Spring/Summer 2025 Frozen Pizza Roundup
My previous pizza review roundup post was pretty popular, so I decided to do another one!
Unlike my movie reviews, the pizza reviews will be in chronological order based on when I ate them. Grades are totally subjective and based on my own opinions. I will also be rating the pizza by eating it hot and eating it cold, since cold pizza is a different experience than hot pizza. Cold pizza for lunch the next day is something to look forward to, especially during a busy day.
I should mention that I bought each pizza myself – no one sent me any free stuff, so while my opinion is subjective, it is nonetheless unbiased. Additionally, I exactly followed the preparation directions for each pizza, since I wanted to avoid the phenomenon you sometimes see on recipe blogs where a commenter will complain that a recipe didn’t work, and then admit they took out the butter, cut the sugar in half, replaced the flour with corn starch, and substituted canola oil for frosting.
So with those disclaimers and caveats out of the way, on to the pizzas!
ORV’S ULTIMATE RIZER THREE MEAT PIZZA – 2/28/2025
Orv’s is a pizza brand owned by Minnesota-based pizza maker Bernatello’s (in the last post I mistakenly said they were based in Wisconsin, though they do have several Wisconsin facilities), which also owns many different pizza brands I’ve mentioned in the last roundup. I had never tried Orv’s before, so I thought I would give it a try.
Eaten hot, the sausage, Canadian bacon, and pepperoni are quite good, as are the cheese and sauce. However, the crust is really quite bready and kind of overwhelms the other tastes. This is a thick crust pizza, and I really prefer thin crust because it’s (generally) less caloric and the crust has a greater chance to work in harmony with the other flavors and not overpower them.
Eaten cold, it’s pretty much the same experience. This is definitely a pizza that would benefit from a bit of added oregano, garlic salt, or perhaps other spices.
Overall, I do think I prefer Bernatello’s Brew Pub Lotzza Motzza pizza instead of Orv’s, though I should mention that Orv’s is quite a bit cheaper.
Overall grade: C+
RED BARON FOUR MEAT CLASSIC CRUST PIZZA – 3/7/2025
Red Baron is a frozen pizza brand started in 1976 by the Schwan’s frozen food company of Minnesota. Currently Schwan’s is owned by a large Korean conglomerate.
Whatever one might think of large corporate consolidation, the fact that the stylized WWI fighter pilot mascot of a Minnesota company is now owned by a Korean conglomerate is hilarious in an absurdist sort of way.
Anyway, the pizza! Eaten hot, I liked the crust – it was a bit thicker than usual for a thin crust pizza, but was crisp and didn’t get bready. Sauce was a bit sweeter than usual but I still liked it. The various meats and the cheese were good as well.
Eaten cold, it’s pretty good. The cheese and sauce set well and remain flavorful.
Overall grade: B+
GOOD & GATHER PEPPERONI PIZZA – 3/14/2025
Store brand foods can be hit or miss, since it really depends on the company that is actually supplying the food with the store.
That said, I’ve had good results with Good & Gather, which is the store brand of Target, which is a major big box retailer in the United States. So I thought I would give the Good & Gather pepperoni pizza a try.
Eaten hot, I was pleasantly surprised. The crust was crisp, the cheese and sauce were good if not outstanding, and the pepperoni was flavorful. A good, workman-like frozen pizza.
Eaten cold, it still tastes quite good.
An important detail is that this is a good deal cheaper than many of the more premium brands. So I would say this is a solid option for the budget-minded consumer.
Overall grade: B
BELLATORIA’S ULTRA THIN CRUST MEAT TRIO PIZZA – 3/21/2025
Bellatoria’s is yet another brand of the Bernatello’s frozen pizza company, and it seems to be the more “premium” brand compared to Orv’s. It also has a less heavy topping load compared to Lotzza Motzza, which is another Bernatello brand.
Despite that, I quite liked this one. Eaten hot, the crust was crisp and just a bit flaky in a good way, and the cheese, sauce, and meat toppings were all good. Sometimes on a pizza you can’t taste the crust, and other times you taste it too much, but I think this was a good crust that complimented the toppings, which were all flavorful.
Eaten cold, it fares well. The thin crust doesn’t get soggy, and the meat and cheese remain flavorful.
A very good pizza. I prefer a thin crust to a thick crust, but this was an excellent thin crust.
Overall grade: A
TOTINO’S PARTY PIZZA TRIPLE MEAT – 3/26/2025
Totino’s was famously one of the first companies to make frozen pizza, and was later acquired by General Mills. These days, Totino’s is mostly known for its pizza rolls, but they still put out small individual pizzas, so for the sake of historical continuity, I decided to give it a try.
It was okay. It definitely tasted like pizza, but didn’t compare to the stronger ones I’ve tried like Heggies or Pothole Pizza. You do need to cook it for a long time for the crust to be adequately crispy and not soggy. I didn’t bother to try it cold since I didn’t think it would be improved, but this is definitely a pizza where you might want to add some oregano or garlic salt.
It’s biggest advantage is that it’s quite inexpensive.
A cheap meal, but don’t expect much.
Overall grade: C+
AUTHENTIC MOTOR CITY PIZZA COMPANY THREE MEAT PIZZA – 3/28/2025
Authentic Motor City Pizza Company is owned by the Ilitch billionaire family of Michigan (the original founders of Little Caesars Pizza), and is a Detroit-style pizza, which is a square pizza cooked in a square pan with a thick crust and lots of cheese. The square shape comes from the fact that it was originally cooked in a car oil drip pan, since the commercially available pans at the time weren’t suitable for the pizza. There’s some dispute about this, but it seems Detroit-style pizza started at a restaurant called Buddy’s Rendezvous in the 1940s, which later became the local Michigan pizza chain Buddy’s Pizza.
I have to admit I was only vaguely aware of Detroit-style pizza, but in 2019 I went to the Detroit area (for a funeral, alas) and had dinner at Buddy’s Pizza, which was amazing. (There was also a guy getting arrested in the parking lot at the time, but thankfully that did not affect the dining experience.) If your travels ever take you to the Detroit area, you definitely should try Buddy’s Pizza.
Anyway, when I happened across a Detroit-style frozen pizza, I decided I needed to give it a try.
It is quite good hot. I’m generally not a fan of thick-crust pizza, which this is, but it’s a good thick crust, crispy on the edges and bottom without being bready or chewy. The toppings are all excellent, which is helped by the fact that the sauce is good and has a good garlic flavor.
I was curious how it would hold up when eaten cold, and I actually liked it a bit better than hot. The cheese seemed to have set quite well.
A good pizza, though I still prefer a thinner crust. Because Detroit style pizza is delicious, but dang it is a heavy meal.
Overall grade: A
POTHOLE KITCHEN SINK PIZZA – 4/4/2025
This is another pizza from the Midwestern convenience store chain Kwik Trip, and features pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions, and red & green peppers.
I really liked this one. Like the other Pothole varieties I’ve tried, it’s quite good. Good crust, good sauce, good cheese, very flavorful toppings. This has a slight advantage over my favorite version, the Meat Sweats, since the lesser amount of meat means it isn’t as greasy.
Eaten cold, it is likewise good.
I think this ties with the Meat Sweats pizza. They both represent excellent versions of two different pizza experiences. If you don’t want mushrooms and vegetables on your pizza, get the Meat Sweats. But if you do want vegetables, go for the Kitchen Sink.
Overall grade: A+
HEGGIE’S SIX PACK PIZZA – 4/11/2025
Another pizza from Minnesota company Heggie’s, which had one of my favorite pizzas of the last roundup.
The Heggie’s Six Pack Pizza comes with sausage, pepperoni, Canadian bacon, bacon, mozzarella cheese, and cheddar cheese.
Let’s just say if you’re eating this, you probably don’t have a six pack. 
Anyway, eaten hot it was quite good. I liked the thin crust, and all the meat was good. I would say the biggest weakness is that you can mostly taste the cheese and the Canadian bacon, since they kind of drown out all the other flavors. Eaten cold, I would say it tastes better – you can taste all the individual toppings, and the cheese, sauce, and crust are pleasant when cold as well.
This was good, but I do like the pepperoni-only version better since I think the taste is superior.
Overall grade: A-
TOMBSTONE TAVERN STYLE MEAT CRUMBLE PIZZA- 5/2/2025
This is a more upgraded version the basic model Tombstone pizza with a thinner crust, slightly different cheese, and a mixture of pepperoni and crumbled pork sausage.
Honestly, it tasted about the same as the regular model Tombstone. The crust and meat were slightly better, but I thought the sauce was rather watery.
Eaten cold, it was better, since the watery flavor of the sauce wasn’t as strong. That said, I do think the standard model Tombstone pizza is better.
Overall grade: B-
BREW PUB PATRIOT PEPPERONI PIZZA – 5/9/2025
When I saw this pizza, I wondered my the New England Patriots NFL team had gotten into pizza. However, it’s yet another brand of the Bernattelo’s frozen pizza company. Evidently it is set up in conjunction with a charitable foundation for the families of military veterans and first responders.
Anyway, the pizza was basically the same as the Lotzza Motzza pizza from Brew Pub. Good thin crust, good cheese flavorful sauce, and spicy pepperoni. Eating cold, it tasted about the same as the Lotzza Motzza variant.
Overall grade: A-
There was a bit of a gap here because I had basically tried most of the pizza brands that I actually wanted to try. There are some more lower-cost brands out there, but I figured they would mostly be similar to the cheaper ones I had already tried. But then I came across the final pizza for this review roundup.
SCREAMING SICILIAN MOUNTAIN OF MEAT – 6/6/2025
This is another pizza on the Screaming Sicilian line, which is part of the Palermo Pizza company of Wisconsin. I tried an all pepperoni version for the last pizza round up and thought it was pretty good (it got an A-), so I decided to try the Mountain of Meat, which has pepperoni, sausage, ham, and bacon, and has a “stone-fired” crust.
I liked it better than the all pepperoni version. The different meats blend together well, and I think this version of the crust is quite a bit better. It’s a little bit thicker but quite crispy.
Eaten cold, it likewise holds up quite well. The spiciness of the meat remains flavorful even when cold, and the cheese holds it all together.
Overall grade: A
So, to sum up after two pizza review posts, here are my favorites.
Overall favorites: Pothole Meat Sweats and Pothole Kitchen Sink.
Excellent runners-up: Heggie’s Pepperoni Pizza, Lotzza Motzza, and Bellatoria.
The downside of all these is that they tend to be expensive, usually $10 USD and up. So with that in mind, here are my choices for best budget options:
Tombstone Pepperoni & Sausage and Good & Gather Pepperoni.
Also, one advantage of frozen pizza is that you can add spices to flavor to taste. I’ve found that frozen pizza in general frequently benefits from the addition of oregano or perhaps a dusting of garlic powder.
So, if you are looking for some frozen pizza, hopefully this will help you find one!
-JM
