Cosmic Pizza

Rich was gunned down in his store Saturday. Consider helping out his family.

There are so many things to say about Cosmic Pizza, I’m still a bit overwhelmed with my first experience. Bottom line: I enjoyed my meal and will be bringing friends in the future.
First, an upstairs dining room with a decent amount of seating has been opened. We had a party of eight and fit nicely at one of the tables upstairs. There must be room for about 30 people to eat in the new dining room, and it is much classier than you’d expect from the tiny dining area in the entry.
This restaurant is BYOB with glasses provided (at no extra cost) and also has glass water jugs to serve at the table. The décor is very strange and doesn’t fit the «Cosmic» name. The entire restaurant is decorated with African style masks and pleasant yellow walls. In the entry, there is a strange shell lamp creature? I can’t say that I didn’t enjoy some of the kitschy charm, it only probably added to the experience.
Now, the PIZZA! Our group shared four pizzas, most in the St. Louis Style Crust. I tried the Vegi and Margarita Pizzas. Both pizzas were very good with a nice mild sauce. Everything I ate tasted incredibly fresh, l could tell that there was attention to detail. The Vegi tasted great, although the toppings alone were nothing that jumped off the plate. The Margarita was a different story, the fresh Thai Basil makes this a huge win for me. This pizza was a superb combination of fresh, salty and sweet. I will certainly be getting this one again!
A few more notes, the thin St. Louis style crust is so paper thin that it nearly defies laws of physics. It isn’t like a cracker, it maintains some flexibility as well as crispness, the New York style is more likevavteaditional thin crust. This St. Louis crust is unlike anything I’ve had elsewhere in Cincinnati and doesn’t fill you up quickly. The owner is very nice and very interested in making a great slice.
I have already promised a trip to my other half who missed out on tonight’s adventure. Cosmic, your paper thin crust is out of this world!
Note: In my initial review, I had the New York and St. Louis styles switched. This has since been corrected.

the place is nothing fancy and does not have an alcohol license so if your looking for a night out this is not your place BUT if your looking for some amazing thin crust i would definitely give it a shot. They are remodeling the upstairs for more dine in seating and it may be done by the time of this post. i would rank this into the top 5 thin crust spots in Cincinnati. chef/​owner is a bit eccentric but takes his pizza SERIOUSLY and is very nice.

Don’t judge a book by its cover, the beauty is on the inside not the outside. We placed an order for pickup. Let’s start with the service, very friendly, very calm and relaxing service. And the attire of the staff was impeccable. He wore a crisp clean white chef hat and coat. Nice touch. Inside it is clean and fresh. The seating area is small with a very large TV. (good for watching sports while eating pizza). The guy suggested that we eat in next time.
We went with the St. Louis crust, never had that style before, it is paper thin, turns out we like our thin crust a bit thicker, that is a personal preference and not a reflection on the taste. The sauce was traditional tasting nothing fancy or unique in taste or texture, but overall good in taste. The cheese was a minute over cooked, it was firm near brown, I prefer the cheese served right at the stage of melted where is oozes off the slice in all it’s gooey goodness.
The pizza definitely had a home made taste and style. Next time (yes there will be a next time) — we will try the NY crust and eat in.

After reading some of the reviews here, I wanted to try this pizza for myself, and I was sorely disappointed. The owner wears a floppy toque blanche hat so you know he takes his job seriously, and I appreciate the professionalism, but there is such a thing as taking your job TOO seriously.
First, there is the issue of seating. The owner will implore you to eat-​in if you have the thin-​crust (since the steam trapped in a pizza box spoils the texture). I get that, but there is not enough room to seat more than 3 or 4 people in the place, and even then, you’d be sitting in a small room with the owner staring over your shoulder… which does not make for an ideal dining experience.
I ordered the Thai Chicken pizza, since it was recommended so highly on the reviews. It was edible, but fairly gross. It looked like ground up chicken meat sprinkled on a flatbread with a few spices mixed in. I love pizza. I love Thai food. I did NOT love this pizza. The flavor and the texture were all wrong.
I’m all for small businesses, and shady corner-​pizza joints, but a perfectionist chef with mediocre product in a restaurant with a goofy looking alien on the sign pretty much says it all.

Hands down the best pizza I’ve ever had in my life. Perfect NY style pizza in every way. Run by a real nice guy named Rich who clearly cares about the quality of his product. Very unique crust, thin but has tons of flavor. Quit going to Larosa’s and Dewey’s and check out this place!
I recommend just getting a plain cheese pizza your first time, no need to smother a good pie with tons of toppings here. A friend told me last night that he tried the Thai Chicken pizza and it was also very good.

We ordered a 12″ pizza half pepperoni half Thai chicken. The pepperoni pizza was one of the best I’ve ever had. The Thai chicken, is very, very spicy. Nice ambience and personality with a huge big screen TV. I would certainly recommend anybody to give cosmic pizza a try!

Full disclosure on this review — I’m a Wyoming resident. So this little pizza haven is literally in my backyard. Thank goodness.
I’ve spent many years in NYC, so I can attest to how $%#^ good authentic NY style pizza really is. I know, it’s sometimes hard to give our friends on the East coast props, but when it comes to a good pie, they’ve got it figured it.
And it also seems that Cosmic Pizza has it figured out. Their NY style pizza has just enough chew to the thin crust, some kick to the sauce, and plenty of unique topping choices. Add them all together and… voila, you have one of the better pies in Cincinnati.
A few recommendations:
1) Pickup only — there really isn’t a dining area. Yes, there are a few tables in a very small waiting area, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a dining room. My review is based on the great pizza, not dine-​in experience.
2) Get the Thai-​chicken pizza. No, really. If you at all like spicy Thai chicken anything (i.e. Pad Thai, etc.), then this is a must. It’s very unique, very spicy, and rockin’ good. The chicken is very finely ground (similar to Pad Thai), and the Holy Basil is to die for. This is one of our favorites, including my kids.
3) Unique combo of goat cheese, roasted red peppers, and pepperoni. They should call it the Moore, because we order this way too often. Enjoy!

The family and I decided to drive out to Hartwell to try Cosmic Pizza last night, and I’m so glad we did!
We had intended on ordering to-​go, but the owner suggested that it’d be a better first try if we dined in. Since we did have a bit of a haul back towards downtown and the dining room was quiet, we obliged. We wanted to get a good feel for both their pizzas, so we ordered both a large NY Style and a large St. Louis Style. We added pepperoni to each.
The NY Style pie came out quickly. The crust had a nice overall char on the bottom, and it was well-​flavored. It has a nice chew to it, and slices easily folded in half. However, it isn’t quite authentic. The edge of the crust is folded over to make it thicker. It was still a great pie, but I would have preferred to see a nice, bubbly edge instead.
The St. Louis Style came out a few minutes later. This pizza was a real treat and renewed my faith in this style of pie. Cosmic did an excellent job of achieving that crispy cracker-​like crust, and it had a great flavor to it. I think I could eat 4 of these pies on my own!
On both pizzas, the sauce and toppings played well together. The sauce was just a touch sweet with a kick of spice. The cheese and pepperoni were cooked perfectly on top and finished off the pies well.
In addition to the great pizza, we were really impressed by the unique drink offerings at Cosmic. They cross soda brand lines and include a variety of cans and bottles. Pretty cool.
Since we did dine in, I feel obligated to comment on that as well. The owner acted as our server, and I really appreciated his kindness and enthusiasm for the restaurant. However, I must say that the dining experience conflicted with what you would expect from a hole-​in-​the-​wall pizza joint. The owner set our table for us, folded up white linen napkins, and brought out chilled, high glassware. This is nice, but also entirely unnecessary. Good pizza doesn’t need to put on airs!
FYI– the dining area is also quite cramped with several 4-​top tables in a very small room. We were the only table there, but I can’t imagine if anyone else had been. It would have been uncomfortable and awkward. We will probably dine in again in the future, but only if it is empty. Otherwise, carry out it is.
Overall, we’ll definitely go back. Two large pizzas and drinks came to less than $ 30, which is a huge steal for pizza this good. If you love pizza, definitely give this place a try!

I love this pizza. Reminds me of pizza I got on the east coast at the beach when I was a kid. Zesty, not overloaded with cheese, great crust. Really great, not a chain. I live nearby in Wyoming, and I am going to be a regular. No comparison with the other options around here…

I wanted to like Cosmic Pizza SO BAD! I’ve been thinking about it for weeks. I love their website and their image. How could the pizza be bad? Add to that Goetta Pizza and I was certain I’d stumbled upon pizza heaven.
So last night we got Cosmic Pizza and I got the goetta pizza. Oh… I was SO disappointed. I like my goetta cripsy. I envisioned finely fried goetta generously sprinkled on the pizza, but the reality was quite different.
The goetta was baked into the pizza, just sort of plopped in there. It looked like brown cheese that melted during the cooking process. It was most definitely not crispy. It was more mooshy and well, dag nabit, it just wasn’t good.
My partner had the buffalo chicken pizza and said it was amazing hence the second star and my willingness to try again. The goetta pizza, however, is a memory I prefer to forget.

Yum! Delicious. Friendly staff and fresh pizza. So glad to have a local go– to pizza place.

I tried them once, hoping for something simmilar to the pizza place that was in the same building before Cosmic moved in. It wasn’t the same, but I did give it a fair chance. The pizza wasn’t anything special for me. It wasn’t bad by any means, but it wasn’t anything that stood out either.
I’m also not a huge fan of thin crust or even NY style pizza and them not having a regular or thick crust pizza was a negative for me. Their steak hoagies are good, but taste like every other steak hoagie around.
What really lost my business was I tried to pay with a credit card over the phone to have the food delivered and they had an issue with their cc machine (at least that’s what they said) and I had to go pick the order up. On that day, if I felt like leaving to get food I wouldn’t have gone there and that is the reason I haven’t gone back to try something else and give them another chance.
I do hope they succeed, though, being a small business, so don’t let this review keep you from trying them.

Cosmic is a welcome addition to the many great independent pizza places In Cincinnati. Fantastic crusts — two types — thin and chewy and a cracker style. Love the sauce; not sweet with a little kick. It’s really tasty. The sausage is terrific as is the Thai basil option. Th ey accept c cards and now deliver. Ron the owner works hard to keep his quality high. Don’t miss out on this one!,

Thank goodness for Cosmic Pizza! It is really really good. And the Goetta pizza is awesome, as well as everything else. They even have a great selection of soda. We always get the new york style. Amazing.

Goetta pizza — yum! Just had my first experience with Cosmic Pizza and will definitely order again even if Cosmic is a bit out of the way for me. Like others who have reviewed, I’m still relatively new to the city and not a LaRosa’s fan. The owner was friendly and shared that his desire to open the shop came from his passion to provide good, quality pizza to the area. He also seemed very open to feedback and encouraged me to let him know our thoughts. Great thin crust pizza — give it a try!

I like it. I am from the east coast and this is the most authentic east coast pizza I’ve found here. Like a previous reviewer I don’t like LaRosa’s. This is much better. The sauce is not nearly as sweet as LaRosa’s. The owner and staff are very friendly.

I’m not a Cincy native — I’m a transplant, and i don’t really find LaRosa’s all that appealing even though the locals (including my wife) think it’s the Holy Grail of pizza in Cincy.
I had given up on finding a good *local* joint until I had Cosmic Pizza’s standard thin cracker-​crust pizza. It is nothing short of amazing.
They now accept credit cards (last reviewer mentioned cash-​only), and the service is quite fast. I’ve bought pizza for myself, my family, and for a party — each time it’s incredible stuff.