The Dons' Wood Fired Pizza — Restaurant in Sterling

Update: So here’s where I land: Don’s is still the best pizza joint in town. One bad pie doesn’t erase a dozen hits.

For over a dozen pizzas, The Don’s Pizza has been the undisputed Godfather of our Friday nights. Every pie has been a hit—smooth, balanced, a real “offer you can’t refuse.”

But last night… eh, let’s just say somebody botched the job.

We ordered a family size: half vegetarian, half chorizo, with anchovies on the veggie side. When I opened the box at home, the pie looked less like a masterpiece and more like it had been whacked. The chorizo was stacked like a mob boss hoarding power—piled heavy on just two slices, leaving the rest of the territory empty. The veggie side? Let’s just say if it weren’t for an olive and an artichoke poking through like witnesses under cross-examination, I wouldn’t have known which side was which.

To be fair, the joint was crazy busy. More soldiers running around than I’ve ever seen. The young lady at the register froze the second I said “half veggie, half chorizo,” like she’d just been asked to move a truckload of hot merchandise. The manager had to step in, flip the order to a CYO, and walk her through it. That’s where the cracks showed.

After a couple of bites, I knew this one wasn’t going to the mattresses. It was unbalanced, salty, and honestly, not edible. A shame, since we had planned to pair the night’s “best pizza around” with a movie. Instead, I called The Don directly (well, the manager). She explained what anchovies taste like (thanks, I got it), and agreed to swap me a medium veggie for the family size I’d already paid for. Fair enough under the circumstances.

So here’s the bottom line: The Don’s still sits at the head of the table. One bad pie won’t erase a dozen glorious ones. But after this little fiasco, we’re stepping back for a breather. Hopefully, next time we sit down with The Don, the pizza is back to making us feel like family—not like we’re sleeping with the fishes.

Finally — a pizza place that gets it! We ordered a thin crust veggie pizza with extra jalapeños and red peppers (because my wife likes it hot, and frankly, I’m just trying to keep up). The result? Absolutely AWESOME.

Fresh ingredients that actually taste like they came from a garden, not a can. A hand-made crust that’s thin, crispy, and kissed by a real wood-fired oven — not one of those conveyor belt contraptions the chains use. And the best part? They didn’t drown it in cheese like every other pizza joint that thinks “extra cheese” is the solution to life’s problems.

This was balanced, flavorful, and had that perfect heat that makes you want to grab another slice even while your tongue is still recovering from the jalapeños.

The whole vibe sealed it. While I was demolishing slices, cool Italian gangster tunes were floating through the air — Sinatra, Dean Martin, a little “That’s Amore” — making me feel like I should be wearing a fedora and calling everyone “kid.” Nothing pairs better with spicy jalapeños than feeling like you’re in the middle of a Scorsese scene without the body count.

If you want a pizza that feels crafted, not manufactured, this is the spot. Warning: you may never be able to go back to “big box” pizza again. (Sorry, delivery chains — your cardboard boxes now have the same appeal as the...

Ordered on the website, a large pizza and a salad, while at the local hotel. Timing text was updating me it was coming. Hotel never said they allow deliveries through the building and as I was going down elevator the guy was in the second one and I missed him. He delivered the wrong order to my husband, never confirmed the name or items we wanted. How do you confuse a giant pizza delivery with a fruit açaí bowl and smoothie bag? I got to my room when my husband said it arrived and picked up the bag and it ripped and spilled all over the carpet!!! A purple açaí bowl!!!! THEN I call the pizza place and he says they can’t help me. THEN delivery guy comes back with pizza and asks me for the açaí bowl back.... I said I told you it spilled all over the carpet..... PRAISE GOD the carpet isn’t stained and we won’t get a fine. But all this hastle for a pizza.... doordash should train your drivers and make sure they don’t go to the hotel rooms! How unsafe and how unprofessional to deliver the wrong items. Don’t you tell them to check because they’ll have multiple things???? It’s your companies fault just as much as the driver and the pizza place Dons who allowed you to control their deliveries. My first experience with DoorDash and so not pleased. I’m giving a rating of two stars to the pizza place because: To “top” it all off, the pizza was so chincy with their basil and it’s not even worth the money at all. It got to us cold, the “breadsticks” on the salad is a single crunchy sesame stick. My husband said the dressing is good... $35 and this wasn’t...

Pizza is mid but works fine in a pinch. And while mostly everyone who works there is cool as heck, the owner... whoever the lady is, needs to chill out. It's within walking distance so I used to go there often for slices, and the occasional salad, but not so much any more. I was friendly and cool with the guys behind the pizza counter, and I've also ordered the mozz & tomato salad without lettuce several times in the past. I went in once and asked the guys if they could heat up my slices about a minute longer. The lady had to butt in to "tRaNsLaTe" my request to them, like.... ma'am, we're both speaking English. What are you going to say to them that I can't, are you serious? Second, she threw a fit when I ordered the Tomato, Basil & Mozz salad without lettuce saying it couldn't be done (which, why does a TBM salad have lettuce on it in the first place?), and then threw ANOTHER fit when I said, "Yeah, I don't know what to tell you... I've ordered this at least 10-15 times and no one's ever said a thing." The salad is not premade. It's assembled. I didn't ask for a discount because I said "no lettuce". It really felt like she was pulling a power play, and I have no patience for that behavior and I haven't been back since. Regardless, I'm going to give their business 4 stars so I don't tank their rating. I think they're a good addition to that shopping center, but my goodness, every interaction with that lady (about 3 separate times)...