Punch Neapolitan Pizza – Maple Grove

I’m sorry to have to give Punch one star — I really have a passion for good pizza, but for my taste, this did not fit the bill. I have eaten at another VPN Certified Pizzaria, and the differences in that pizza compared to Punch pizza is huge. There weren’t many people in there when we got there so being busy wasn’t a problem. I ordered a Margherita pizza with salami. After ordering I walked over and watched them making the pizzas. They were putting pizzas out pretty fast — 90 seconds in the wood fired oven. It wasn’t 3 – 4 minutes and my husband motioned for me to come to our table as our pizza was already there. Wow — that really was fast! As soon as I saw the pizza, I said, «I bet this pizza isn’t hot.» It wasn’t. Not even close. I could tell because the cheese had already set and was kind of clear looking. Not gooey and melty — which is how it is right out of the oven. I’m not a professional by any means — but I do have a wood fired pizza oven. We did talk to the manager — mainly became I was so curious how this could happen — cold pizza and soggy crust — especially since they have earned the bragging rights of being VPN certified. She was very gracious — great young lady. But she explained to me that the ‘real’ Neopolitan in Italy has a soggy crust. I was surprised to say the least. I have studied the VPN information for a couple of years now. No where have I read that the crust should be soggy wet. It says it should be soft, but chewy, crispy bottom. Not cracker crispy — but a nice crisp, but still bendable without breaking. So I won’t be back. If it was just a bad day that would be different. But it appeared from the manager’s info, this is how it is.
I will say I could have asked to send my pizza back since it wasn’t hot. I should have. I didn’t. She said I should have said something — and she is right. I asked her two times «Why would the pizza be cold? How is it even possible for it to BE cold since it was to our table in just a couple minutes.» She did not answer that. She changed the subject. Was it sitting there for awhile? I don’t know. And I don’t know why it would be. But I am telling you — this was luke warm at best. It’s too bad — it could be great pizza!

My first and second visit were good. This afternoon I went at 3:00 and ordered a margherita extra pizza and a side of artichoke dip. As usual, it seems there are a bunch of teenagers running the place, but I hadn’t been disappointed in the past, just listened to their annoying banter while I waited. This time when I get my to go order home, there’s liquid seeping from the pizza box. I open it to find that, while cooked on the bottom, the top is barely cooked and the liquid from maybe the cheese or tomatoes is leaking and making a mess. As you can imagine eating it is not better. It’s a soggy mess. Gross.
Update 12÷22÷15: After posting this, management from the store got in touch with me and was really nice. Gave me a refund and I’ll definitely be back. John, I appreciate the info regarding getting the margherita extra to go. Changing my review to 4 stars. Your customer service was very much appreciated!

This is one of the most overrated places I’ve ever been.
You walk through the door and stand in line twenty minutes to order your 90 second pizza. Then you huddle around the drink dispenser until a server seats you. Weird, but whatever. Seemed to work out well enough.
Then your pizza is brought out. Burnt on the bottom and barely melted on the top. Mmmm. Just how I like it (sarcasm). I added garlic to my pizza, assuming it would be minced roasted garlic or something of the like. Nope. Huge chunks of raw garlic. If that’s not enough to make you choke, the pizza itself looked like someone had come through after the fact and dumped a half cup of olive oil over the top.
Nothing had any real flavor. There was nothing noteworthy about this place. I would have to be paid to give it another shot.

When I lived here this was a go to place. I came here on Monday night when in town on business and was looking forward to Punch Pizza since I hadn’t had it since we moved away. I had ordered a half salad and a pizza. The salad was great. The pizza was a disappointment– I picked up one slice and everything slid off the crust like slime. What a disappointment. I took the rest of the pizza to go and ate it later on as leftovers. I will chalk this up to a bad night for this location

Soupy pizza. Watery, soggy center. Warm, not hot. The only part that seemed dry was the outer crust. The ingredients had been precooked; I wasn’t worried about unsafe food, but my pizza definitely deserved to be baked long enough for the crust to be dry. I scraped my toppings out nearer to the edge and ate that part. A frozen pizza from the grocery store would have been a better choice than this was. Yuck.

Awesome pizzas!!! Having moved from France and being Half Italian I can tell you as a pizza connoisseur that these pies are tasty. If the crust was crunchier, that would be best. A must try. And nice staff.

Simply delicious! Crust was very good! Italian salad-​could eat for lunch weekly. Margherita pizza-​yummy even with no add ons.

Love Punch pizza. One of my favorite places for a quick lunch. They also serve wine and beer. Nice patio for dining outdoors at the mall.

Not impressed at all, I really do not get why would people rate it so high? Stopped here for lunch while shopping with my son. Tables too close to one another pretty much you rub elbows with strangers. The pizza, Barely any toppings on it, even if you add extra and order double toppings no, nothing, just mediocre dough crust with a little bit of cheese. Me and my 4 year old, two pizzas and pop for him $ 23??? Really, I mean I can get better and bigger pizzas for less from a few different gourmet places around and they would probably deliver. I am probably not spending my money here again, I deserve a better value…

Very good pizza, presently surprised,
Small salad is a meal by its self.
Good price. Good service. Was very pleased with my lunch there.

Great addition to the arbor lakes area. Punch is an awesome choice for lunch. I ordered my favorite, the Toto and was eating within 3 minutes of placing my order. Tip: follow punch on Twitter for deals!

Punch pizza is legit. I’m so happy they finally opened up in Maple Grove. You can choose from their pizzas or create your own. They cook the pizzas for 90 seconds at 800 degrees. Pretty cool. I’ve never been to Italy, but apparently this is as close to real Italian pizza as you can get in the cities. Crunchy yet soft crust, fresh crushed tomato sauce, and overall fresh ingredients. Plus a lot of olive oil. Heck yes.
I also appreciate their beer list. Not bad for a small pizza place. Wish they had two IPA’s but even having one is semi impressive.
Now that they are in Maple Grove this will be a regular place for my gf and I.

I love punch pizza! I was especially impressed with this location. The employees were very friendly and helpful. They went above and beyond our expectations and we were very happy with our experience here.
We ordered 3 pizzas:
1. Margherita with Pepperoni and Picholine Olive
2. Margherita with Pepperoni and Sausage
3. Margherita with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Saracene Olive, Piparras Pepper, and Goat Cheese
We also ordered a Rocket Salad.
Everyone was very pleased with their pizza and salad. They did tell us that the Piparras Peppers would be very spicy… they were not spicy at all.

Fantastic pizzas and salads! I’ve been here on two business trips now — visiting from the western U.S. — and will be back again!

I love punch (period)
Awesome Pizza and they raised the minimum wage they paid their employees to 10 bucks an hour!
Punch is hands down my favorite pizza joint in the Twin Cities!

Punch is always fast, fresh, and very tasty — love this place for Neopolitan-​style pizza!

Ecstatic that I don’t have to go to Lake Calhoun or Wayzata to get me some Punch pizza! However, it could be trouble too that it’s so conveniently located now for me as I’d be packing on the carb!
I’ve seen people eating pizza and left the edges of the crust behind so technically they’d be «carb» conscious. Not this girl! That’s my favorite part! Plus this type of Pizza, had crispy crust and not as doughy. Yet, carb is still carb; though, this one is worth the calories and the extra mile jog.
Best pizza I’ve had? Nope. Yet, I won’t mind eating this pizza often. They tasted great, easy, fast, and cost efficient. Every time I ordered a delivery pizza, it would cost me about $ 20 some dollar, even with coupon. After you added the extra topping, delivery fee, tip, it’s expensive. With Punch, you could get a pizza under $ 10, and a specialty kind for under $ 15. They offer various specialty pizzas and they are fun to try. I always get the salami and fungi and changed the salami to sausage. So, in a way just sausage and shrooms. They added thin slices of garlic on it that just made it deliciouuus! I love it! I promise I will try the other kinds too on my next visit, which maybe tomorrow and the next day.
Easy, fast, good, cheap. That’s how I roll!

Oh what a joy it was to FINALLY get around to trying this kind of pizza. Truth be told, I’ve always resisted the desire to try Neopolitan pizza. I can’t explain why, but, I think its the unwavering desire for deep dish in me that keeps me from these kinds of places.
Well, finally gave in Sunday and it was amazing.
The ordering process was very different for me. I’ve never been through a cattle drove to order pizza before, but, that was kind of interesting and funny. Grab a menu, wait in a Chipotle’esq line and wait to get to the cashier to tell her what you want. Not a bad setup.
I ordered the siciliana (Prosciutto, artichoke, picholine olive, basil) and the woman ordered the Maximus (pepperoni, red peppers, olives, and basil). We also got an order of the rosemary focaccia.
Took a stroll out to the patio to sit in the amazing weather we had that day, which was a great little touch considering the location is at Arbor Lakes and it’s not possible for each spot there.
The focaccia was amazing. I mean, just amazing. I love bread and considering it’s devoid on my normal diet, I take any chance to indulge on treat meals and this was a damn fine indulgence. We did throw down some olive oil and vinegar too just for a little extra. My two complaints of the bread however, some slices were entirely over salted. I mean, to the point I had to brush some off because the salt was just overpowering. Also, I’m a fan of having some sauce to dip my bread into. Not having the option on the menu or being asked about a dipping sauce kind of sucked. I’m sure some of their house made crushed tomato sauce would have been killer on this.
Onto my pizza. Loved every bite of it, for however long it actually lasted. The saltiness from the prosciutto to match the cream/​salt of the mozz and olive was perfect. A perfect crust that was crunchy yet had the perfect chew. I only wish I had a bit more of the sauce on their to compliment things. The sweetness of their crushed tomato sauce, when I did get a hint of it, was amazing. But, maybe an extra little bit was needed to send this pizza into the stratosphere.
The Maximus from my girlfriend, which was tough getting her to share with me, was a great pizza. Definitely on the spicy side, so, be warned of this one if you have a sensitivity to spice. The pepperoni and crushed red peppers were great together and the hint of basil you get is perfect. It does get a bit oily though with the pepperoni and that sog’s (yes a made up word) up the crust a bit. So, eat it fast.
Overall, a solid place and can’t wait to stop in again to try another one of their creations or customize my own.

So happy a Punch pizza was opened by us! Neopolitan style pizza is my favorite and even though this is a chain, one of the best I have had in MN to date.
Husband and I shared a Siciliani which we added sausage and the hazelnut panini for dessert.
Pizza is the perfect size for us, we both got 3 slices each. You get Italian sausage crumbles (yum!) and I love prosciutto and artichokes on a pizza. We literally inhaled the pizza and each had a piece of the dessert panini. Think Nutella spread in between thin crust that made up the panini/​bread part. Really gooey and tasty.

Pizza, real pizza the way it was intended to be made, from my homeland! Love it!
I have read reviews from people that don’t like Punch because it’s not some giant, dripping with tons of cheese, rock hard crust type pizza. To me that is not a bad thing. I do love the odd traditional American style pizza loaded with a bunch of crap and oozing with cheese and meat. Hell the next morning that can be the best ever, fresh from the fridge or counter hangover meal but that is a different creature!
Like good authentic Italian food this pizza is about good ingredients and simple flavors. The crust is soft and tender with a nice smoky flavor. The pie is simple as it should be. I had a pepperoni with black olives, capers and garlic. The sauce is a great basic tomato sauce with basil. I could taste everything on this pizza and the flavors together were perfect!
This is a new location and despite the fact they have gone to the Mall-​feel sort of place its open, comfortable and the pizza comes out of that wood fired (not gas fired with a bunch of wood stacked around it as décor) in under 10 minutes.
I’m glad there is one close to home and I am very glad it’s a Punch. Viva Italia!
KT