Lilly's Pizza — Restaurant in Raleigh

We chose to dine with Lilly’s Pizza this evening because of the great reviews and it having been voted the best pizza in Raleigh.

Unfortunately for us, it did not live up to the hype, for both the food and the service, and left us extremely disappointed.

I’ve never been one to leave unhappy reviews, but I felt it necessary this time.

I ordered over the phone for a curbside pickup (because covid), and as this was our first time, asked for recommendations- ultimately deciding on the Nonna for me as it was one of their most popular pizzas, and the Super Duper for my meat-lover husband. I was happy enough when I went to pick up my order, as it was a quick and easy process. The server brought the two pies out to my car, I signed and tipped on the receipt, and I was on my way. However, after I got a few miles away in rush hour traffic on Wade Ave, I got a call from Lilly’s- “Hey, we gave you the wrong pizza. Can you come back?”. They had given me the Super Duper and another random pizza that was not my order. Sure, mistakes happen, no biggie. Figuring out how to make a U-turn and navigate back to Five Points was a pain, especially when I don’t know the area and traffic is what it is, but I was happy to do it because we were really looking forward to the amazing pizza that Lilly’s was said to serve. So I drove all the way back, let them know I had arrived again, and the same server (possibly the manager?) came back out with the Nonna, my correct pizza, and took back the mistake pizza. I headed home. When I got home, because of the whole ordeal of having to drive back and forth, the Super Duper had gotten cold (the Nona was still hot). Not a big deal either, we quickly heated it up and finally started eating our dinner. I’m starving at this point, so I dig into my Nonna, and immediately hate it. The thin crust was hard, dry, and flour-y, and the texture is best described as day-old stale baguette. The balsamic glaze had soaked into parts of the crust which slightly helped, but most of it was so tough and I had to chew for a solid minute to swallow each bite. I battled my way through one slice, hoping that it would grow on me, but it did not. The cheese was also hard, the glaze was too sour, and the prosciutto was chonky like ham/bacon. Absolutely terrible. I’ve had much better pizza from Papa Johns, which is saying a lot. I was shocked that a $14 personal pizza could be this bad. The husband was happy with his Super Duper, but it wasn’t anything special and he’s not picky when he’s hungry. After deliberating what to do about this “most popular” and yet so disappointing pizza I had, I decided to give the store a call. I figured at least a partial refund for the Nonna was in order, considering the hot mess that this food and my experience this evening had been. The person who answered the phone identified herself as the manager, and I believe it was the same server who had brought my pizzas and called me earlier this evening. She was unfriendly, unapologetic, and told me that I was ineligible for a refund because I, in the end, had received what I ordered. It didn’t matter how the food was, nor all the extra hassle they had caused me. I even offered to bring my food back- but nope, not even a partial refund or an offer to replace my order. Y’all, this is not customer service. Want to know what good service that creates happy and loyal customers looks like? Go to your local chick-fil-a. They know how to treat their guests, serve high quality and delicious food, and fix their mistakes with grace. Lilly’s Pizza is NOT it. If you’re looking for a great pizza, especially thin crust (my favorite!), I would highly recommend checking out the Pizza Press in Chapel Hill. Their food and incredibly friendly service are worth the drive. Unfortunately, Lilly’s is not. My hope is that their management will listen to feedback and grow from their mistakes. And hopefully my negative experience is only the odd one out, and not a...

It pains me to write this review. Truly. The Lilly's we once knew as a community is gone and its replacement is a vapid and disappointing experience both culinary and atmospheric.

I've frequented Lilly's Pizza over the past many years at its Raleigh location, and where I would have given it an A-tier listing as a Pizza joint for Raleigh pre-Covid, I must now give it a D, or 2 stars. Reasons below: -You could have done better with something out of the freezer section of your grocer than the cheese bread (both saving you money and emotions and probably calories) -They got the rest of my pick-up order incorrect by both adding ingredients I didn't ask for and omitting some I requested. The result is that I threw it away because some of the stuff was against my dietary restrictions -While I can't exactly fault the establishment on its decor choices, I must note that the stark difference between what it used to be and what it is today is like two ends of the spectrum. It appeared as if they were either in transition for renovations or had poor supply management with empty shelves and empty walls. Either way, it felt like maybe I should have walked in on another night. The atmosphere of old was a stimulus overload of tchotchkes that left one wondering if you were experiencing a dream or a nightmare with hanging stoplights and plastic babies, but you could dig it either way, and every time you visited you witnessed something new and bizarre +On a positive note, the attendants were polite, and I didn't have to wait long for the order

Yes, I'm nostalgic for the Lilly's of old. I miss that I had to wash my clothes of the oven smoke after visiting the establishment. We wore it proudly and with a smile because we once loved Lilly's for its "damn good pizza." In summary, the Lilly's of today is a shadow of its former glory that will leave you with clean smelling clothes and a disappointing handful of food you...

We heard great things about Lilly's for years, and finally paid them a visit last weekend with friends. We went on a Saturday around 1:30 pm, and were expecting there to be many more people than there were - sign #1.

Sign #2 was that we were still waiting 30 minutes after placing our order for one pizza. Sign #3 was that we were STILL waiting another 30 minutes after that. We checked on the status of our pizza 3 - yes, 3 times after ordering it.

Finally, our pizza came out, and we were wondering where the rest of it was. Their largest pizza is what most medium pizzas look like. We had 4 HUNGRY people in our group, and we each had 2 slices a piece for $22. Coming from an avid NY style fan, my husband and I normally order a large pie from Peri Bros for the same price, and it's WAY bigger than this one was (and better, but I'll get to that...)

Our friends wanted the Super Duper (meat lovers, basically) which is normally way more meat than we like, but we went with it anyway. Italian sausage, bacon, pepperoni and ground beef (really?) with two cheeses. The flavors were good, I have to say. They definitely went well together, but it was overload - again, not normally meat lover fans, so take that with a grain of salt.

The bottom layer of crust was thicker than a NY style (side note: I know they don't advertise their pizza as NY style; I'm just comparing to it for ease of relation), which was tasty. The outer crust was overcooked and too dense for me. Way too chewy, to the point where it makes your jaw hurt.

We are firm believers that any pizza is better than no pizza, and are pretty forgiving within each category (Domino's can make a damn good pie when that's your only option), but this pie for the size, quality and price, combined with the terrible service we received (we never saw a waiter until he almost passed our table and gave our pizza to someone else) was very disappointing. We will...