Via 313 Pizza — Restaurant in Orem

How dare you, Via 313. How dare you tempt us by bringing this classic Motor City treasure to our neck of the woods. Also, how dare you, readers, for not dropping what you are doing and immediately ordering some of the finest, most unique pizza in town.

POSITIVES: Via 313's version of the classic Detroit-style pan pizza, in many ways, has outdone the pizzas that also attempt to pay homage. The most unforgettable part of the experience by far was the caramelized cheese that was baked to the edges of the crust. But every part of the pizza, the bread, the sauce, the toppings, etc. are high quality, and would score high marks even if tasted separately.

The servers warned us of the time it may take to cook (30 min or more). So we decided to order an appetizer: the Roasted Artichokes. The crostini bread pieces were so flavorful. The goat cheese on top was surpringly great (I mistook it for ricotta at first, until I re-visited the menu later). If I'm completely honest, it tasted like pizza, but with artichokes in it. I'm thinking I'll go with the roasted veggies or something else next time for some variety.

It was a little busy when we came, but we were seated immediately. We ordered the Original Pepperoni detroit pizza, and a Temptations bar-style pizza. Both were brought to us in under 20 minutes (on a Saturday lunch hour), faster than they originally estimated. For anyone considering getting the original pepperoni, pay the dollar extra for the Detroiter. After trying the natural casing pepperonis on our bar-style pizza, I regret that we overlooked the Detroiter option.

Our server was great. He constantly checked on us to see if we enjoyed our food, and if everything was to our liking.

For those with food allergies or other concerns, you'll be pleased to know that they offer dairy-free and gluten-free options. However, while they take precautions, they give a disclaimer that if you're severely allergic, their food isn't recommended.

NEGATIVES: while I appreciate an environment that is casual, it was really difficult to identify who was an employee. Some wore name tags, others didn't. Some wore the Via 313 shirts, others didn't (or it was under an unbuttoned shirt). Casual or not, I think it's important that the employees are easily distinguished from other customers.

PRICE: for 2 people, we spent around $50. That included 2 pizzas (w/o drinks), an appetizer, and tip. It is a bit steeper than other pizza joints, but with the quality and the quantity of leftovers, it made it well worth it.

VERDICT: It's probably a good thing I live 30 minutes from this place, or I'd be fatter and more poor by the end of 2022. But I'll definitely be back for my self indulgence in the...

When I went there, it was one of the only places still open on New Year’s Eve. It seemed as if they did not want to take my order. It was close to closing, and somehow it seemed the prices became very inflated to change my mind, but I ordered three pizzas almost $200 Rather than making the pizza. They called the police and said I was wasted or drunk. I do not drink. I waited over an hour for the pizzas to be made. They kept telling me come back in 15 minutes almost done I since learned that they never intended on making the pizza, but they were keeping me there for the police to arrest acting out how concerned they were about me being wasted. When the cop showed up, he gave me a field sobriety test I said half a dozen times that I don’t have good balance and that I’ve had many surgeries and then I have back problems and that I tore a muscle in my calf. He did not care. they took me to jail and they did a drug alcohol test and I was sober not a drop of alcohol or anything illegal the police not being satisfied kept me there all night acting very Scary and intimidating. Eventually took an opportunity to torture me while removing my handcuffs from my arms being held out of the door of the drunk tank after I put my hands out they grabbed my arms for officers and started to torque my wrist, my thumb and pull my arms out of the hole Further than what was possible severely injuring, my elbows, shoulders, and dislocating my collarbone. I was screaming and screaming in torturous pain there are no words to describe what actually happened and for my son the pizza was like a gift for him for New Year’s Eve. They would not allow me to contact him. He was walking the streets and looking for my car and trying to find me all night Scared worried ultimately thought I was murdered or dead and called the police to report a missing person to find out I was in jail then they tried to extort $800 from my son to get me released. Luckily I was finally able to call him around 11 o’clock the next morning to finally tell him where I was. There are no words to describe the harm mental physical injury PTSD I have incurred my son still being teenager should not be scared of police the way he is via 313 wanting to close early caused a lot of damage unspeakable damage. I plan to seek an attorney And Sue, the restaurant and also the individuals who did the lying. It’s on body cam a lot of it what they described as me being completely wasted is not what body cam shows. My son says that’s how you look every day you’re normal you’re fine. I passed the eye exam test with the cop Being New Year’s Eve. The cop had one goal, and that was to arrest as many as possible, possibly but arresting me was completely...

Unfortunately we were disappointed! We showed up tonight at 5:30 pm, and didn't get our pizza until 9 pm. Yes. You heard that right.

We were really excited to try this place, as we had attended a soft opening for Via313 a week prior and loved what we sampled. Tonight, they were busy. Which we expected as it was new. We were told it would be a 45 minute wait. We said, no problem, and decided to wait. An hour and a half rolled by, and we were still not seated. Upon asking the hostess for another update, she told us our table should be ready shortly. We ordered breadsticks while waiting outside to hold off the wait and for my 1 year old son. (We didn't receive these until 30 minutes after being seated) We then heard a manager tell the hostess that the wait for pizza would be an additional 1 1/2 hours from the time people were seated and they'd placed their order. This was the first we'd heard about this, so we questioned. They stated they were short staffed. They said it could be faster, but there would be a wait. We'd already been there for an hour and a half at ​this point. My group decided to stay.

Shortly after we were sat, we ordered immediately to try and avoid a longer wait, but we then waited some more. We had to ask for drink refills, and the hostess never came back to update us on the pizza status after we placed it. Breadsticks arrived 30+ minutes in. They were not worth the wait, although everyone liked the GF ones better than the regular. We then received our cinnamon sticks BEFORE pizza, and they were NOT good. They tasted like pure cinnamon, nothing mixed, or melted with. It had a very bitter taste. There was also barely any frosting if any on some. These did not taste like they did when we sampled them a week prior. These were gross!!

The manager then came by, and asked if we'd received our pizza. She was pleasant. We were 3 1/2+ hours in to this at this point, and we hadn't received our pizzas. She went over to the cooks, and had them get it going. We requested them to go as our 1 year old son was mush at this point. We got the pizzas, and they were just okay. I got a GF, and the crust was definitely better than any other GF pizza, but the overall taste was not what we'd experienced the week before.

I know the night was crazy for them, but the food was not up to par. They had also run out of everything! No marinara, no Detroit sodas, and the hostess did not cater to us in between the wait. The ranch wasn't great either. Tonight was disappointing, as we'd had the food before, but tonight did not meet our expectations, nor did the wait. We will...