Hungry Howie's of Lake Butler, FL

I was going to try Pizza Boy Pizza in Lake City, but they're closed on Sundays, which seems ridiculous. Sunday is one of the best days to order pizza.

Either way, for the sake of my readers, I thought it best to put some focus on some pizza joints they might actually go to. Hungry Howie's is a regional chain most famous for pioneering the realm of flavored crust. And they don't use their flavored crust as an excuse to shrink the area of sauce and cheese (like one of their competitors whose name I will not mention).

Hungry Howie's Saint Augustine location was a big hangover spot for me. Less than a mile from my house, it still took a half hour to drive there. The store didn't smell much like pizza, but they had a buffet with a salad bar. The people who ran the place didn't speak much English, and never tried to converse with me. They were Chinese, and didn't try to make eye contact; a huge plus. I could just sit in the air conditioning and guzzle diet cokes, and take my time in eating what I could, without anyone trying to smile at me. I always appreciated Hungry Howie's class-free charm, and took to calling it Howard's. Too commonly would friends turn up their noses to Howard's because it was not truly local, and didn't pretend to be fancy in accordance with the contrived, old timey decorum of its neighbors. The ratio for Hungry Howie's Pizza is 3cr/3ce/3ch. At nine dollars for a fourteen inch cheese pizza, they really don't leave you hanging. Their pizza has a weight and richness that's often lacking in the big chains.

I'll rate their crust a 3 out of 5. The special crust flavors are good, and the crust itself has a good taste. However, it's somewhat dense and rubbery. Their sauce also gets a 3 out of 5. It's good, but unremarkable. For overall quality, I give Howard's a 4 out of 5. As far as I know, no Hungry Howie's has ever made a bad pizza. While we can all agree that pizza isn't fancy, Howard's pizza isn't a far cry from the stuff you'd expect from a gas station. For style, they get a 3 out of 5. Without free refills, this Howard's is not a place where I would want to hang out. I went to this particular store in March 2021, only to discover that people in central Florida don't wear masks. They just don't. Also, Fox News was playing very loudly on the tv, really killing my vibe. Aside from serving a very basic pizza in a typically depressing atmosphere, they get style points for value and honesty. I trust Howard, because he doesn't pretend to be something he isn't.

With that said, Hungry Howie's gets a 65%. They are one of my favorite regional pizza chains. If you ever go to Florida, you might consider checking them out.