Fuel Pizza, Charlotte

Fuel Pizza Sunday, December 02, 2007

On our first visit to the new Fuel Pizza in Rivergate, we ordered two ready-to-bake pizzas. Since the place was very busy (no chance for the word to get around), it would be 45 minutes before our pies were ready. So we left.

55 minutes later, we returned. Sadly, our pies were not ready. Apparently there was a question of whether we wanted cheese (I am not making this up). So be sure to specify that you want cheese, crust and sauce on your pizza, along with all the items in the description. There were other problems, but it was long enough ago that I have repressed the memories.

We just returned from our second visit. Rest assured we will not return. Imagine if you wanted to sell really cheap pizza. You’d have a place where customers stood in line to order, had to get their own drinks and bus their own tables, and use plastic forks & knives on the cheapest paper plates you could find. Employees would desperately hope customers filled in the tip line on their charge slip, since they are poorly paid (and act like it). Industrial garbage pails, wooden benches and pressed wood dominate the décor in the dining area.

Well, that’s Fuel Pizza, Rivergate. Except they charge premium prices, $20 for a large specialty pie. $7 for 6 wings, $3 for a self-serve Budweiser. Nothing on tap. And the pizza SUCKS. I’m not a pizza aficionado. The only way I know a pizza is from a wood burning oven is because I see it on the way in. But even to my uneducated palate, this pizza is terrible. No cheap delivery place has the cahoneys to put out a product this bad. Doughy crust, big chunks of nearly raw green peppers. And it’s a joy top use a plastic fork & knife to cut a pizza on a soggy cheap paper plate that looks like the dough after a slice. The plates are the same ones my mom used to buy – you know the giant stack for 50 cents. There’s no corner too important for Fuel Pizza to cut, except the price of course.

Favorite Dish: Leaving. It's nice to get away.