from Lily’s.
To make matters worse, our waiter never checked on us. We had to have another waiter refill our drinks and flag down our waiter.
If you’ve ever watched Gordon Ramsay’s «Kitchen Nightmares,» my experience at Lily’s felt as if it could’ve been an episode from that series. Poor customer service and dreadful, oily food. I’d hope for them that this was just a one time occurrence, but I won’t be back to see if they can do better.

My sister in law brought us to this restaurant while we were visiting Durham and it was not love at first sight. The restaurant is decorated with random items and eclectic artwork. Nothing about how the restaurant looked really screamed «you will love the food». Luckily for us, the looks were deceiving. We ordered the «Cowtipper» pizza and it was amazing. So amazing I would probably visit once a week to eat it over and over. No, but really, do they deliver to Charlotte?
Other reviews have mentioned the service being sub-​par. While we didn’t receive spectacular grade A service, the service was decent and we were overall taken care of. We will definitely be returning the next time we come to visit.

I was excited to try this place while visiting my friends in Chapel hill. The environment is laid back. Maybe a little too laid back the night I was there. We sat down and got our drink order taken pretty quickly which was nice.
Our waitress seemed new and was wearing very skimpy clothes. She had a mid drift top and a short tight fitting skirt that she kept tugging at to pull down.
After we got our beers we waited 15 minutes .to the point where I got up to look for our server. When I found her she admitted that she forgot about us. At least she was honest about it. I know people can have an off night, so I try to give the benefit of the doubt. She came over and took our order without writing anything down. Our order included a couple modifications to our salads and pizza. I wondered, and even asked if she would remember it all. As I predicted she forgot something. We wanted gluten free crust just to have a thinner crust. Thankfully, we are not gluten intolerant, so we kept the pizza so we wouldn’t have to wait longer.
My friend went to wash her hands and there wasn’t any soap, and there was a bit of a wait before someone came to fill it.
It was not that busy, but there were lots of people complaining. The table next to us was super frustrated with their service.
Anyway.Not sure what the deal was because my friends say they’ve never had an experience like this.
The pizza was really awesome and delicious.
I hope they can work out the kinks.

Lilly’s Pizza is obviously known for their pizza, which is undeniably delicious. The problem is with their service.
Tried to order a salad and the waiter forgot to put in the order, and had to be reminded after 30 minutes that I had ordered something. When it finally arrived it was pretty much inedible. Tried to work out something for a substitute but the waiter «forgot» to come back with a menu, and by then it had been an hour and I had to leave for a meeting.
If the place was busy I could understand the wait and the lapse in service, but there was only two more tables, and they had 2 waiters. This is the only time in my life I left a restaurant without paying.
The takeaway here is if you want a salad go next door to Parker and Otis.

Ain’t That’s Brahville for ya! I’ve been wondering what kind of Artwork would be on the Restroom Doors… I’ve been to the Raleigh location with the Restrooms adorned with pre-​Fall Adam & Eve denoting Andrej or Andreja… From our seat I could see a Rear-​Naked Lady and I thought, ok Brahville is probably not comfortable with the level of Raleigh Male frontal (full) no fig leaf, no nothing… What do we have in Brahville? A Blank Door! If you want to see something you’ll have to open the Door!
She was wearing a Slice of Pizza and a Bucket (Frontdoor Hostess Mannequin)!
Pizza
This is Delicious from Top to Bottom (if you eat your Pizza that way — WAIT this IS Brahville, so when in Brahville you do not have to shave your Chest anymore but you better FOLD your Pizza when out with the Brahs!!!) So :
Crust = Delicious
Sauce = Very Good, Very Saucey though NOT runny
Cheese = Very Cheesy

Love the atmosphere here, loving the 90’s music…
This pizza is hands down better than pizza I had at sats Sunday… Our server G he is very nice and funny, he’s doing an awesome job. Will recommend this pizza joint to others…

Walking into Lilly’s I’ve always felt like I’ve walked into a thrift store, the décor is random and always changing. The high ceilings and exposed brick walls are inviting and get you excited to try some pizza. However, out of the dozen or so times I’ve been to Lilly’s or had their pizza to go, there’s only been one time that left me feeling like I’d return. I decided recently that it was time to give them another try and we joined Lilly’s for dinner on a week night. An order of the chef salad ($ 11) and Thai Bhat pizza ($ 12.50) were placed and after a bit of a lengthy wait the food arrived. The pizza was (I hate to say it, but once again) disappointing – but at least not burnt like in previous visits! Unfortunately, the pizza was very bland, and you wouldn’t think so with a description of homemade Thai curry sauce, all-​natural grilled chicken, roasted garlic, chili pepper, baby corn, straw mushrooms, organic carrots, sharp cheddar, parmesan, fresh ginger & scallions. You couldn’t tasted any ginger or roasted garlic and the «curry sauce» left you wanting something more.
On a positive note, the chef salad was awesome! This was my first time ordering a salad at Lilly’s and I’d return for it. It was so large you could barely eat it without the contents falling on the table: full of organic mixed greens, cremini mushrooms, sliced egg, organic roma tomatoes, prosciutto, grilled bacon, cucumber, monterey jack, roasted pecans & homemade croutons. We tried it with a lemon tahini dressing and the ginger vinaigrette, both were awesome (note, if you want to try additional dressings, you’ll pay $.50 extra per dressing). Overall, after many experiences at Lilly’s, the chef salad has been the first item that I’ve really loved. I’ve tried a variety of their pizzas (Five Point, Dante’s Inferno, Big Star and Hawaiian Punch: some have been over flavored and other very lacking). Overall, Lilly’s is a solid three-​star restaurant.

Pizza is very difficult to mess up, but it is also a very difficult dish to have stand out as well. Lilly’s pizza is so full of flavor that it is almost impossible to forget. I’ve had Lilly’s now several times over the years (in both the Raleigh and Durham locations) and it’s never let my taste buds down!
A few friends of mine and I went to the location in Durham after work for dinner and even though the place was getting crowded, our waiter was extremely responsive and helpful (in explaining items on the menu).
Our table of 3 split an order of cheesy and garlic breadsticks (which were oozing wit flavor) and a medium Dante’s inferno pizza – between the breadsticks and medium pizza, it was plenty of food!
Drink wise, we ordered two rounds of cosmos, which came out quickly both times and were well made.
If you’re looking for unique pizza full of flavor, try Lilly’s.

I thought the pizza here was quite good. I had been to the Raleigh location years ago, but this was my first visit to the Durham location.
I had two slices, one bacon and one prosciutto. Slices are pretty big. Not Randy’s big, but decent in size. Lots of crust and cheese. The crust tasted really sweet to me compared to other pizza crust. The prosciutto slice was salty as hell, but I think that is mostly just how prosciutto rolls.
Service was a bit on the slow side, but friendly. Lots of local art to stare at while you nosh on pizza.

This is yet another place that I would choose to give a 3.5 if it were an option. But unlike most 3.5’s, instead of defaulting to a 3 think Lilly’s is more accurately a 4.
The décor is unremarkable and does not really add anything to the dining experience. But the servers were above average with their courtesy and attentiveness
I had a slice of the Scofflaw pizza. It was extremely cheesy which is generally good. Although the cheese did not poses a abundance of flavor, mostly it was just a big warm going blob of fatty goodness (that’s really what cheese is right?). There was also fresh basil which is always much appreciated on pizza.
The pizza had no «sauce» as such but rather tomatoes instead. But usually when a pizza had tomatoes instead of a sauce, I like those tomatoes to at least be seasoned, or possibly diced or even under the cheese. These pieces of tomato were spares enough that could get, due to random pizza topping arrangement, few if any pieces per slice.
The crust was the real standout star on the pizza. Most pizza places make their own dough, but this dough was really delicious. It was pillowy and chewy in the best way. But more than just the texture, the crust just tasted really wonderful. It has kind of a subtle sweetness that really sang out loud.
There is very likely other topping combination I wold have liked more than the scofflaw (It really was a good slice of pizza overall though), and very likely a combination of toppings that you would find highly enjoyable as well.
I recommend giving them a shot if you have the chance!

Consistently yummy pizza! Today, the Diablo was a bit too cheesy and the chicken a little dry but the flavor was delicious. Given its name, I wish it was spicier. Service was fast and friendly. The tricky Ricky was good and the crust on both was wonderful. One thing thst disturbed me is the face that aluminum trays r used for plates. It disturbs me to use knives and forks on those pans. Nice outdoor seating as well. We will be back!

So so good! Stopped by here to pick up pizza for dinner. Called in at 734, they said it would be ready in 30 min, arrived at 752 and walked out the door at 758. I came on a weekday so there was plenty of parking.
I absolutely LOVE mushrooms so I ordered «The Gus» which had porcini infused mushroom oil, roasted garlic, cremini mushrooms, organic portabello, shitake mushrooms, sharp cheddar, parmesaean and fontina on it. Every shroomers dream. It was absolutely delicious, hot and fresh. What really impressed me about the pizza was the crust. I had the option of hand tossed or thin crust and opted for thin crust. Crust has always been like eating vegetables to me but something about the perfect baked temperature that made crust eating so delightful! Today, pizza for breakfast :)