Hot Box Pizza Review

While At Gen Con 50, I had the chance to experience Hot Box Pizza, the makers of the Official Gen Con Pizza, and I have to let you know about it. When I first decided to try their pizza, I was in my hotel room and failed because I didn’t realize the pizza was only offered at the downtown location and on Georgia Street. So the next day I tried to get to the downtown location, but I just didn’t have enough time between interviews. On day three, I decided I would grab it on Georgia Street amidst the hustle and bustle of the food trucks.

The pizza was sold by the slice, which fits the occasion of Georgia Street. Whole pizzas were available at the restaurant. I ordered four slices in all, two Gen Con pizza slices and two Hot Box pizza slices.

 

When I looked at the pizza, it wasn’t what I think of when I think about pizza. The crust is thin with minimal sauce. The rim of the crust does that fluff that I expect in a good dough. At this point I wasn’t concerned because there are different styles of pizzas out there.

 

I started with the Hot Box (banana peppers and pepperoni), because the pepperoni looked really good, and I was right. The pepperoni was by far the best part of this experience, and the rim or crust was really good too – I bet their breadsticks are to die for! But my first bite was a huge disappointment, because it was hard for me to bite through the crust. I had to saw my way through the crust, and the cheese looked more like a cracker. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a good cheese cracker – just not on my pizza. This cheese was rubbery and had to be torn apart. But the worst part was that it was dry, as in sauceless.

 

The Gen Con pizza had gold flecks on it, which is fancy, but I’m not a fan of things like gold in food.  It doesn’t really add to a flavor profile – it’s just for show and therefore is a wasted ingredient. I would have rather seen something that packs a punch with flavor. The bright side is that the gold was a success – it made the pie look good.

 

Now, about the redeeming factors of Hot Box Pizza. The pepperoni is really out of this world. It has a great balance between the protein and fat content. There are so many pepperonis out there that just generate so much oil you don’t even want to touch the pizza. The real treasure is the rim of the pizza. It is saturated with air which means the yeast is fermenting properly.  So, why the thin crust without bubbles then? When you stretch the dough the air is pushed towards the rim. Anyway, back to the rim, it had a great texture and the flavor was outstanding.

 

I can certainly see how Hot Box Pizza might appeal to some, but it’s just not for me.