A. Papano's Pizza BEULAH — Restaurant in Benzonia Township

I don't know what it is with Michigan and pizza, but y'all have the strangest notions. I guess this is more of a 3-star pizza on a MI-adjusted curve, but I have to call it like I tasted it. I ordered a super veggie. I was surprised that there were about as many options for crust modifications as there were available toppings, and frankly alarmed at some of the crusts being offered. The pizza was obviously frozen at the time that I ordered it because the center was still pretty cold, damp, and slightly mushy when it arrived on the table. The veggies were soft, spongey, and flavorless, as was the cheese. The sauce tasted like it was poured straight out of a can, and the flavor of the crust was pure Wonderbread.

I will admit that I enjoyed the addition of sesame seeds (the least offensive "enhancement" on the menu) on my crust, but I cannot condone the practice of flavor-blasting crusts on morale grounds. The crust flavors here seem like their solution to the problems with the pizza in the same way that a wicked flame paint job is a solution to having a totaled car.

The aggravating thing to me is that pizza is not complicated. It is not hard to make well, you don't need tons of fancy equipment or expensive ingredients to do it right, and it's not even that hard to train people to make it. Making a really good pizza would not increase the overhead on a pizza business substantially more than making a bad one, so I don't understand why anybody would choose to make pizza this way unless their only experience of it was the $10 for 10 Meijer brand frozen kind and they just didn't know any better.

I wish I could recommend the ambiance, but it's so kitschy it would make a Cracker Barrel blush. I wish I could recommend the service at least, but we were one of three small groups in there at lunch; it took forever, and the cashier was blasé and disinterested.

I really don't take pleasure in dumping on a local establishment - I would LOVE for these guys to do well and make good pizza because I don't want to have to drive all the way into TC for a slice, but I just can't...

This place made our trip! Our family was visiting Sleeping Bear Dunes and spent the whole day moving from beach to beach and when we finally returned to our hotel at 9 PM, not much was open. We called A. Papano's to place our order ahead of time and make sure there wasn't a problem eating inside before close at 10 PM. All of the employees appeared to be having a good time and our kids loved playing on the old school coin-op hockey game. When the pizza came it tasted delicious - that thick crust side of the road pizza that fills you up after a long day.

Overall this place was a god-send because everyone perked up and was in a much better mood to continue the exploration the next day.

Thanks to the manager (I didn't catch his name) who also made an impression on my kids because of his positive attitude and generous nature (thanks for the bubble gum!!!)

tl,dr; If you're looking for a chill place with good pizza -...

I’ve been going to this Pompano’s for years. Pizza has always been really good but the problem is their sub sandwiches and boneless wings. You used to be able to get a 12 inch sub which is the perfect size for a meal but now it’s an 8 inch sub which is a little small. Not only that there’s so little toppings, no matter what sub you order it is literally bread to bread. The top piece of bread is touching the bottom piece. I’ve also been ordering the boneless wings for years and when I would order a nine piece they filled the container because they were so large. Now they’re pathetic tiny little nuggets. My most recent order they even messed up and didn’t give me their little nuggets with hot sauce and it was literally on the sticker they used to close the container, The staff is not nearly as friendly as they used to be and I ALWAYS have to ask for the sauces that I order....