Columnist gives highest rating yet to pizza joint.
BY ALI ABUBAKR ’24
One bite, you know the rules. I’ve been wanting to review a pizza spot since August, but I just couldn’t pick one because it seemed like there were too many. I chose Grandad’s Pizza solely because it was open on Sundays for more than just a couple hours, unlike so many restaurants in Columbus. And it was certainly a stroke of luck, because Grandad’s Pizza will become my regular pizza spot. Get ready for an emotional ride.
Grandad’s Pizza is one of the best pizzas I’ve had in my long 16 years of life. If you want quality, somewhat cheap pizza, then head to 1254 West 3rd Ave. The franchise has four locations in Columbus: Grandview, Hilliard, Bethel Road and Morse Road. The location that I went to in Grandview is located at a warmly welcoming street corner. I don’t know what caused this exactly, but the smell of warm pizza when I walked in brought up a nostalgic feeling. Looking back, this might be one of the reasons why I liked this place so much: it had a feeling of home. No other place has ever evoked such deep feelings in me. I knew at this point that I was about to eat something special.
There is a wide open view of the kitchen in the back, so you can see exactly what those workers get up to back there. The wait was only around 10 minutes and the place had an overall good feeling of community. I liked it. But only one bad thing: no seating. However, we know from Ali’s Review’s history that another place that had no seating (Wings Over) was certainly good, so it’s not a huge problem.
Now, onto the pizza itself. I ordered a 12-inch pie, half cheese and half “Chicken Veggie Deluxe.” That, with two small drinks, totaled nearly $18, so the pricing could be better but it’s certainly not bad. It was cut into small squares, Donatos-style. I ordered the cheese because cheese is cheese. There’s a cheese pizza at every pizza restaurant on this planet, and if there isn’t a cheese pizza, then it’s not a pizza restaurant. It makes it easy to compare the actual pizza itself to pizzas from other places. Cheese pizza is cheese pizza wherever you go, and Grandad’s got it right. No flop. Crispy. I usually know whether or not I will like a pizza the second I pick it up based on how much it flops, how crisp it is and what the crust is like. Also the temperature. Grandaddy hit the spot for all of these. It was sublime crispiness and the crust was beautifully scrumptious. 9.0/10 for the cheese pizza; it was one of the best I’ve had.
The “Chicken Veggie Deluxe” was even better. And that means a lot coming from me, because I’m not a big veggie-on-pizza guy. Vegetables in general are just not good. But this pizza was. It had black olives, banana peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, and on top of all of that, some good chicken. 7.9/10 for the veggie pizza.
I genuinely enjoyed myself eating this food. I was happy eating this pizza. And that’s all you should want in life: to be happy. No need for therapy, just go to Grandad’s Pizza and you’ll be fine. The food, the feelings, the atmosphere. Out of the six restaurants I’ve reviewed, this one is the best. No question, no debate. It is the ultimate champion, and I don’t see anything topping it. And for that reason, Grandad’s Pizza is the very first restaurant to be Ali Super Approved.