Not many pizza places are surrounded by as much controversy as Dragon Pizza in Davis Square. Dave Portnoy, a famous pizza reviewer, most often provides an increase in customers with his reviews, however, with Dragon Pizza, this was not the case.
He was unimpressed from the beginning, doing his review on the street outside. The owner walked out which led to a shouting match between the owner and Dave. He ended up rating Dragon one of the lowest scores on one bite of pizza, a measly 6.4. The video of the altercation itself is hilarious, showing off Portnoy’s Bostonian roots and unforgiving personality. How would a business like this react to the newfound negative publicity? How would the contentious public image and widespread low reviews affect the business? We went to go find out.
Located in the heart of Davis Square, Dragon capitalizes on its location. The owner recently opened an arcade and lounge next door called the Dragon’s Lair in which there is a pinball machine along with other games. It has a nice atmosphere and definitely helps out with the overall customer experience. In the main building of the restaurant, there is a bit of a retro vibe. Checkered floors and dim lights surround you as you wait for your pie. We went as a group and three out of the four of us were served right on time, getting our slices within a few minutes of ordering. We all independently noticed that the employees were clearly not enthused by their jobs. After the three of us got our slices, we went up and asked about the slice of cheese that we were waiting for. The two people working said they had forgotten and it would only be a minute, after another five minutes, still no slice. While this may have been a fluke it was frustrating, so we went back to the counter after 10 minutes of waiting, and asked again. Finally after 17 minutes, we got the goods. This experience definitely left a sour impression on us.
The slice itself, ignoring the wait times, is chewy with rich tomato sauce and runny cheese. The crust is solid yet still light and airy. However, it doesn’t compare to Joe’s pizza. The advantage of Drag- on Pizza is the fact that you can buy single slices from them, one of the only pizza places in Davis where this is possible. Our personal recommendation is if you are in Davis, invite some friends and get pizza from American Flatbread, one of our favorite places in Somerville. The pizza from Dragon is nothing special—just something to fill you up, similarly to Angelo’s. Our rating is a 6.9 out of 10. Definitely a solid slice but in no way is it worth traveling for.
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This article also appears in our March 2024 print edition.
