Tl;Dr: This pizza is absolutely fine for a frozen pizza but is nowhere near the price point.

I started regretting purchasing this $12 pizza after looking at pictures of it cooked online. My disappointment escalated when I took it out of the box and saw that it looked virtually identical to a Freschetta or Red Baron, except the crust looked worse. Including the same lack of proper seasoning and merely sprinkling parsley on top because frozen pizza companies act like using a little oregano is equivalent to sprinkling on a little ricin.

The cooking process was a little less smooth than I expected. A few minutes in, my kitchen started smelling a lot like red wine, and it was coming from the pizza. The smell wasn't reflected in the taste, but it made me nervous. This is probably my oven over the pizza, but it didn't cook evenly. The dough was browning while the cheese was largely unmelted. I like my cheese a little on the brown to burnt side, so I left it in about double the time because the cheese absolutely would not cook. Like at all. It's supposed to be in for 10-11 and I had it in for over 20. A Home Run Inn had no issue cooking yesterday, so I'm not sure what the deal is. In the last minute or so, it finally started browning but only in the middle and the crust was getting too brown so I took it out before I would have liked to have.

Crust--due to the cooking issue and it being in slightly longer, my opinion isn't going to be the most accurate. But aside from that, immediately after taking it out of the box I noticed it has way too much crust. The toppings would be far better served on something closer to a Neapolitan. The box gave the illusion it was a little like this, but it's not at all. Way, way too thick. It was okay but nothing noted. The flavor wasn't bad, but I didn't enjoy it enough to actually eat the crust and left it off. It seemed like even if it'd cooked perfectly, the crust would feel a little firm yet somehow soggy if you know what I'm talking about when it comes to frozen pizzas. I wouldn't care at all, but for $12, that crust needs to be solid. It did taste like it was made with slightly higher quality ingredients than other brands; while not being good, that was noticeable in the taste.

Sauce--it's Rao's; if you've had it, you know. If not, it's a simple, clean sauce without all the extra sugar so it lacks the artificial sweetness. Not at all spicy.

Cheese--ugh. It was so disappointed. The burnt cheese crummies on the crust I plucked off and those were delicious, but the regular parts were pretty much like a Freschetta/Red Baron blend. Totally generic. Though, as with the crust, I could tell that the cheeses tasted slightly higher quality. There was less of that vaguely plasticky taste you get with similar brands. From the burnt parts, it might be better served making a specialty type Cheez-it or other type cheese crisp snack. There was nothing overtly bad about it, but it was completely unmemorable. If you blindfolded me and asked me to tell which brand it was, I would probably be unable to distinguish it from other brands, and at a $12 price point, it needs to. This is a product better suited for pizza day in a high school cafeteria than on the expensive shelf at the grocery store.

If someone offered me a slice, I'd eat it. I wouldn't buy it again unless it were 50% off, and even then, probably not because I like other frozen brands better. This is the sad beige baby of the pizza world.