Where to start with Tommy's Pizza?

Well I've lived in the Columbus area for over 18 years and have never eaten at any of their locations - I know that's almost blasphemous. To my defense I've always lived on the NE or E sides of cbus.

I decided to make the trip on 01/25 to the Upper Arlington location and give it a try. I called to order pickup at 6:30pm, the line was busy - didn't even think that was still possible in 2019. Called back a few minutes later, phone rang 10 times then someone answered and said "Tommy's can you hold." I said sure, then was on hold for another couple minutes. Not a great start so far.

I ask if I can place an order for pickup, the person said it'll take an hour, to which I replied no problem. So I place my order - a large pepperoni and pineapple, a large sausage and green pepper, a meatball sub, broccoli bites, and cheese balls. The person doesn't tell me how much the total is and just says bye. Not really a big deal, but they're not off to the best start.

So I wait an appropriate amount of time and set out on my drive, trying to time it so that I arrive after an hour has elapsed. Based on my GPS it looked like I was going to arrive a couple minutes early, so I stopped and got a car wash. I finally reach Tommy's and it has the old school charm from the street with their old fashioned sign and building. However I quickly noticed their parking lot was packed full, so I double parked at the pet supply store next door, figuring I'd be in and out since at this point it was an hour and 5 minutes after I ordered.

I walk inside, pay my bill and the cashier says "We'll let you know when it's ready" Hmmmm perplexing considering it's already been longer than an hour. So I stand there, 5 minutes pass, then 10, now I'm getting worried about parking at the pet store, figured plenty of people do it and they probably get towed. So I nervously walk out front and very quickly check on my car - it's fine, no tow truck in sight. Walk back in and continue to wait. Another 5 minutes pass, I repeat the check on my car and walk back in. Finally after waiting a total of 20 minutes they have my order ready, which makes it an hour and 25 minutes after placing my order.

So at the point I'm pretty irritated and thinking to myself this pizza better be worth it. I get home and check the order, it's all correct which is a good sign, pizza looks great, has ample toppings. All the additional stuff I ordered looked great as well.

Now to the good part, despite the issues with ordering and picking up, it was absolutely worth the hassle. All the other reviews I read said the crust was cracker thin, and this is only sort of true. When I hear that description of a crust it makes me think of Rubino's which I didn't particularly like. Tommy's crust while thin, was crispy, flakey, and delicious, definitely a bit thicker than cracker thin. The sauce/cheese/toppings were all fresh and excellent quality.

The meatball sub was awesome, you can definitely tell the meatballs were homemade. The bun was a bit soggy even though they double wrapped it in aluminum foil, but that's easily rectified by just toasting it at home for a little bit. The cheese balls were golden deep fried and tasty. Lastly the broccoli bites - it was like eating cheesy broccoli casserole inside the same golden deep fried shell that the cheese balls had.

The pièce de résistance, however, was their ranch. Hands down the best ranch in the city. It's homemade and spectacular. I recommend getting a pint with your order if you carry out so you have extra at home.

Overall the quality of the product far outweighs their customer service and was totally worth it.

My personal rating for the pizza is a 4.9, ranch is a 5, sides are a 4.7 and customer experience is a 4. Overall I would rate Tommy's a 4.8. Since Google doesn't allow decimal reviews I rounded up to a 5.

I will definitely be back in the future and will just plan on their quoted pick up time being off due to how busy they are.