Ike's Artisan Pizza — Restaurant in Middlesborough

Eh. I'm part Italian and I know what good pizza is, being raised in NY. Literally have ate pizza all over America. My Husband REALLY wanted good pizza. We did a Google search and IKEs popped up. We figured we'd give it a try. We honestly should have just went to McDonalds, or Taco Bell. So let’s get into it, Honestly:

The Mac and Cheese was Good. Honestly it was the only thing I was really impressed with. They used an adequate amount of cheese, to leave the Mac and cheese full of flavor and the portion size for $8.00 is pretty great. Now the “Rigaroni Vodka”, is another story. The "Rigatoni" aren't even Rigatoni noodles, they're like a Wide Fusilli noodle. I wanted the Vodka Rigatoni, exclusively for the sauce. (Isn’t that what we all want?!) To be Honest, You can't taste the Vodka sauce. It tastes like regular sauce with cream cheese added in it to LOOK like they made it "alla Vodka." It's missing Robust Flavor. My Mom takes 8 Hours to make her spaghetti sauce, this “Vodka Sauce” isn’t tangy, plentiful, creamy, or rich. And just soaked up with the noodles. Nevertheless, it was Edible. The portion sizes are Not the best. All pizzas are the same size, and the service is okay. It's not Great, it's just okay. The Pizza: The pizza was very disappointing. I was hoping to get a "little piece of home." Something that resembles or comes close to finding NY style pizza. (REALLY Hard to find in the South! LOL) and was hopeful. There was no crust on the pizza, or sauce. lol so the burnt bottom of the pizza, sticks to the cheese on the top. It was really weird eating a dry pizza. It was so dry the sauce looked cracked on the crust. As seen in pictures, the Pizza is VERY THIN. Lol. The place is Nice, The girls working on Sunday were okay. We went after Church. It was a little discouraging to see them all in Tight short-shorts though. So besides that, the Ambiance and Atmosphere were Fair. The one pizza we ordered… the White Pizza, was so Very Salty. And has Gorgonzola cheese on it, wasn’t too good. I think Gorgonzola cheese is the wrong cheese to use on that. My Husband agreed, it kind of throws the balance and taste of the pizza off by giving it this moldy, Bleu Cheese taste. We thought Goat cheese would be supple, cleaner, and lighter. Overall, we were a little disappointed. Then our Stomachs were a Mess later on after.

My recommendations:

-Barely any parking- Traffic Cones and Road work blocking A LOT of spaces. -The Mac and Cheese is Great! -Garlic Knots are awesome -I would call ahead and order for pickup.

Pros: -Decent Mac and Cheese

Cons: -Less than Mediocre Quality of food -Pricey for the Proportions, and the food isn’t that spectacular. -No...

I saw the reviews and a wood fire oven and expected a semi decent meal. The people in Middlesboro waited for this place for a few years (due to covid there were delays I hear). I wish I could say this was a great place and I can't wait to come back. Middlesboro doesn't have any decent places to eat. Wednesday evening, 6:00, my party and one other party in the place, two people at the bar. Order: Caesar salad, 6 boneless wings, mac and cheese, pepperoni pizza. The positive, the salad was fresh, and crisp, the croutons were oven baked and not those hard tooth breaking things you get on a salad bar, the dressing was very good. My party enjoyed the wings, they were standard. Sadly, the mac and cheese, my party said, "This is so dry," there was not enough cream or milk and the cheese was "glaggy" and stuck in your throat, and had a weird unpleasant sweet taste. The other problem with the mac and cheese... they brought the appetizers and entree's out AT THE SAME TIME. Thus, once you ate the appetizers, your entre is stone cold and losses all redeeming qualities. Hello, that is basic Apple Bee's service.... Same for the pizza...it was cold as an underheated freeze deal. The saddest thing I have to say, is they have a wood fire oven and have no idea how to use it. It was obviously not brought up to temp. There should be a slight char/smoke on the bottom of the crust and the taste... not here. Cheap cheese... and the pizza sauce was not cooked out and had a metallic tin taste. Service was dreadful, two wait staff, and two tables... no check in, refill water and when I wanted another wine and the check I had to stop the helps "phone" time to do their job. When asked for the check I received "eye rolls." Yeah...one of the worst service experiences I have ever experienced. Harshly and honesty I will say, go to Kroger get a Dijornio's, and a bag salad and a bottle of wine and save 30.00. I tried to start on the positive and will try to end with a positive, they have an extensive alcohol assortment. This might be a good place to come and have some drinks, but hard pass on the food and service. Sorry. :( To the owners, if you are legit and want to stay in service, run your restaurant and do not leave it to teens who's heart and soul are not in it.......

I’ve tried. I swear I’ve tried. When someone asks what the one food I could eat for the rest of my life, I say PIZZA. I love the atmosphere and the wonderful staff. So… artisan pizza? Compared to what? A penitentiary? This is the worse pizza I have ever had. Stop at the gas station and order a pizza to eat in the car on the way to have a wonderful cold beer here, but don’t order the pizza.

What was wrong? Well, the toppings were all in the very middle, leaving at least a two inch section around the pizza without any topping at all. The sauce was virtually flavorless and the flavor that was there was just basic tomato sauce. The crust tasted frozen. I say “ tasted” because it may not have been. Honestly, the crust had the flavor of a spoon of dry four.

When I showed the wonderful bartender the “pizza”, she had it remade. Do you want to guess? Yup. The second one came out the same way. At this point we were hungry and the employees were busy. I didn’t feel like causing more of an issue.

Try it. I highly encourage you to prove me wrong. You’ll see what I mean. Has the owner never even made a frozen pizza? It honestly makes me sad.

If I could sit here and drink a cold craft beer and order Pizza Hut, I would...