Rod's Pizza Cellar — Restaurant in Hot Springs

If you dine here, order the Godfather (I don't care for it as much, but some people love it) or the Godmother (easily my favorite - make sure you order it on wheat bread and to take it easy on the olives). It's easily one of the best pizza places in the state, or really any other state I've personally traveled to, but if you just go in and order a pepperoni pizza or if you eat at the buffet you're begging to be disappointed. Their specialties are really those two pizzas, and it's more than worth it. I've read a few reviews where people were complaining about their spaghetti being sub-par or that their corndogs weren't the best. No kidding? They went to a jewel of a restaurant and ordered the wrong thing. If you read the reviews, all of the 5-stars are talking about the Godfather or Godmother and the 1-3 stars are largely talking about something else. That should tell you something. I've been a patron of Rod's for several decades, and it's really the only thing I miss from Arkansas now that I've moved away. The pizzas take a while to prepare and the waitstaff are often laid-back, so don't expect to be in and out like it was a Little Caesar's. Go in with family or friends and talk to them, that's why you're there. Edit: After writing this review I realized that, although I've eaten at tons of pizza places and have never found a better pizza, I've never truly compared Rod's to any national heavy hitters. So, what if this is an example of a big fish in a little pond? So, I decided to travel to the first Lou Malnati's to open up outside of the greater Chicago area (in Phoenix). Malnati's is considered to be one of the better, if not the best, deep dish pizza places in Chicago, a city known for its pizzas. I mean, the founder's dad helped to invent the deep dish pizza. A lot of my friends from Illinois had heavily recommended it, so I figured now was as good a time as any. So, I braved a 1.5 hour long wait in line at a restaurant that was practically standing room only and ordered the Chicago Classic, which is supposed to be one of their best pizzas.

It was really, really good. There were a few things that I preferred over Rod's Godmother (I'm kinda comparing apples to oranges here), but overall I'd still choose a 17" Godmother any day (which is close to twice the size of what I ordered today, and only $2 more). I still prefer the taste of Rod's, but at least I know that there's something in greater Phoenix (a city with a larger population than the entire state of Arkansas) with a comparably good pizza. Maybe next time I'll order delivery....

So, yes. I'd say that Rod's can stand toe to toe with some of the better pizza places in the country, especially in this price range (I ate at another place in Miami that was amazing but it was about $30 for a personal pizza, so I don't really count it), but only if you order the...

First off, I would have loved to say this place was delicious, however I never got to the eating part.

I called at 9pm on a Saturday to place a delivery order for ONE 13in pizza. The woman who answered told me to hold on to see if the delivery person was still there... 2 hours before they close... Why a place would have to CHECK if someone could deliver seemed odd, but I waited for her to check. And waited... And waited... A full TWELVE minutes goes before I hung up and called back to have the same woman answer. I told her I was on hold and believed I was forgotten about and she just went on like nothing was wrong. No apology or anything. So I order my pizza and then am told it would take a hour and a half to have it delivered. That seemed really high to me, as I like right down the road, so I told her I'd come pick it up.

She told me it would be 35 MINUTES to have it ready. For one single pizza. Just one. Nothing fancy either. It had two toppings. So I just called back and cancelled my order. I was told takes that long because it's a brick oven pizza, but I know for a fact it does not take over half an hour to cook a 13 inch pizza. Not even close.

Since I haven't actually tried the food, I can't give them just 1 star. But with the service I received, I don't think I'll be attempting to try Rod's...

We dined in on Sunday, September 3rd. The pizza is bland....Cici's or Hunts Brothers pizza is far better. On the menu it states it would take 30-45 minutes for the order to be ready. It took 1 hour 25 minutes. It took a good 5 minutes before we were greeted. After about 10 minutes we were seated. We got our drinks quickly. We got the family deal, & we didn't get our spaghetti until about 1 hr 15 minutes after we ordered. Two tables that arrived after us, got their order before us. The garlic bread was really good though. The waitress was having a hard time knowing what table to take the orders to. She only returned one time to refill. My husband had tea, but she brought water. Before I left, I made my frustration known, but was met with indifference, and was told that it takes longer to cook the godfather pizza, rather than just a one topping. Oh...& a couple in the booth across from us was making out (I'm talking hand in hair, even kissing on their necks).Two of my children have autism, & it wasn't a great experience. We still had about a 2.5 hour drive back home. Had we been informed there was that long of a wait time, we would've left. We will NOT be...