Pizza customization down to a delicious science at Pieology Pizzeria in Lehi
A custom Pieology Pizzeria pizza is pictured. Pieology offers unlimited toppings at no extra charge.
Custom pizzas bake in the oven at Pieology Pizzeria.
Pieology Pizzeria in Lehi offers a variety of pizzas with unlimited toppings.
Pieology's Hickory BBQ Chicken, Alfredo's Alfredo and Classic Margherita pizzas are pictured.
A variety of Pieology pizzas, including the Smokin' Buffalo Chicken, are pictured.
Pieology Pizzeria specializes in custom-created pizzas.
The Pieology Pizzeria assembly line, where personalized pizzas are created.
“Ology” is defined as a branch of knowledge or science. So if you take the new Lehi restaurant “Pieology Pizzeria” at name value, it’s safe to expect pizza that’s been perfected down to a science.
The franchise opened in Lehi on March 30, though the Pieology Pizzeria brand has been around since 2011 and includes 135 stores across the country and 70 more scheduled to open this year.
According to Pieology founder Carl Chang in a press release on the Lehi opening, “The vision for Pieology started with family, and a plan to share time together — a fresh retreat from the everyday hustle and bustle. We didn’t set out to create just another make-your-own pizza place. We believed in a larger mission, filled with love and purpose, one to feed our community, nourish creativity and bring people together. This vision continues as we bring the first Pieology to Utah and continue to grow our community of Pieology lovers in Lehi and the surrounding areas.”
As Chang mentioned, Pieology is best described as a make-your-own pizza place, though after our visit earlier this week, I see it a little more like a choose-your-own-adventure pizza place.
Pizza is created on a glass window-lined bar decked out with an impressive array of ingredients, though it starts simply enough with the same basic crusts. To get you started, the restaurant offers up a list of popular signature combinations, but where you go from there is totally up to you, with unlimited ingredients and toppings all for the same price.
Pieology’s Lehi location has a modern industrial design aesthetic; something I’ve noticed has become pretty popular in the restaurant sphere these days. That doesn’t make it any less welcoming, though.
We walked past a gigantic wall display of motivational quotes as we made our way to the counter, and quickly found ourselves in the company of cheerful and helpful staff willing to help us get started on our culinary adventure.
At Pieology, all pizzas are priced at $7.95, regardless of toppings or crusts with salads falling in the same price range.
The basic Pieology crust is 11.5 inches in diameter and comes in three varieties: House-Made White, House-Made Whole Wheat and Gluten-Free. If you plan on dining there, you should probably like the way it tastes, because the same crusts form the foundation for pretty much everything you order, from the kids pizza and standard pizzas to the dessert pizzas and breadsticks (here dubbed “savory herb butter strips”).
Fortunately we did.
Our group happened to come to Pieology during its Family Fun Night deal, which offers guests three pizzas, four drinks and a dessert pizza for $24.99, as well as $4.99 kids meal deals (one topping pizza and drink) every Monday and Tuesday from 5-8 p.m.
Taking advantage of both of those deals and ordering an extra pizza for good measure, we ended up with five 11.5-inch pizzas for four adults and a 2-year old, not to mention the equally large breadsticks and dessert pizza and the five drinks that came with our two deals. It was an incredible amount of food for a ridiculously reasonable price.
It was tough making a choice, even with so many pizzas. There are seven sauce options, seven varieties of meats and at least five different cheeses, just for starters. Combine that with the toppings and the series of after-bake sauces, and it can be a little overwhelming.
Hoping to simplify the selection process, we went with a few Signature pizzas, including the Mad to Meat You, featuring mini pepperoni circles, sausage and meatballs with red sauce and olive oil, the Hickory BBQ Chicken with BBQ sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, chicken, red onion, cilantro and olive oil, and the Classic Margherita with basil, grape tomatoes, garlic, mozzarella, Parmesan and olive oil.
Then we mixed it up with a custom pizza adding in pineapple, pepperoni and bacon, and finished up with a kid’s pizza featuring a darling little pepperoni smile.
According to one in our company, the Classic Margherita has become, in a way, her gold standard for judging pizza quality — it includes a super basic ingredient set, so flavor and quality are what really bring it to the next level.
And Pieology? Delivered.
One thing we figured out pretty quickly is that at Pieology, the pizza crust serves more as a vessel for carrying fantastic toppings and cheeses directly to your taste buds. The “ology” of Pieology seems to be the carefully constructed science of crust vs. toppings to create the ultimate pizza experience that can be manufactured in the simplest way.
Pieology’s crusts are basic, but well-made. Though I’ve never been much of a thin-crust type person, Pieology has actually shifted my opinion on that by offering up an experience so flavorfully different from my usual thick crust pizza preference I can’t help but put it in a category of its own. As a bonus, using the same crusts as a base for everything adds a level of stream-lined simplicity to the entire operation, letting the focus instead be placed on the excellent variety of fresh ingredients waiting to be enjoyed.
Though the thinner crust made the “savory herb butter strips” (AKA breadsticks) a little crispy for my taste, they were actually still really delicious, and a favorite of our youngest group member, who took down a good portion of them all by herself.
It was also interesting to taste the versatility of Pieology’s crust, because the experience of eating a breadstick was completely different than diving into the pizzas, each of them flavorfully delicious in their own way.
This is one of the first times I’ve gone somewhere for a review and haven’t been able to name a clear favorite entrée, but each pizza combination had its own perks. The Margherita was simple but flavorful, while the Mad to Meat You felt a little heavier, loaded with well-seasoned meats. The tang of the BBQ sauce on the Hickory BBQ Chicken was excellent, and the chicken was moist and well-distributed. Our custom pizza had delicious, juicy chunks of pineapple mixed with just the right amount of bacon and pepperoni to give a great flavor with every crunchy bite of crust.
We even dug into the kids pizza to help out our resident toddler and loved the ratio of cheese to sauce and crust, and the pepperoni smile was such a fun accent.
We wrapped up our meal with the Chocolate Churro Pizza, which we were informed was similar to the Cinnamon Sugar Stripes (the other offered dessert option), simply with the addition of tiny little chocolate chips.
It was fantastic. The thinner crust gave more emphasis to the cinnamon-y sweet toppings, and, after all the pizza we’d eaten, was a nice change of flavor.
Pieology Pizzeria has discovered the sweet science of pizza customization, and with such excellent family-night pricing and fantastic service, I’m sure we’ll be finding our way there again to test out even more flavor combinations, or even sample some of the salad options. The possibilities are endless, and that’s the way I like them.
PIEOLOGY PIZZERIA
Where: 3601 N. Digital Dr., Suite 204, Lehi
Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday to Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday
Prices: $2.95-$7.95, with a Family Fun Night deal (three pizzas, four drinks and a dessert pizza for $24.99) and a $4.99 kids meal deal (one topping pizza and drink) available Monday and Tuesdays from 5-8 p.m.
Info: (385) 455-4102, pieology.com
Dining
