Pizza Champ Takeaway. Championship-level crust doesn't have the depth of the sauce and cheese to make it to the playoffs. An overall 7.4 / 10 pizza score carried by one of the best crust and undercarriage combos you'll find in St. Louis. Cheese and Sauce didn't want to join the party on this visit. At $20 for an 18" pizza weighing 32 oz, the $0.63/oz scores right in the middle of the St. Louis Range.
Housed in a converted fast-food restaurant, Pizza Champ offers fast and friendly service. I didn't utilize the drive-through lane, but if you order online ahead of time, you can. They don't have a phone number or wait staff, so expect to use the QR menu or order online. The team at the window was super helpful and friendly. The outdoor seating is hip and modern with fans in the summer and heaters in the winter. A dedicated parking lot makes parking a breeze.
Pizza Champ Experience Summary
I heard about Pizza Champ from a Reddit recommendation. Additionally, I found it on several review sites, so I decided to make the trek.
You'll find Pizza Champ housed in a converted fast-food restaurant in Maplewood, southwest of Forest Park.
The pizza comes in at a very respectable 7.4 / 10 for me because of the crust.
It was one of the better crusts I've had in a long time. The crust and the undercarriage combination were fantastic - good enough to make my four-year-old son unpromptedly yell out, "This crust is so good!"
While it had an excellent undercarriage and crust, that was it. The flavor profile of the cheese and sauce couldn't measure up.
The seating area was super up-to-date and hip, with modern vibes--kind of like Taco Buddha, with big wooden tables, dark surroundings, and a drink menu and regular menu on the wall.
It had a modern, upbeat, clean vibe, even though it was a cleaned-up, souped-up fast food restaurant.
The Food At Pizza Champ
Overall, I give the pizza at Pizza Champ a 7.4 / 10. It's one of the better pizzas in the area, actually, all things considered, really, because of the crust and the undercarriage.
The crust was chewy and crispy, with a nice crunch when you bit into it, leaving a bready, sourdough-y flavor in your mouth. The undercarriage was solid enough to maintain the structure of the pizza slice when you held it up with one hand after letting it cool for more than a second.
This was top-notch dough that just had an unfortunate flavor profile on top of it.
Unfortunately, the cheese and the sauce were kind of like just not even there. It basically tasted like you were eating a kid's pizza bagel--the sauce and the cheese didn't really exist in your flavor profile.
They have to add something to it--basil, more salt, more cheese, different kinds of tomato sauce, just something. It lacked flavor, but it wasn't bad. The flavor that was there just wasn't strong.
At 18" wide and 32 oz for $20, Pizza Champ comes in on the considerably more affordable side of St. Louis pizza. Totally worth the price for the quality of the pizza and the experience of eating there.
Again, it's not the best pizza I've ever had, but it's serviceable, really driven by the crunchiness of the crust and the quality of the dough.
Pizza Champ Atmosphere And Miscellaneous
Pizza Champ is located in an old drive-thru place. There's actually a pizza drive-thru where you can order and pick it up without getting out of your car. There's no indoor seating, only outdoor seating with maybe 15 to 20 tables. In the summertime, when I went, they had fans going the whole time, and in the winter, they put up faux walls and have heaters going, so you can eat outside even in colder weather.
If Pizza-A-Go-Go embodies the quintessential old-school pizza place vibes, then Pizza Champ represents the modern pizza dining experience.
I ordered online for a 12 o'clock pickup. The food was ready directly at 12. They used Toast, so I got text updates when they were cooking the pizza and when it was ready. They just brought it out to me. I was the only one there, with only one or two other people around at noon. I should interview the other people eating pizza by themselves at noon.
You can order online, and that worked fine. They don't have a phone number, so you can't call in. Their menu beyond pizza is mostly drinks, so it seems like the kind of place you'd go to hang out with friends at night. There wasn't any waiter or waitress service--you order at the tables via a QR code and the app, which I liked because you can order whenever you want without waiting for service. It worked fine on my phone, and the tables were associated with the QR code.
The service was super friendly. I talked to one of the staff for a minute to get the lay of the land and how the seating works in the wintertime. She was happy to talk to me.
Parking At Pizza Champ
Parking wasn't an issue. Pizza Champ has a large dedicated parking lot surrounding the building as part of the old fast-food restaurant setup.
Pizza Champ Receipt
Pizza Size And Price Comparisons
