Table of Contents
Introduction
Obviously, we’ve been busy lately. Most recently, I wrapped up a series of frozen pizza reviews. Frozen pizza provides a quick and efficient way to NOT LEAVE THE HOUSE and still have pizza. As you’ve seen, the results aren’t always great, but my butt stays firmly planted on the couch instead of in the car chasing down another tomato-sauce-covered disk of dough.
But bringing pizza home is a tradition that goes way back for me. I learned it as a baby in Ashtabula, with pizzas from Pizza Villa and Anita’s showing up on our family table long before I was old enough to appreciate the finer points of dough fermentation.
Since moving to Rochester 44 years ago (HOLY SHIT!), Wegmans has probably been the take-out pizza we’ve brought home more than any other. Santa Catarina’s (my saintly wife’s) favorite has always been their Basil Pesto Chicken pizza. We’ve been buying it from “our” Wegmans just up the street for at least 30 years.
Unfortunately, our last encounter with this pizza, back in June 2025, didn’t go well. I never wrote a formal review, but my pizza spreadsheet doesn’t lie. The verdict was “Meh,” and the answer to “Would I Go Back?” was a firm “No.”
Well…anyways…we went back.
Here’s what happened.
The Dough
The dough was the biggest disappointment. It wasn’t bad so much as forgettable. There was no character, no fermentation flavor, and not even much of a bread taste. From mixing to shaping to baking, everything about it felt machine-made. If someone told me this crust was designed by an engineering team led by the marketing department whose primary goal was speed and not flavor, I’d believe them.
Dough is art and science – NOT MARKETING! I’m starting to feel that’s all the Wegmans, not just their pizza, has become…
The Sauce
The basil pesto and chicken combination has been a longtime Wegmans favorite in our house, but this version lacked the flavor that made it memorable. Although bits of basil were present, the toppings felt sparse, and the pesto never really announced its presence. Instead of a bold basil punch Liguria (where pesto was invented), it barely threw a jab.
The Cheese
The moozedell did its job without doing much more. It melted, it covered the pizza, and it generally stayed out of trouble. Unfortunately, it also failed to add any extra flavor or richness to help rescue the pie.
The Value – GOOD
At about $22.50 for a 15″ round (equivalent to $14 for a 12″ round) , the price was certainly reasonable. If you’re feeding a family on a budget, there is value here.
The problem is that a bargain pizza still has to be a pizza you’d want to eat again.
Overall Rating: MEH
This pizza wasn’t offensive. It wasn’t terrible. It simply lacked anything memorable. Wegmans once had a knack for making grocery-store pizza taste surprisingly close to what you’d find in a local pizzeria. This version felt like they’ve drifted away from that formula and settled for something more corporate and generic.
Would I Go Back? – NO…well, maybe
Despite all of the above, Wegmans is at least a weekly (daily?) visit. It’s just too easy to get this pizza again especially since Santa Catarina enjoys it, even with my protestations. But given my luck with the “Take and Bake” at home pizza at Wegmans (reviewed January 29, 2025 – here), I might be able to switch her to that.
Final Thoughts
This review may sound a little harsher than usual, but that’s only because Wegmans set the bar so high for so many years. If this had been a random grocery-store pizza from somewhere I’d never visited before, I might have graded it a little more generously.
The problem is that I’ve been eating Wegmans pizza for decades, and I know what they’re capable of. This Basil Pesto Chicken pizza used to be one of our reliable favorites. Today, it feels like another victim of standardization—consistent, predictable, and missing the personality that once made it special.
We’re likely to try it again. After all, the pizza spreadsheet says I wouldn’t go back, and apparently that recommendation carries about as much authority in my household as a stop sign in Naples.
