Floralia — Restaurant in Honolulu

I Purchased a pepperoni pizza, Add ricotta on 7/31.

I wanted to like it for the sake of small business and it truly hurts to write this review but I was so upset I stopped in the middle of the meal and decided I need to write this review right now immediately...it was without a doubt the worst pizza ive ever had.

I like to consider my self a pizza connoisseur, its my favorite food and ive been all over the globe eating pizza, I literally spent time in Naples and Florence earlier this year specifically for pizza research and pizza research alone on several occasions.. Name a place that is a pizza staple in the culinary world and ive likely been there, high and lows.... I was extremely disappointed with this pie unfortunately.. I couldnt even finish eating it.

Ive only thrown away one pizza EVER in my life because i didnt like it. typically, bad pizza is even good enough pizza to eat, but tonight, I had to throw away a pizza for the second time in my life and it was crushing!

The dough was extremely chewy, I know neaopolitan style often has a chewy texture but, my god, this was like chewing a rubber band.

The pepporoni that was "home made from scratch" was awful, it has a taste to it like it was char burned, although the pepperoni barely had barely any discoloration to it so it was apparent the pepporoni wasnt actually burnt, but did indeed taste like it was...as if they added soot to the seasoning of the pepperoni before slicing.

The ricotta was so dry it was rolling off the slice, literally, whenever I tried to pick it up and take a bite. The taste of the ricotta was decent, 5/10..but the texture of it was extremely dry.

The crust was overpowered with way too much flour when they were stretching and launching...every bite was practically me inhaling uncooked flour from the underside, way, way, way, too much flour. I could have blown out a flour cloud with all the extra on the bottom.. ruined the taste of the pie for me on top of the other reasons listed above.

I really dislike writing negative reviews, i honestly do......typically I dont even bother writing a reciew if i dont like something just to save the business some scrutiny because I know how the business works for small people. but man, this pizza was awful. For the $29 price tag with tax, you would think they gave out atleast decent product, or atleast one that was edible.

worst pizza experience of my life. Im not even quite sure id bother giving them a second chance if it was free.

I'll give them 10/10 on the face to face customer interaction as everyone was friendly and my pizza was made on time as well as great cleanliness at the restaurant.

But, a 1/10 on the overall pizza itself....

Okay I never thought I'd be down for vegan pizza, but here we are eating almost a whole damn pie cause it's that good. Discovered Floralia a year or so ago on a whim, and it's become my favorite! The fact that it's all vegan makes it feel healthy. Like I don't feel heavy or gross after it.

My go to is the Pesto Royale, which is absolutely delicious. My 2nd go to is the Paradiso. The "proteins" on each are enjoyable and aren't offputting like other vegan proteins. I really enjoy the authentic coal fire taste, which can only be achieved with their professional oven. The Ceasar salad is delicious, but is kind of small for the portion size. Cannolis are pretty big, and both pistachio and chocolate chip are tasty. The outdoor seating area is preferred, as it can get pretty toasty in their newer indoor dining area.

A few gripes. I often leave super parched, which i think has to do with the salt content of their pizzas. Crust will also be on the softer side, meaning it'll often limp from the toppings and sauce. Parking can be hit or miss, with multiple towing signs - haven't run into any issues though. The last time I went, the hostess/server was a tad unpleasant. I preordered for takeout but when we arrived, my friends and I changed our minds and wanted to each there since the courtyard had such a nice ambience. At first the hostess obliged by providing water cups, napkins and plates, but was pretty cold and ignored us for the rest of the night. Keep in mind there were only 2 other tables dining in. Left a tip anyway for her time, but just felt super unwanted. For those reasons, will likely continue with just...

There are bad reviews stating that the sauce is bland, but they're probably just used to super salty fast food pizzas! This is one of the best pizza places we’ve had the good fortune of eating at.

The flavor of the White Pizza is very subtle, but theres such nice notes of nuttiness. The richness amazing, especially considering all of the pizzas are 100% plant based. But if you need, I’m pretty sure theres salt and pepper that they can provide you. We didn’t need it though. The subtleness of the flavors makes you want to eat slowly to really savor those flavors. The Margherita is gorgeous as well!

The dough has the perfect amount of crunch and chewiness, but the middle part of our pizzas were a bit undercooked, so look out for that. I was honestly fine with it because the pizzas were so delicious. I’m not usually a fan of pizza crusts, but even the crust was good at Floralia.

The dining area is outdoors with shade sails, and the vibe is nice and cozy since there are fairy lights strung around. Theres a beautiful, tall tree to sit with you while you eat if you sit near the entrance.

We were a party of five. We weren’t given share plates or utensils with our pizzas, but thats probably because they’re trying to save water and time by not having excess things to wash in the sink. Super understandable. If you need, just ask for a few share plates or utensils and they’ll hand them to you.

The parking could get a little confusing, but we asked staff and they told us parking in the lot in front of the Honolulu Gas Company building was fine.

This is the best pizza I’ve had in my entire life. My...