Hell’s Pizza is my all-time favourite pizza. I order from the Dunedin South store (pickup usually).

The order is almost always ready within the time specified, and I’ve never yet seen a mistake. When the order has been late arriving, I have been given a free pizza voucher in apology – nice touch, and good business sense.

The quality of the pizzas does vary. Best pizzas (I think) include the Grimm (apricot chicken) and vegetarian Sinister (blue cheese, cashews, caramelised onions). The seafood pizza is also good. Most meat pizzas can be made with vegetarian quorn as a substitute if you request it.

One thing that continues to annoy me after years of buying Hells is their skimpy olive policy – ONE OLIVE PER SLICE ONLY is just PITIFUL in what is supposed to be a better quality pizza joint. Not good enough! Olives don’t cost that much!!!

The quality of the sides varies a LOT, as does the portion size. Kumara chips can either be sensational or vary between soggy and burned. Hells don’t seem to have yet found a way of cooking them reliably to standard.

Corn nuggets are basically the same as frozen potato gems, but with mushy corn inside. Don’t bother. Prawn horns also a disappointment – skinny, fried cornets with minimal prawn inside that looked like they’re straight from the frozen section of the supermarket (I’m sure New World sells this product). Not good enough.

Sauces-wise, the blue cheese mayo and garlic mayo are great, as is the cranberry.

I find the dessert pizzas dry and unappealing. Maybe that’s my tastes, but I wouldn’t order them a second time. Either way, they’d definitely need ice cream or whipped cream to make them palatable. Neither is provided (of course).

Staff are always friendly and polite, although rushed.

Overall, a good solid take away / delivery pizza place.

I used to work here briefly and let me tell you, a great deal of time and effort goes into making Hell’s pizzas. After having worked for a different pizza chain, I was very impressed by how much better they were all round. The food always tastes fantastic, and there is a great variety of pizza toppings to pick from, and the sides are fancier than your average. The price is a bit higher than most pizza places, but it’s worth it!