DE Pizza Review: Half Full

Rating:

Final Composite Score: 5 out of 8 slices

[Her: 5.5 out of 8 slices]

[Him: 3 out of 8 slices]

[CousinHer: 6.5 out of 8 slices]

Read the full "dialogue review" below these real-time pictures of your reviewers' pizzas.

Here's the plain-crust artichoke-and-goat-cheese pizza.

Here's the Smokin' Margherita pizza.

And here's the gluten-free artichoke-and-goat-cheese pizza. All photos by your correspondents.

Him:

This is our review of Half Full in Lewes. And tonight we had backup: Her cousin joined us for dinner, which meant we ended up trying three different pizzas — sort of. We had the Smokin' Margherita, and then two versions of the artichoke-and-goat-cheese pizza: one with a regular crust and another with a gluten-free crust.

Her:

Since gluten-free pizza is new territory for us, we decided to start there.

Him:

So, CousinHer, what did you think of the gluten-free crust?

CousinHer:

I would say it was like most gluten-free crusts in that it was very thin and crunchy. But it was definitely a step up from matzah pizza.

Him:

Matzah pizza? The Passover food that our mothers used to make for us?

Her:

I would say it was two steps up, honestly.

CousinHer:

The toppings were a little too wet to pick the slice up cleanly, so I ended up eating the middle with a fork and then the outer part like regular pizza. But I actually liked the flavor. The goat cheese was really good — smooth, creamy, and honestly the only thing on the pizza that had any salt to it.

Her:

And you don’t even like salt.

CousinHer:

Exactly. Which tells you something. The artichokes and roasted peppers themselves weren’t seasoned at all. They were just sort of . . . placed on top.

Her:

I completely agree with that.

Him:

That was exactly my experience too. Nothing on that pizza had been seasoned individually. The vegetables tasted like they came straight out of a jar or a bag and landed directly on the crust without ever meeting salt, a spice, heat, or love.

CousinHer:

Imagine if the artichokes and peppers had actually been roasted.

Her:

Or sautéed for even two minutes.

Now, I had the Smokin' Margherita, and I was actually pleasantly surprised. Years ago we ate at Half Full and I wasn’t impressed at all. So, my expectations were low. But this was much tastier than I expected.

The mozzarella was genuinely good. It was real mozzarella, not one of those mystery cheese blends we keep running into.

Him:

Ah, the notorious and mysterious "pizza cheese."

Her:

The Smokin' Margherita had a nice roasted garlic flavor that worked really well with the tomatoes.

Him:

The menu says it’s smoked mozzarella.

Her:

It absolutely did not taste smoked.

Him:

The sauce tasted smoky, not the cheese.

Her:

Whatever was smoky, it worked better than I expected. And I liked that they tucked the basil under the cheese instead of throwing giant leaves on top where they end up stuck in your teeth.

The crust, though, was more flatbread than pizza to me. The flavor was okay, but the texture was gummy in places.

Him:

Alright. Get ready for a disagreement.

Here’s my overall experience with Half Full: I don’t get it.

Her:

You really don’t get it.

Him:

I don't. I genuinely do not understand why people like Half Full. I had a much worse experience than either of you.

The very first thing that happened when I picked up my slice from the regular crust artichoke-and-goat-cheese pizza was that all the toppings slid off. And the crust was wildly inconsistent. Part of it was mushy, part of it was cracker-crisp, part of it was chewy. It felt less like pizza dough and more like dough that had been pressed flat into a sheet pan and baked without ever rising or developing any structure.

Her:

You like a more traditional pizza crust.

Him:

Surprisingly, when I order pizza, yes, I want a pizza crust. Flatbread is not the same thing as pizza unless your base is focaccia or something similar. This wasn’t that.

The pizza was frustrating because the only ingredient with real flavor was the goat cheese. The mozzarella barely tasted like anything. The sauce was hardly there. The vegetables were completely unseasoned.

Honestly, maybe they should just remove everything else and call it “Goat Cheese Pizza,” because the goat cheese was doing all the work.

CousinHer:

The goat cheese really was good.

Him:

And the Smokin' Margherita wasn’t really a margherita pizza to me. Putting aside the crust issues, a real margherita pizza is fresh mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil. This used regular pizza mozzarella and a smoky tomato sauce that I found kind of odd. This was a cheese pizza.

Her:

But they’re not pretending it’s a traditional margherita. They literally call it a “Smokin' Margherita.” It’s their version.

Him:

I won't fight about the name. But even if you're right, I didn’t think it was especially good.

Her:

I thought mine worked because all the flavors were seasoned and balanced. Your pizza was the problem.

Him:

You should not have to guess which pizzas are good and bad when ordering in a pizza place. A restaurant should not require advanced strategic planning to avoid the bad pie.

Her:

Counterpoint: maybe you made a bad choice.

Him:

It wouldn't be my first.

CousinHer:

I think part of the appeal of Half Full is that it sits between fast casual and fancy dining. In Lewes, a lot of places are either very expensive sit-down restaurants or very casual takeout spots. This sort of fills the middle ground. You can get a beer or a nice glass of wine and have a reasonably priced meal.

Her:

And they have gluten-free pizza, which genuinely matters for some people.

Him:

Well, those two comments are the best response I have heard to my "I don't get it" rant. And the gluten-free point is important. We haven’t specifically searched out gluten-free pizza elsewhere, but this is the first place we have reviewed as part of the DE Pizza project where it’s really been front and center.

CousinHer:

And it’s definitely better than Domino’s gluten-free pizza.

Him:

So Half Full competes successfully against Domino’s. I would guess that's not going in their marketing.

Her:

I also thought the atmosphere was nice. It was lively. Most of the places we’ve reviewed have been half-empty dining rooms with us talking too loudly at one of the few occupied tables. This place actually felt busy and social.

Him:

That’s true. And everybody working there was extremely friendly.

Her:

The entire staff’s emotional investment in the bird nesting inside the outdoor heater was kinda adorable.

Him:

Yes. There was a bird living in one of the space heaters above our table, and every employee wanted to update us on the bird situation. Fortunately, the bird did not, shall we say, announce it presence while we were eating.

CousinHer:

Which honestly was charming and a relief.

Him:

The service itself was . . . fine. You order at the counter, they bring the food out. Nobody was rude. Nobody rushed us out. Everybody was pleasant.

CousinHer:

And I liked that we could all just order and pay separately without dealing with complicated bill-splitting.

Him:

Another item that I don't expect to see in Half Full's marketing: uncomplicated logistics for cheap friends.

CousinHer:

I might phrase it differently.

Her:

I also think their desserts looked good.

Him:

We didn’t eat dessert. But our neighboring table's chocolate cake really did look good.

Her:

But I do agree with you about the vegetables on your pizza. They tasted like jarred roasted peppers and canned artichokes that had never been seasoned.

CousinHer:

Exactly. They just opened the container and scattered them on top.

Him:

Okay. Time to rate Half Full on our copyrighted and renowned one-to-eight-slice scale.

CousinHer:

I’m giving it a six-and-a-half.

Him:

That's fascinating. Your explanation suggests you liked the experience more than the pizza.

CousinHer:

That’s fair. But the gluten-free option really matters, the atmosphere matters, and I’d come back.

Her:

I’m between a five and a five-and-a-half. It’s not New York pizza, but it’s not trying to be. And I thought the Smokin' Margherita was genuinely tasty.

Him:

I’m giving it a three.

Her:

That is brutal.

Him:

I know this is going to make some enemies in Lewes. It’s the lowest score I’ve given so far. The company was wonderful. The staff was nice. The atmosphere was pleasant. The pizza simply is not for me. I resisted coming back after our first visit years ago, and after this second visit, I would happily return for wine — but not for pizza.

Her:

I hope CousinHer and I come back without you and have a wonderful time.

Him:

I expect you will. I'll be eating a slice at one of the pizza places we all loved.

So that’s our review of Half Full in Lewes: a place some people clearly like, a place we sharply disagreed about, and maybe the first review where the atmosphere and logistics generated more consensus than the pizza. Oh, and there's a bird in the space heater. Just ask the staff to point it out.