Ugly Pie Co.

I like this place, and it’s in a pretty strategic location with Mod Pizza and Pieology around. I like the layout and how they have separate order and pay areas. This location is pretty spacious too — we didn’t have much trouble finding a seat (other than an aggressive Chinese lady who cut in front of my wife to ask if patrons at one table were leaving before my wife could say anything… the lady was with four or five colleagues and I’m sure knew that it was just my wife and our baby who were looking for a place to sit — no worries though, we found a longer table with much more space while the five or six of them got stuck at a table for four [end mini-​rant]).
We did the build-​your-​own pizzas, which are priced pretty reasonably around $ 10, and also had a buy one get 50% off the second coupon from the shopneighborhoods site. Not too bad a deal in comparison to Mod Pizza and Pieology.
Quality is on-​par with the other places but one thing that stood out is their ricotta. I think they mix a bit of honey into it because it was semi-​sweet. I wasn’t expecting it but it turned out to work really nicely with everything I got on the pizza. On that note, with everything we got on our pizzas, we found that the crust still stayed pretty crispy. And considering how thin crust the pizza is there, I am still somewhat amazed at how it came out. I’m not a huge fan of crispy pizza, but this was just spot-​on for me.
I think I’d prefer coming back here over the other places, just out of preference for a place that isn’t super-​busy with crazy lines. Our order did take some time to come out but it wasn’t unreasonable at all. I just hate it when there are people waiting behind you because I often feel rushed to get the order in. They do have quite a good selection of toppings, so choose wisely :)

I ordered a bacon and eggs pizza. It was one egg plopped in the middle of the dough with cheese, bacon, and topped with arugula.
Taste: crust is thin and crispy. Cooked just long enough to give some charring. As much as I hoped for a breakfast style pizza, I think I’ll stick with the original easy of having bacon and eggs. The pizza was very greasy with oil dripping all over my hands as I ate it. The non stick paper (?) Was completely soaked in oil. Cheap on the the amount of ingredients. I think I had the equivalent of one bacon slice in small little pieces.
Price: is a bit more expensive than the other Build Your Own Pizza places. It is Irvine and a Chipotle style pizza restaurant cuts efficiency.

Ugly Pie Co. is similar to other fast-​fired pizza places, such as Pieology or Blaze Pizza. However, I think Ugly Pie offers higher quality toppings and other interesting toppings that the typical joints don’t have. I’ve been here several times, and I’ve tried the Bacon Apricot Pizza and BYO pizza.
Bacon Apricot Pizza ($ 9.25): comes with bacon, ricotta, mozzarella, bacon, apricot, walnut, and honey. First time I came here, I really enjoyed this. What can get better than bacon bits and sweet goodness? Adding apricots into the pizza really made the pizza unique. The bacon gave the pizza a crispy and savory taste that paired well with the rest. Walnuts were unique too and also gave the pizza a nice texture. The honey was amazing when drizzled over the pizza, as it really blended well with the cheeses (like figs with cheese, OH MY GOODNESS).
BYO Pizza ($ 9.25): after coming several times, I realized that you can add as many toppings as you want for about the same price as some of the specialty pizzas. I decided to go for this one because I wanted to try something besides the Bacon Apricot. UNLIMITED TOPPINGS, y’all! Go for as much as you want! I strongly recommend the alfredo sauce, as many cheeses as you like, all the meats & veggies you want. That’s what I did, and the pizza was ABSOLUTELY delicious.
Here’s how it works for BYO pizzas (choose as many as you want):
— Step 1: regular or gluten-​free dough
— Step 2: choose your sauce: tomato, BBQ, alfredo, pesto, hot buffalo, garlic butter
— Step 3: choose your cheese (s) – mozzarella, parmesan, ricotta, gorgonzola,
cheddar cheese, fresh mozzarella
— Step 4: Toppings:
+ [MEAT] smoked ham, bacon, ground beef, sausage, pepperoni, salami, chicken
+ [VEGGIES] — tomato, sundried tomato, bell peppers, olive, capers, baby spinach, arugula, pineapple, jalapeños, banana peppers, pear, mushroom, artichokes, fresh basil, chopped garlic, red onion
Overall, I really enjoyed my experiences at Ugly Pie. It is definitely more expensive than other pizza joints, but in my opinion, worth it. The interior is really hipster and cute looking. A lot of wood-​based tables that give it a modern and clean feel. Love it! I’ll be back again and again.

I love reading mixed reviews on Unilocal,especially the unfavorable reviews with little reason as to why it was a negative experience. It intrigued me so much that I had to make my way in and try it myself. You don’t really know until you have a first-​hand experience, so the work week was the perfect time to try something new.
I arrived Wednesday afternoon to an empty and peaceful Ugly Pie, which was short-​lived as the lunch rush began. As you enter, you are faced with the beautiful dining room, but the ordering counter and open view into the pizza oven is toward the back wall. The menu is an easy read, but may be a task if you are indecisive with which options you have for a custom pie.
Since I wanted to try one of their tried and true Ugly Pies, I went with the BBQ Chicken. Thin crust pizza topped with BBQ sauce, mozzarella, gorgonzola, chicken, red onion, banana peppers, pineapples and cilantro. The gorgonzola’s presence is subtle, but may have been overpowered by the BBQ sauce, which was sweet and lightly spiced. The pineapples and banana peppers was an interesting and unique topping choice, but complemented the pie.
Friends on the other hand, went for the customization route. Although I can’t tell you what was on each, everyone thoroughly enjoyed their selections! The flats are thin and about 8 – 10 inches in diameter, which is a typical size for an individual pizza.
Unlike their competitors, Ugly Pie Co also offer macaron, coffee/​tea beverages and craft beers (bottled and draft selections) all in one place. The craft beer selections are pretty decent with a bit of range from IPAs to browns to darker beers.
What I find a bit strange is the ordering process and the flow of the restaurant. There are two separate counters, one for pizza and one for beverages/​dessert. As you walk through the dining room toward the back to place your order, you hang left to place your drink order and pay. Aside from this design flaw, Ugly Pie Co has treated me well and I’m excited to return to build my own.

My pizza was just okay. Crust was a little too chewy; I like it crispier. Maybe they didn’t cook it long enough, since most reviews said theirs was crispy. But aside from the crust, my pizza was too salty. My kids split a cheese pizza, and it was super oily. I prefer Blaze, by a mile.

I’ve tried every other Build-​Your-​Own-​Pizza places in Irvine, and it was time to try this place out. Went here with a friend on a Wednesday night and it was not busy at all. The staff is super friendly and really took time to make my pizza look good and spread out the toppings generously. When I got my pizza, it looked great and tasted great too. Crispy, thin crust… my favorite! I feel the ingredients are much better than the other places because I could taste the difference right away. I guess you get what you pay for since this place is a bit pricier than the other pizza places. $ 9.25 for BYO pizza. Not an everyday thing, but I’ll come again for sure.

This is the closest BYO Pizza joint near me, I like the crust, crispy crust! Place is really clean and modern in almost Steampunkish way décor wise.
It is a bit pricier than most but the rent is probably sky high in these parts.
Toppings seem really parboiled and don’t look too appetizing at first, but it all works out in the end.
They had live music too, adds to the ambiance!

I’m a fan! But there were 2 things that stood out to me:
1. My boyfriend’s pizza was too salty
2. The pizzas were on the oily side
I’m not sure if it’s because my bf got items off their set pizza flavors list or not, but his pizza overall was much saltier than mine (½ Bacon N’ Eggs + ½ Chicken Basil Pesto). I created my own and put more toppings on, so maybe that’s why mine was less salty. Or different chefs. Who knows. Also, I’m not particularly against pizzas that are oily, but this one actually made my hands smell for the rest of the day even after washing my hands with soap a couple of times.
I DID, however, enjoy the atmosphere. It was like a whole experience in there, so props to the interior designer! Their ingredients were all very, very fresh, and their service was friendly too.

Amazing food! Their pizza are really good and the staff is easy going.
Definitely recommend this pizza place if you are in Irvine.

This could possibly be the worst pizza in Orange County!!! The crust is horrible, the sauce tastes like it comes straight out of a can, and the cheese is probably imitation because it has no flavor at all! On top of the horrible pizza, the female manager could care a less if you’re there or not. She should really consider another line of work id she’s so miserable working there.
Bad place!!!

Disclaimer: I haven’t tried any of the other custom thin crust pizza such as Pieology, etc. So my review is solely on my first impression of Ugly Pie Co.
Ugly Pie Co. is a new addition to Orchard Hill strip mall. This strip mall is not particular crowded as people that dined there are usually residents of local neighborhoods so it doesn’t really generate a lot traffic list Spectrum and it’s at the end of Irvine, this strip mall isn’t particular busy.
My family came here on a Sunday night around 8pm. First impression is that this place is huge! I love their décor. We chose to dine indoor rather than outdoor because of the night breeze. We initially ordered two thin crust pizza’s. We weren’t sure if our daughter would like the basil pesto or garlic butter sauce so we went with one of the pizza’s as the traditional tomato sauce with sausage, mushroom and mozzarella cheese and the other pizza with the garlic butter sauce.
My husband and I enjoyed the the garlic butter pizza. The crust was nice and thin, crispy and with the toppings we chose it wasn’t too overly salty and there was decent amount of toppings too. My daughter calls the crispy edges as pizza chips!
As we finished, we realize we could probably eat another one so we went ahead and ordered a third pizza with basil pesto. We made a mistake and added Parmesan cheese so it made it a little more salty than the previous two pizza’s. Overall, we like the thin crust pizza. It’s a nice break from our usual thick crust First Class pizza.
My daughter also tried their macaroon. It’s tasty. Not too sweet at all.
We’ll definitely come back here especially our daughter likes it.
They have breakfast pizza. I’ll be interested in trying that on one of these mornings!

Not too impressed. I decided to give this place a chance, since it’s closer to my house than Pieology, Blaze, and MOD Pizza. The idea is the same — you can either order a specialty pizza or create your own for $ 9.99. I believe this is more expensive than other pizza joints.
On a weekday night, they seemed pretty understaffed because the restaurant was almost empty and we had to wait a long time to order and get our food. Maybe understaffed isn’t the right word. Inefficient might be better? There were 2 people taking orders, 1 making the pizza, and 1 as the cashier. When you create your own, the employee is struggling to write down everything as quickly as possible in sharpie on the wax paper. Why not just be like Chipotle so you don’t need to write it all down. Or why not be like other pizza places and have the menu pre-​printed on the wax paper so all you have to do is tick off the toppings? The placement in the store is also weird — from left to right, there’s the cashier, then «order here» and then «pick up here.»
Pizzas weren’t bad. They offer gluten free crust, but no whole wheat crust like Pieology does. They don’t taste much better than other places, so they shouldn’t cost more. Toppings were a bit skimpy. I don’t think I’ll be a regular here.

This place is not bad at all.
Pros: — offers higher end toppings like prosciutto & fresh mozzarella.
— better tasting crust than their competitors
— offers beer & wine
— less crowded
Cons — smaller size pizza
— $ 1.50 more

Huge fan of Ugly Pie Co!
The service here is top notch, it doesn’t quite have the busy line up of the bigger create your own pizza place, much more chill and easy going.
Love the décor and vibe of the place, modern, rustic, funky, fun.
The menu is fantastic, they are open for breakfast on weekends, I am dying to come back and try one of their breakfast pizzas they sound too good!
I created my own with pesto and tons of veggies and it was great, along with a side salad.
The guys had pizzas and loved them as well.
They offer more unique toppings then all the other chains, like pears or apricot (though I passed on those)
Prices and portions are fair, quality of everything speaks for itself, hope they well well and expand all over, we had a really excellent lunch here!

I came into eat for lunch one day. I was impressed by how polite the employees were. Yes, most of them seemed young but they were all very friendly and professional.
They have a lot of interesting specialty pizzas like the Pear Gorgonzola and Bacon Apricot. But I went with the Chicken Basil Pesto pizza. All the ingredients seemed to be very fresh and my pizza only took around 5 minutes to be done. The pizza was on point too.
They have macarons and even macaron ice creams for dessert options! I would definitely come back to try those, they sound delicious.
As for drinks, they have fountain drinks and canned sodas. Sadly, they don’t have their liquor license yet but I’m excited for when they do get it. They have a variety of beers and even have wine. Plus, they have Lavazza coffee!
I would definitely recommend this place to my friends and family! :)

Ugly Pie is pricier, but this is near Orchard Hills; we can afford it. The arrugula & prosciutto pizza was good. My pizza could have used more arrugula, but this place is so busy that I didn’t bother asking for more. Service was fast and polite. The price point is just fine, and I’ll definitely come back because of their quality and location.

Ugly Pie Co. is great! The pizza is really good, simple menu and the staff is super nice and friendly. Very nice restaurant and atmosphere, the décor is cool and makes you feel w

Ehh… Just. Copycat of pielogy & will cost you more.. No wheat crust, skimpy on toppings, & not as many topping options. I’d save the price increase & go down a couple streets to pielogy at marketplace.
Cookie was good.

I work close by to Ugly Pie and was waiting anxiously for it to open. I’ve never been to one before but I have been to several other make-​your-​own style pizza places so I couldn’t help but compare Ugly Pie to them.
First thing we noticed is that it is a smidge pricier than some of the other MYO pizza places at almost $ 10 for a pizza. We also noticed the pizza was smaller than other places. Truthfully, our pizzas appeared to be more like flatbreads than pizza as the crust was very thin and crispy.
They do have a good selection of toppings but even so I opted for the buffalo pizza because it sounded yummy. It looked good when it came out but upon first bite I noticed there wasn’t much buffalo flavor. I realized that the buffalo sauce was really lacking on the pizza and what little was on there was only in the middle. it was also severely lacking in cheese and the edges of my pizza were pretty much just crust. :-\
My friends ordered the make your own pizza and their pizzas were kind of hit or miss. Some of them seemed to have more cheese, etc than others. Overall the pizzas were okay but things just appeared very inconsistent. This could just be opening month growing pains but they definitely need some work in this area.
On the upside, it’s a nice big clean place. Service was nice too so no complaints there. They also offer a nice dessert selection w macaroons and homemade cookies.

This is pretty much another player in the game of fast fire pizza very much like Pieology with a different feel. If you’ve been to any of those hipster food halls this is pretty much a similar vibe for just this one location. Plenty of indoor and outdoor seating that was completely empty when I came by. Well, they did just open.
If you’re expecting the same value in building your own pizza you might be disappointed. Like every other place in Irvine this has prices subject to the Irvine Inflation. You’re not going to get a build you own pizza (9.25), drink (varies), and dessert (starting at 1.75) for under ten dollars. Speaking of drinks, they are going to have beer and wine here. Not sure if that’s already available, but I saw their application for a liquor license on the door.
The pizza is that super-​thin-​for-​fast-​cooking crust. No noticeable difference from other joints. Their toppings are incredibly fresh, but again, no different than other places. No additional selection but not lacking either. The only thing that really sets this apart is the dessert and potential booze selection. I tried a white chocolate chip macadamia cookie, which was baked on site. I saw some macarons, and a completely sinful option of making a macaron ice cream sandwich. Bottom line: good alternative for other similar restaurants but nothing new or otherwise remarkable.
Regarding service… this is the real star killer here. I understand that this location just opened but the employees were hiding in the back doing random tasks. The couple employees at the counter wandering around looked like they wanted to kill themselves. No greeting when walking into a completely empty shop, no thank you, no smile. Look, this is Irvine. Most of the people here can afford to spend their money somewhere else and will do so when service is lacking.