Top It Off Pizza — Restaurant in Tyler

Okay, so... I just ate my pizza about five minutes ago. I have some things to say.

I went into this mysterious place because they had a sign outside that simply said “PIZZA OPEN”. Approaching the place didn’t reveal much more. Still, I bravely stormed the gates and decided to try it no matter what was revealed on the other side. There were only two employees; both kind and very enthusiastic. Good sign. There were only 4 predesigned options. They were clever choices. Instead of building my own (which is an option) I decided to try one of their signatures; The Bianca Verde: a sauceless sausage, spinach, and garlic pie with shredded cheese and VERY generous dollops of ricotta cheese. The pizza was made in front of me, though I split my gaze with the menu on the wall. Fresh ingredients were carefully, (though timely!), strewn on a shimmering fresh dough. The kind gentlelady offered me a finishing oil, suggesting a basil based one. I watched as the pie was shifted from its peel to what looked like a stone bottomed oven. I thought about going to Walgreen’s while the pie came to be, but I was assured it would only be about 6 minutes. I ordered some garlic knots, paid for the lot, and sat with my iced tea for the short, as promised, six minutes. Off I went.

As I drove the short 6 blocks back home I decided to grease the steering wheel by handling a couple of the garlic knots. They were brilliant. Unlike other places, these were far more thought out. The bottoms were crispy while the fluffy tops were slightly yeasty like a light sourdough bread. Salty and buttery tasting. I was pretty excited to try the pizza.

When I got in the door I didn’t hesitate. The first bite was telling. This is the best pizza in Tyler, Tx. I didn’t miss the sauce at all. The hefty amounts of garlic and ricotta mixed with the steam from the fresh spinach and kept everything saucy enough. The crust was simultaneously crispy and chewy. The toppings were at the exact right amount. The employees were right about the basil oil. Everything was great.

I’ll be back again. This is my new go to. Excited to try one of the three I...

I’m from the Bronx, NY. The owners are rolling their eyes right now because they think I’m just another “cafone” criticizing their pizza. Ok. I’m gonna try and keep this as short as possible. Very, very good NY “style” pizza. I put quotations because we’re not in NY. It’s still “Texas Pizza”. I will say, Sbarro (Brooklyn pizza place) has a franchise in Tyler on state road 14 north where it meets I20. My go to. Not because it’s great, but because it’s a little closer to NY pizza/Sbarro pizza than the other crap they peddle here as pizza. And I mean crap. I’m a chef, I had pizzarias back in the day (then 14 years Sous chef at San Domenico's in NYC), and I just make my own when I want a pie. But I don’t want to cook when I get home so if I want a pie…??? Was: Sbarro Now: Top It Off Pizza Good pizza sauce. Not too sweet, and very good crust. Folded very well. If I had to “complain”, here it is… Use better cheese Almost $5 bucks per topping no matter what it is?? Meat or vege?? Pleeeeeze… I got a 18” pizza with pepperoni and black olives (pepperoni is actually bell peppers in Italy but that’s a discussion for another time…), for $30 bucks. Ok. I’m ok. I enjoyed it and that is the bottom line, but look at my picture. For $0.30 cents worth of black olives, they could’ve done better. Quantity of pepperoni was “ok”. I don’t begrudge ANYONE a living and would never criticize what they charge. But realize I know to the penny what this pie cost to make and they could do better with the toppings. At least the black olives I got tonight. Bottom line…and they will LOVE...

I gave this one star only so I could write a review. I have no idea how some of these people on here have given this place such a wonderful review. This review is our true experience with this establishment. The pizza was very greasy. The crust was uneven in thickness and in some places so wafer-thin it collapsed and wouldn't support the toppings due to the greasiness of the pizza the toppings would slide off the crust. On the same Pizza I found one small hair that looked like hair from a forearm and then another small hair that was very short look like it came from someone's head. I don't like saying this but this was absolutely the worst Pizza I have ever eaten in my entire life it cost me $30 and I threw more than half of it away. The reason my husband and I ate any of it after we saw how it looked was because we had not eaten anything all day and it was close to 5 in the evening. We ate this pizza prior to finding the hairs. In all fairness these people owe us a total refund. I will never return to this establishment. Disclaimer: I do not work for any competitor of this pizza establishment & no one has paid me to make this review. I have never been in nor ordered any food from this establishment prior to the said purchase in this review. This was mine and my spouse's...