The Pizza Kitchen — Restaurant in Tennessee

This is NOT Empire Pizza anymore. I repeat- this is not Empire Pizza! They didn't just change their name!

While the restaurant still maintains the same atmosphere and similar look.. looks can be deceiving. Gone are the sweet deals Empire had, and gone is their amazing pizza. I was told by the employees there EP decided to go the food truck route, which is a shame.

I almost didn't order there after finding all this out, and now I wish I hadn't. I decide to give them a shot - So here I am, letting you all in on the mistake I made, so you don't have to make that mistake.

I ordered a medium pepperoni pizza for the same price I could have gotten one of those glorious large ones if it was still EP on a Wednesday. I figured, if they are still like EP, this should be just as good, just without the sweet deal.

The pizza while it wasn't horrible, was a far cry from what Empire Pizza had. The pepperoni was sparse- only two or three on each slice, the cheese was clumpy, oily and suspect, making me believe it wasn't 100% mozzarella. The crust was AWFUL. It literally felt and tasted like wet cardboard. It reminded me of the crust of those terrible Sam's pizzas they sell at Walmart, only thinner.

The workers there were nice, and sadly that's the only reason they got two stars instead of one. But anyways, Empire Pizza, I wish you well. The Pizza Kitchen.. step up your game, or you aren't going to last long riding on...

We picked up 3 pizzas a salad and garlic knots for dinner. First the good. The people were very nice, our food was cooked well, the order was exactly what we ordered, and the menu was diverse for pizzas. I feel the prices were higher than the other aces I've seen in the area, especially to add topings made the pizzas very expensive. Onto the food. Unfortunately the half and half special pizza we had had very little flavor. My family did not like the red sauce at all, it tasted more like spaghetti sauce and less like pizza sauce but that's just our taste no fault of the restaurant. The crust was very odd, it was denser than any other crust I've had (no air bubbles that we normally see) and seemed to be whole wheat, or sweeter than normal crust. The garlic knots were the same dense wheat sweet dough with little to no garlic butter flavor. My wife did not enjoy her tomatoes, basil, mozzarella salad se said it just didn't taste right. I understand these can all be personal taste I would just suggest trying a small amount before deciding to feed your family of 6. None of us enjoyed the experience and doubt we will ever get pizza...

Purchase date: 11/18/23. The pie was actually wet; literally uncooked despite two requests for well done. Soggy with a crust like wet saltines--everything just slid right off and splat onto the box. The garlic knots were the consistency of Play-dough. Zero flavor. Everything was cold. We picked through what we could and the rest was garbage. BTW we live 4 mins from PK and I was on time. The "slow cooked sauce" tasted like paste from a can diluted with water; metallic and it too was cold. New heights in blandness. If the gastronomic goal was to obliterate an entire flavor profile, they achieved it admirably. So, here's my question: Clearly, the folks who prepare this stuff have no love for that which they create, so why do it? Maybe it's time to consider another line of work. Life is too short to engage in a vocation that one obviously hates. Irony: I was actually referred to this place by a couple who are regular patrons. Go figure. Pro Tip: Salt and pepper can be added to enhance the flavors of things humans eat. ...