Restaurant Review: Pizza Extreme of Madison, Wisconsin

Pizza Extreme is a chain of pizzerias in the Madison area, with 5 locations to be exact. Most of the locations are delivery/carry-out only, though I do know that the West side location (on Raymond Rd.) has booths in which one can sit and enjoy a pizza.

Pizza Extreme offers a range of pizza sizes, from 10 to 20 inches for the hand-tossed or extra thin and crispy, and from 9 to 13 inches for the Chicago-style stuffed pizza. There are 26 ingredients from which one can choose, including more "exotic" items like elephant garlic, artichoke hearts, and pesto.

Should you want to try a specialty pizza, there are several: The Extreme (sausage, pepperoni, mushrooms, onions, and green peppers), The Bucky Melt (2X sausage, mushrooms, and cheese), The Taco (chicken, ground beef, or vegetarian pizza topped with refried beans, salsa, onions, tomato slices, cheese, and tortilla chips), and the Hawaiian 5-OH! (Canadian bacon, pineapple, red onion, green peppers, and extra cheese) are just some of the specialty pizzas offered. The specialty pizzas also come in hand-tossed, extra thin and crispy, or Chicago-style.

Pizza Extreme offers more than just pizza, however. There are also sandwiches such as The Mighty Meatball (meatballs, marinara sauce, and mozzarella cheese), The Roman Emperor (roast beef, onions, green peppers, mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce), Capital Club Melt (turkey breast, bacon, cheese, and 1000 Island dressing), Turkey Fantasy (turkey breast, cheese, lettuce, and tomato), and Pesto Chicken (Chicken breast with pesto sauce, roasted red peppers, mozzarella cheese, and mayo). Pasta dinners, such as Chicken Parmesan, Ravioli Marinara, Lasagna Bolognese, and Fettuccine Chicken Alfredo are also available.

I typically don't order and eat pizza. However, given that I had a work anniversary last week, I decided to call in a pizza order to Pizza Extreme.

The man (Steve) who picked up the phone was quite friendly and helpful with my double pizza order. He even helped me decide if two Chicago-style deep dishes would feed all my coworkers or not. After some deliberation, I decided to order two hand-tossed pizzas, one with pepperoni and mushrooms, and the other one with tomatoes and mushrooms.

I drove out to pick up my order, which came to about $15.75 (I was using a Bucky Book coupon). Steve was waiting behind the counter to provide me with extra napkins and even more coupons. He also asked if he'd been smiling when I took a picture of the place with my camera. I assured him that he had.

I took the pizzas back to work and grabbed some slices before the rest of the group ravaged them. Taking samplings of my two pizzas, I noted that the ingredients were quite fresh and generous. Also, there was plenty of cheese on the pizzas, even though I had not ordered extra cheese. The crust was alright, though not as flavorful as some pizza crusts I've had in the past. The pizza sauce was decent.

I could definitely see ordering pizza from Pizza Extreme in the future. This time, though, I will be trying the place's Chicago-style stuffed pizza.

For more information, click on the Pizza Extreme link.