Pompeii Pizzeria

I love this place! They offer gluten free crust-​which rocks my world! Their salads are out of this world, and the pizzas are to die for. I love «The Buffalina» it has buffalo chicken, basil and white sauce. The bomb!

Fabulous pizza, prices, service and wine. Don’t be intimidated if it’s a full house. It’s worth it!

Great food, great service. The comparisons to Punch Pizza hold up, which should be a positive sign to those who have eaten there. Best place for lunch in Elk River, don’t miss this spot!

Friendly, small town customer service. Pizza has fresh quality ingredients. Fig e prosciutto sandwich was delicious. They make the pizza after you order but still are quick to get your meal to you. Very reasonable prices.

Great pizzas! Nothing like a brick oven pizza, amazing flavor, tons of exotic toppings. The only bad thing is they don’t deliver. I guarantee if they delivered they would triple their business. I know so many people who say the same thing. It’s tuff to get there with 3 kids and a wife. I would order 5 pizza 3xs a week of they had delivery.

Comparing this place to Punch is doing it a disservice. Not that Punch is bad. Pompeii pizza is outstanding in my opinion. The mozzarella is voluptuous. The red sauce is rich and tangy. And the toppings — from the wonderful sausage and salami to the fresh onions, mushrooms and peppers — are exquisite.
My favorite is the Napoli (onions and salami) with added mushrooms.
And for anyone who thinks Punch is better because they have more stores think again about your logic. If more stores means better pizza we would all be singing the praises of Pizza Hut, Domino’s et. al.

Same style as Punch, but far, far better.

Awesome!!! Great, fresh Italian pizza. So clean! Beer and wine were equally fresh and great tasting! Can’t wait to go back and try other pizzas although the Swiss chard and Napoli were so good, it’ll be hard to try another! Great atmosphere too for quick style pizza. Friendly, quick service!

Pompeii Pizza. A little ball of dough that is needed, sauce and toppings added, then fire baked in a brick oven at 750 degrees for 2 ½ minutes, and come out it the form of pizza-​gasm. If you’ve ever had punch pizza or any kind of Neapolitan style pizza for that matter, you should know that these pies are a gift from the food gods. This place is usually pretty packed for being in a suburb town, the small store doesn’t help the arrangement but it’s busy for 1 reason. The pies are amazing. They offer seasonal pies, delicious salads and appetizers, all fresh baked, and even prepare their own mozzarella cheese. My personal favorite pie is the bleu moon. Delicious, although not sure why they call it bleu, there is no bleu cheese. If you’re ever in downtown Elk River and are craving a pizza you will never forget, stop in at Pompeii. They also have wine, tap, and craft beers to compliment your meals, and fairly priced as well. Mama Mia!

Good old fashioned Napolitan pizza. Homemade right in front of you and fire baked in something like 90 seconds. Good prices and service. We’re blessed to have a great place like this right here in Elk River, MN

Pompeii Pizzeria, oh how I wanted to love you, but you failed miserably in literally every way that matters. Some have called this a «destination pizza place», others have said that the crust is «chewy perfection». I couldn’t disagree more.
I’ll start with the same preface I start all of my pizza reviews with. I’m obsessed with pizza, I travel to eat it, and I’ve spent years trying to perfect it at home. I’m no pizza snob; I’m a connoisseur that prefers Neapolitan vs any other style of pie. So what is Pompeii Pizzeria? They bill themselves as a Neapolitan pizza shop that fire bakes artisan pies. They have been around for 5 years and have their roots in bread making.
I truly hope that my visit was a mistake. Maybe chalk it up to the C-​squad working the make line and gas oven. I had very high expectations, that were absolutely crushed by one disappointment after another. The first hint of things to come was the pizzaiolo who was pulling apart mozzarella that was stuck together in a big bowl. I’m well versed in both how to make your own mozz as well as the texture and look of a high quality product. What they were working on was a weird stuck together clump that looked dry and tough, not soft, supple, and smooth. I couldn’t find a single mention of San Marzano tomatoes on the menu (who knows what they use?) and they don’t offer the true Mozzarella di Bufala either. Great they have pears on the menu, who cares? I want the simple basics that are required for D.O.C. not a pear pizza. Finally, before ever reaching my food I was concerned to discover that the oven is simply gas fired. No real wood to be found.
With only a slight glimmer of hope, I ordered up the classic, the pie that all Neapolitan is judged based on — a margherita pizza. I also ordered up a Fresh Chard white sauce pizza that had créme fraiche which sounded excellent (it was over topped). This is where my worst fears came to fruition. The margherita had literally one leopard spot on the cornicione (outside crust); what the heck? This is supposed to be spotted all over with nice black burnt pieces and instead it was just a doughy mess covered with flour. Looks aside, I quickly bit into a big chunk of melted mozzarella to find it nearly impossible to chew on (rubbery like chewing gum). They claim to make their own fresh mozzarella here, and clearly that was a bad choice. They either made it «fresh» before and refrigerated it (which you should never do) or they overstretched the curds. Whatever it was, it was terrible mozzarella and should never have been served in the first place.
The last and final nail in the margherita coffin was the crust flavor. It was void of any flavor whatsoever. They did have a tray of fresh dough balls out that I saw, but they must have forgot to actually give it any time to proof/​ferment. It reminded me of crust that was only fermented for 20 mins and had literally no taste to it. The missing slightly sour taste, lack of nice bubbles and air pockets, and only the single leopard spot all prove that they have no idea how to actually produce good dough/​crust.
Overall, I found literally no redeeming qualities present at Pompeii. The pizza was abysmal; a failed attempt that any bread makers apprentice would laugh all over. How this spot earned so much fame is beyond me, my only guess is employee turnover and or lack of training/​standards.

I won’t crave this as much as I do Punch, but our first trip here was great. Good caprese, good pizza and good options for beer and wine. I’ll definitely stop by again when in the area.

Pear Gorgonzola salad= delicious! It’s a small lil’ joint, so don’t plan on going with a group of 20 to be seated immediately. This is the best restaurant in Elk River in my opinion. All of the pizzas are delicious and the rosemary bread that comes with salad orders is even better.

Probably the best pizza place I’ve ever been to. Extremely friendly staff and great food :)

Hands down the best pizza place in the world. I cannot describe how awesome it is. Try it. Also the crazy flavors they add monthly are always fun to experience. Bring a group so you can try em all!

My husband & I LOVE this place. We always try a seasonal pizza & enjoy most that we’ve tried. They are creative & sometimes seem unusual but give them a try.
We think this place is better than Punch Pizza & Pizza Nea & worth a trip out of the cities. We go a few times a month & would love to go more! I highly recommend this place.
We’ve been coming for 3 ½ years & love it more & more with each new pizza we try.

My wife and I like Pompeii’s food quite a lot; particularly the Pear & Gorgonzola salad. However, over time we’ve watched the slices of pear get thinner and thinner. The last time we ordered this salad we received three paper thin [translucent!] slices. At that point can you even keep the name? I suggest «Arugula and Gorgonzola Salad with Pear Garnish».
Likewise, the employees can, at times, be downright rude. I assume they take their cues from the manager. We see him in there regularly and he is often in a sour mood. On more than one occasion we’ve overheard him bad-​mouthing certain customers. Granted, not every customer is a peach… but do keep your opinions to yourself. If you must spout off about a rude customer do it in privacy; not in front of other customers.
The food is quite good, but because of the gradual lessening of quantity/​quality and the rudeness of the staff and management, I give Pompeii 3 out of 5 stars.

We got there about 615 and there was only standing room with a line of people ordering. We wanted to sit down but were going to settle for carryout. There is not much seating area so be prepared to either wait or take it to go. By the time we ordered there was an open table. With in 15 minutes we got our salad and pizzas. The pizzas are small but getting one per person still left some for us to take home. We watched as the made the pizzas and slid them in the oven. The ingredients are fresh and the flavors are robust. Every pizza we have had has been very good. The hand tossed pizza is thin which we like. They don’t smother it with sauce. The cheese melts in your mouth. We would highly recommend that if you want a pizza but you don’t want the same old thing try Pompeii.

I used to really like this place and we came here often but… The rude staff and unpredictable hours has changed my opinion. DO NOT rely on hours posted online as you WILL be turned away! Basically they close whenever they feel like it. Don’t bother complaining about it either because you will be appalled at the response.
We used to frequent this place weekly now it’s maybe once every few months.
If people can’t smile and say hello in the food service industry then they need a different job. The owner just doesn’t seem to care.
Have set hours and follow them!!!
Hire friendly staff!!!
Your MANAGEMENT should take care of customers not defend staffs bad attitude

Great pizza. Love the crust. Thin, crispy and full of flavor.
The flatbread is well salted with the pear salad. The pizza was good and I love the local «Surly» beer.
Will be back