Toarmina's Pizza (Waverly) — Restaurant in Lansing

OMG! We’ve been searching for Toarmina’s Pizza ever since attending a 4th of July celebration in Marquette, Michigan, back in 2013. While enjoying the festivities, we spotted a pizza booth and decided to give it a try. That single slice left such an impression that we've been talking about it ever since we returned home to Virginia.

I graduated from NMU in 1984 and hadn’t been back in nearly 30 years until that 2013 visit. During that trip, the pizza stand seemed like a simple booth, but it turned out to be something truly special.

Years later, we finally came across an old refrigerator magnet tucked away in a desk drawer that led us to discover the Marquette location had closed. But to our surprise and delight, we found a Toarmina’s in Lansing—Waverly, to be exact—just about 70 miles from my grandmother’s grave, which we visit twice a year.

We made the stop today, and wow—the pizza exceeded all expectations. That flavor we’d been craving since 2013 was finally satisfied. The two gentlemen working at the restaurant were kind, welcoming, and cooked an incredible Deluxe pizza, plus another loaded with all of my wife’s favorites—both with extra sauce and baked to perfection. They absolutely nailed it.

So now, when we make our trip to visit Grandma, we have a new tradition: a stop at Toarmina’s to satisfy our culinary cravings.

Toarmina’s never disappoints. Very respectfully,

Dr. Ken and Lorna...

I've ordered from Toarmina's Waverly location a couple times and had a solid experience, but this was a stark difference. I ordered a couple of the 24" pizzas around 3:45 for a party this evening and my ordering process went well. They hadn't heard my pick-up time initially, which was 5:45, and when the staff member asked I clarified that it was 5:45 and they repeated it back to me and everything was set. I then got a call at 5:11 asking if I was coming to pick up my pizza. I said I could be there in about 10-15 minutes, but that I had ordered the pick-up for 5:45. "Oh" was the only response I got, so I said I'd get moving and be there in about 10-15 minutes. When I arrived I said I gave my name and asked how long the pizzas had been on the shelf. The staff member told me 4:50, which still wouldn't have even been on time for the wrong time. There was no offer to remake the food at any point or try to make it right. I'm not expecting to get $60 worth of pizza for free, that would be crazy, but any gesture at all that acknowledged that I had lukewarm pizza way before I had ordered it to be ready would have been appreciated. The staff member did say sorry and I appreciate that, but when they called they knew it was still 35 minutes until I needed this pizza and, again, no offer to help out. The pizza is good and the 24" ones are great for a party, but this was a...

It's... not great. I think if you go into it from the standpoint of "it's a pizza place in a run down, low-rent strip mall," then maybe you'll be willing to overlook some of the shortcomings. But if you're looking for objectively good pizza, this isn't it. I've given the chain a chance 3 times in the last decade - once in Lansing (Michigan Ave), once in Grand Rapids, and now once again (Waverly Rd) - and it's just not good. The cheese and toppings have virtually no flavor, and what flavor there is isn't appetizing. The sides of ranch are straight up Hidden Valley; not even the good "restaurant ranch". The cheese on the cheese sticks was hard as a rock. The cinnamon sticks are just completely phoned in; between the unsweet dough an inch thick and a weird, paste-like icing (again - not very tasty), it was overall quite underwhelming. The price was a bit more than what you would pay for average pizza in Lansing, and this doesn't even clear that bar. The employees were very nice, but I'm afraid that's all I can give this place credit for. (It probably wouldn't be terrible after a few drinks, but if you're sober enough to read this, either find another option or...