Zeppe’s Pizzeria

Great carryout menu — give the advertising agency an «A». Wish the food met the same standards as the photos and description. Their food was awful — worst ever. Dont spend ANY of your money here. Speaking of money — it is terribly over-​priced.

I was hungry for pizza the other day so as I drove around I decided to stop at a location in Wadsworth that I found online. Problem was: the place didn’t exist anymore. Probably just as well. If an independent pizza place can’t make it with all the second rate chains around they must either be terribly overpriced or serve horrible pizza.
So I decided to try Zeppe’s as it was easy to find, just off S.R.94 on the north side of town. I stopped in, noticed the «Managers Special» was a large (12 inch) one-​item pizza for $ 10.00, placed an order and left to pick up something to drink. I returned 20 minutes later to take it home. When I drove off there was a strong aroma of pizza wafting throughout the car. Nice, I thought. Hope it tastes as good as it smells.
My one item was pepperoni. When I got home I counted 31 slices covering the pizza. The pie itself measured 13 inches across, but that is a deceptive measurement as they flare the crust in a fancy, pie-​crust sort of way (see photo). The edge crust measured from 1 ½ to 1 ¾ inches, leaving the good, inside part about the same size as most others. When I tried to pick up a slice to eat I discovered the pie hadn’t been cut all the way through, barely cutting into the crust, requiring me to tear the slices apart. Some parts of the crust hadn’t even been cut, forcing me to get my own knife to cut it.
The sauce/​pepperoni combination had a nice spicy taste. Couldn’t quite tell if it came from either, or both, but I liked it. The cheese was plentiful and good. Yes, it had a bit on grease on top. But if you don’t want grease, don’t order pepperoni! If you find a pizza that comes without grease it’s because they sop it up with a paper towel before they give it to you. That’s where the flavor is.
Unfortunately, the pizza needed to be left in the oven for another few minutes. The pepperoni should have been cooked until it started to crisp up. The cheese, while melted, should have been baked until it became slightly brown and bubbly. And, worst of all, the crust was under done. Probably because they have that «flower petal» edge crust they can’t bake it as long as they should because, well, the edge would be inedible. (It comes out pretty hard as it is.) But selling a pizza with under-​baked crust is simply not acceptable.
As the sauce and cheese are really good I would have given them 4 Stars. But because of the pie being under-​baked I can only give it 3. And while the unique edge crust sets Zeppe’s apart from everyone else, I think it is a liability. Dump it and bake the pie properly. The pie is good, the preparation failed.