I overheard a girl talking about House of Pizza one day... she was RAVING ON AND ON AND ON about how it was the absolute best pizza hands down in the whole wide world and "since she's from connecticut where they have the best pizza, she should know".
I admit, it spiked my curiosity enough to try it, even though we've passed by it regularly over the past few years and never had the urge before. We walked in, super excited to try out this amazing pizza. The prices seemed a little steep, but for the best pizza, it must be worth it... so we ordered a medium all veggie pizza.
When it came out and we saw the way the cheese looked and smelled, we just looked at each other in doubt, but still had high hopes and took our first bites. After all, the cheese was soooooo thick it must be good. After the first bite, Ben immediately exclaimed, "was that girl HIGH when she ate this pizza?" I thought it tasted frozen... like something from a high school cafeteria... and the cheese had no flavor. The mushrooms were canned and there was hardly any sauce. I have no idea who would ever think this pizza is the best in the whole wide world... maybe it's all a matter of taste... but we are completely flabbergasted. After discussing for a while what we were eating, we looked around and realized that no one else in the entire place was eating pizza. The subs looked super popular and everyone seemed happy. I don't think we ever even finished our leftovers.
I hate giving a place 1 stars, and recently I read on a friend's facebook update that they had just discovered HOP and couldn't believe that they had gone their whole lives in this neighborhood without having ever tried it. They also thought it was amazing. Again, we were completely baffled! So, apparently it's a taste preference... but be warned.