PJ's Pizza — Restaurant in Village of Cross Plains

My latest quest to find the finest pizzas in south central Wisconsin took me to the sleepy burg of Cross Plains (nobody said this job was going to be glamorous).

Tano's is strictly a carryout / delivery operation wedged in a small storefront on the main drag of the village. The staff is friendly and happily accommodated my request to have two different toppings on each side of the pizza.

The pizza was piping hot when I picked it up 20 minutes after ordering it. When I flipped the top of the pizza box, I was impressed with the quantity of ingredients. My half of the pizza was loaded with sausage and mushrooms. Mounds of extra cheese covered my daughter's half, along with a sprinkling of feta.

The crust of the pizza was largely flavorless and VERY chewy. I appreciated the crust was not doughy in the center of the pie, despite a heavy load of toppings.

The sauce lacked any brightness - it tasted like under-seasoned tomato paste. Sauce volume was adequate given the topping load.

The quality of the sausage topping was sub-par - it added practically no flavor. This pizza was crying out for a little oregano or fennel. Another big negative was the use of canned mushrooms on my side of the pizza. The cheese quality was adequate, low on flavor, but not overly greasy.

The final verdict: While this is not pizza you want to serve to impress your friends, it is a cost-effective way to feed a gaggle of hungry teens when quantity is more important...

Normally I would give PJS a 5 star as it never disappoints the food is so delicious!!! I’m not sure what has happened over the past couple of weeks but since this was the 2nd time in the past week I couldn’t help but post since calling really gets you no where as far as accountability. The first experience was finding a hair in my pizza. I got the small 7 inch pizza and on my 3rd slice I pulled a long black hair out of my mouth, I am blonde. I was not mad but I knew that the dough is pre made so I wanted them to know. I did not ask for refund or replacement but after the woman on the phone kept talking in circles and saying things like “stuff happens, accidents happen” yes they do but hair in food is almost no acceptable in my books. Now today. I order a club sub, quite often. I ask for no ham. Normally this sub is full of meat, Mayo dripping so never have I thought to ask for double or anything nor extra add on’s. I get my sub today and could not believe that this was made this way. I did call for a replacement as I couldn’t believe it and I felt like I was wrong in asking for one. Hopefully this doesn’t continue happening because I would be upset to not be able to call on PJS !

EDIT: They did everything to fix this and now that I do not live in CP I miss...

Pizza tastes good and I like all the specialty options but I'm a relatively frequent local orderer (I prefer the online app) and I NEVER get the 1 free garlic butter as requested. Is it no longer an option? I've tried notes, adding to cart, even both, and nothing comes in the box. I'd pay the 50¢ or more upcharge if I was sure it would make the trip over. Missed at least 4-5x now... Very sad. It's sooo good! And I believe chicken was missed entirely on my last order (photo of cheesy white garlic, sans chicken or it's so minimal I can't find it)? On a Thurs before 5pm so I don't imagine rush (to be fair, I don't know)? Yeah, I guess I'll have to pick up the phone next time but then why bother having the online option? Kinda bummed right now. I'll add that I did have a very long wait (with no notification of delay or apologies when arrived) once as well, a while back, which by itself isn't a dealbreaker (stuff happens), but does compound my frustrations over time. Tano's is our only pizza delivery option in town so it's tough to say I'll avoid ordering in the future (let's be real) but it certainly isn't something I do with pleasure lately. And lately is a key word here because my negative experiences have probably been within the last 6-8mo so...