Pizza Moon — Restaurant in Oak Ridge

Pizza Moon is an experience with a fair price, but the experience isn't what I would call dining.

I was blown away with the fun "A Trip to the Moon" / play theming. There is no show, the star of the performance are the set pieces, lighting design, and the theater itself. We're in the weeds of niche here... but as I was trained in stagecraft, and come to think of it pizza cooking, this theme hits home like no other in Universal... to me anyway.

For those that aren't exactly interested in this theme, there are tons of kinetics and pleasing themed decor. Comparison: Round up Rodeo has a similar cutout aesthetic, but louder lighting design and weaker kinetics (and a more expensive bill). Pizza Moon is missing some Rainforest Cafe style timed event, but perhaps this is intentional to prevent a turnover issue in a fast casual environment.

Theming is half the story... is what I would say if that were true. Theming is more like 7/8ths. You're sat and one member of the party is to scan a QR. This brings you to a Universal Dining page... where you have to remember the name of the place you are in, find that in a list, then click on mobile order. All this requires you pay by card, have a charged phone, The Universal app, and Universal's mobile order system needs to be working that day.

The mobile ordering page lists the specialty pizzas, pastas, and beverages. That's all you get... specialities; no modifications. You don't order Pizza Moon, Pizza Moon orders you. I do love when restaurants hate their customers, but this is unprecedented. Pizza Moon is the first pizzeria I have ever been to that doesn't allow ordering a plain mozz pie. That's really the only way to judge the base ingredients, so clearly they're hiding something under all those toppings (spoiler: it's the sauce).

I ordered something of a Margherita, and it arrived in seconds. Our server asked if we wanted plates and I mistakenly said we were waiting on our drinks. Pro tip: your server is like a genie who will grant one wish; wish for more wishes. I should have said I need 3 things: cups, napkins, parmesan. Every effort to flag down a server resulted in an expert level of that dreaded waiter optical disorder that their customers totally don't notice - not being able to see flailing hands in their peripheral, nor being able to look directly at their customers without turning to stone. So no napkins; no parmesan.

Top tier theming with bottom barrel service. Can pizza save Pizza Moon?

Lol, No. The pizza is freshly made, at some point, and then sits until someone orders it. Toppings mistakenly put on a margarita, besides Mozz/sauce/basil were: tomatoes... like beefsteak tomatoes in vinegar and burrata... I think... or really old "fresh" mozz... unpopular opinion: they taste the same.

The dough was fresh and delicious. The sauce has a hint of sour orange juice concentrate. It's similar to the frozen packet of sauce included in knock off Friday's frozen mozzarella sticks... but without the spices.

The portions are much bigger than I was expecting. Adults should start with 2/3 of a pizza on average... but it's hard to judge... we all know what happens when three people get two pizzas... someones got to fill a pizza with every waterlogged and mincemeat topping and "try" a slice of the plain one because they ruined their pizza and won't admit it.

Allergy or preference? Awesome that Universal never asks. While Pizza Moon does offer Allergy notes in mobile order, I wouldn't be the one to lie and shut down a kitchen to get a pizza without toppings I don't want. If they had a preference note option, I might return and order a pepperoni pizza without the pepperoni to properly judge if the sauce is muted by shredded mozzarella. Still don't think it will be the best pizza in the whole entire world despite being told this by influencers who were invited to get lots of free stuff in exchange for saying nice things about their catered experience. You know.. the same people who invented pizza judging metrics like "standout".

Anyway, love the theming. Also,...

A Complete Disappointment – Disney and Universal Should Be Embarrassed

Our visit to this restaurant inside the new Epic Universe Park in Orlando was nothing short of shocking — and not in a good way. From the moment we walked in, the atmosphere was gloomy, unwelcoming, and completely devoid of the magic or energy you’d expect from anything tied to Disney or Universal Studios.

We were ignored by the host — we believe her name was Noellyn — who was far more interested in chatting with her coworker than acknowledging us. When she finally did, it was with clear attitude, and instead of properly seating us or even calling someone else to assist, she lazily pointed us to a table. No hospitality, no smile, no care.

It only went downhill from there. Our waitress dropped our plates on the table without a word and walked away, as if we were a bother, not guests. Every staff member we encountered, including the manager, looked miserable to be there — which made us feel even worse for choosing to dine here. There was no energy, no warmth, and certainly no sign that any of these employees had ever been trained under the standards of Disney or Universal.

And the food? The pizza was as lifeless as the service — bland, underwhelming, and not worth a fraction of the price.

This experience was incredibly disappointing and completely out of line with what we expect from a park backed by two of the most iconic names in entertainment. If this is the standard Epic Universe is setting, then it’s off to a...

We sat down and ordered food immediately through the app, added our table to the app and finished up. We waited 20 minutes the order switched to Ready and nothing came. Shortly after it "completed" and nothing happened. We checked on the order and were told it was ready and would be out right away. That never happened. We checked about ten mins later and still was told it was on the way.

This was around 9pm and we still wanted to enjoy night in the park, not expecting quick service to take over 40 mins before the food even arrived. We asked for our money back as we were told the pizza was coming up.

We were refunded in full and the manager was apologetic, but no one prior would take ownership that they had delivered our pizza to the wrong table 20ish mins prior so it felt kinda hollow at that point.

They did apologize and give us our pizza to go as we were leaving, and we reheated it at the hotel, it was tasty, but I imagine it's much better when it's hot and fresh.

I don't know if we will give this spot another chance because it pretty much wrecked the end of our last night at Epic, but it's possible.. since the food was good and they did attempt to make it right. It's just a bummer because this was a place we had looked forward to during the trip with many recommendations prior.

I understand it's a theme park and mistakes happen, but it really did kill our evening plan to hit some last rides and enjoy the park...