Red Devil Pizza – Review
- Posted by Pizza Locust on July 30th, 2005 filed in Arizona, Phoenix, Pizza, Reviews, Tempe
- 7 Comments »
In my previous article I told the sorrowful tale of woe as some kind people at work attempted to buy our computer staff pizza for lunch, and the disasterous results that ensued.
In this article, I’ll follow up with the aftermath: We were handed cash and we all piled into the car and headed for Red Devil Pizza for lunch.
Red Devil is a longtime staple of central Phoenix, the original (so far as I know) is located on McDowell Rd, near 32nd Street. I’ve eaten at Red Devil 4 or 5 times a year for many, many years and rarely had a pizza that wasn’t better-than-average. The primary exception to that rule was once, on Christmas Day, surpised to find they were open, my father and I stopped in for a pizza. It was practically raw. We probably should have known, the primary cook would certainly have the day off.
The review pizza was a 10″ (small) pepperoni (see illustration), it had plenty of toppings and cheese.
Red Devil’s basic pizza style a relatively thin dough with little excess crust on the outer edge. The average crust is no thicker than 1/4″, and it is crispy and nicely pocketed with small air pockets. The toppings are of good quality and consistent.
That’s the average pizza at Red Devil, the review pizza was 50% uncooked. It looks good on top, and the first slice was very good, but as I moved onto slice two, the dough underneath was still damp and droopy. After completing the pizza, it was clear that one half of the pizza was not cooked at the same temperature of the other half – I can only imagine some sort of fault in their ovens. This pizza was almost as bad as the infamous Christmas Day pizza and, had it been the first pizza I’d ever eaten at Red Devil, it would have been my last. Given that I’ve had 50-100 better than average pizzas there in the past, I’m willing to pass this experience as a statistical anomaly. However, my father reports that a couple months ago, he too had a severely sub-standard pizza there. I can only hope this isn’t a sign that Red Devil is going into decline.
I should note that I’ve also had many pizzas at their Bell Rd store (although not nearly as many as McDowell) and that store has always been more consistent in the quality of their food.
Conclusion: Recommended, but with reservations about possible decline. Further test pizzas will be required.
Conclusion: Updated September 2009: Neutral. I’ve had several poor experiences since this original review, several comments and several reports from others that Red Devil has been really dropping the ball lately. Pity. Really a pity.
Red Devil Pizza
3102 E Mcdowell Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85008 – 3702
(602) 275-5961
Red Devil Pizza
3004 E Bell Rd
Phoenix, AZ 85032 – 1921
(602) 493-0009
Red Devil Pizza
208 W Southern Ave
Tempe, AZ 85282 – 4939
(480) 968-2155
Added 8-11-205: cost per square inch: $0.08
August 19th, 2006 at 8:50 am
The best pizza in the city is a “hole in the wall”; hide away called Vito’s on 43rd Ave & Northern. Vito and his wife Rosa are originally from Italy and have been making pizza pies for over 40 years. Visiting them is like a scene from “Big Fat Greek Wedding”.
If you are a pizza connoisseur…please try Vito’s. They don’t open until 4pm and are closed on Sundays.
August 19th, 2006 at 1:45 pm
Off the top of my head, I can’t picture what’s on that corner. I used to live in that area quite some years ago, I’m pretty sure they weren’t there back then.
I will give them a try, thanks!
April 15th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
I was very disappointed with the pizza I tried at Red Devil. I ordered Lg. 16 inch sausage and green pepper pie. I don’t know how, too tell you, but I’m from Chicago and have eaten alot of pizza, we all have, but the 18.00 price tag on this sloppy, too much sauce and under cooked pizza, Its a small step up from Papa John, for real. But there are very little quality pizza places in Phoenix area. I don’t care how many people move here from pizza cities. If you truely wanted to create a truely Excellent, pizza here. It would cost too much. Unless, it is a expansion, NOT, a franchise of the original and could offset the costs. Other wise, its average.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
I suppose I should get around to updating this 4-year old review.
I don’t work too far from Red Devil, and go there a couple or three times a year for lunch.
The last several trips have been consistently poor. The pizza has been undercooked and substandard, after many years of better-than-average performance, I’m afraid Red Devil may have jumped the shark.
August 27th, 2009 at 10:21 pm
I ate there for the first and last time a few weeks ago. The food was disgusting, the staff was rude, the bathroom was filthy and there was a dead roach under my table. I would have done better with a frozen pizza from Walmart.
September 23rd, 2009 at 4:22 pm
That’s a pity. I can’t say I’ve ever spotted a dead roach under the table, nor have I ever had rude service, but the pizza hasn’t been very good lately.
I’ve basically stopped going there unless someone from work takes me there… and I then I just hope there will be a return to the glory days. So far… not.
September 4th, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Just enjoyed one of the best pizza’s around town. Lived here most of my life and this has always been my favorite “real” pizza. I have taken everyone that ever asks for great pizza here. Mostly Bell Rd. but years ago to the Mcdowell location. You either get buried in dough or the ingredients aren’t the real thing at other chains or try to get it right pizza places.. I have tried most of them…
Every place has an off day and in many years I’ve had a couple, but 95% of the time it’s right on. Sauce is perfect with authentic cheese and ingredients. Puffy great tasting crust and cheese!! Yum!