Quick Take:
Location: 1212 Florida Ave S, Lakeland
What Mike Ordered: Cheese Slice + The Roni Cup
What Katie Ordered: Cheese Slice + Tie Die Specialty
Final Score: 4/5
Price: ~$10-20 per person
For our thirtieth first stop on our Polk Food Quest, we visited By The Chef Pizza in Lakeland.
By The Chef Pizza is a spot that Polk County RAVES about and pushed to try to get Dave Portnoy (from One Bite Reviews / Barstool Sports) to check out if he ever came to Lakeland / Polk.
(TLDR: He came to Lakeland, but By The Chef was closed so he reviewed Palace Downtown instead.)
Every time we post a pizza review (especially in Lakeland) we get comments about how we have to try out By The Chef.
And, as you guys know, pizza is our favorite thing to review, having been born and raised on Long Island (me) and New Jersey (Katie).
So we were really excited to finally get here (took a while because they're closed Monday and Tuesday, which is when we do a lot of the reviews...).
NOTE: I do want to make mention to the fact that we went in on a Sunday and Peter "Chef Pete" Garces, the owner, did not seem to be there — and they've been having some staffing issues — so keep that in mind with both taste AND vibes. We plan on giving it another shot, but I needed to make this note before we go further.
By the way: if you're new here, the concept of my Polk Food Quest is simple: every week I try a local spot, order the most common thing people get, try a few extras, and rank it on taste, value, vibes, and overall.
This week: Cheese and Specialty Slices!
Which means I ordered a cheese slice (NY style) and a OG Roni speciality slice (Sicilian pepperoni, basically); and Katie got a cheese slice and Tie Die (Sicilian speciality).
How Does This Work?
I order the standard item for that category (for pizza it was a couple cheese and speciality slices), plus a few extras so I can get a full feel for the menu.
Then I rank the experience on four things:
Taste | Value | Vibes | 
Overall
Taste focuses on the standard item.
The rest reflects the entire experience.
Taste: 4.5/5
Let me reiterate that this is the spot that countless locals told me was going to be THE best pizza in all of Polk County.
So we went in extremely hyped.
I also want to reiterate that I don't believe Chef Pete was in that day (I'm not sure if that had anything to do with ANY of the review; I'm just mentioning).
That said, this was not the best pizza we've had in Polk thus far.
BUT, it was still really good pizza.
Here's a quick breakdown for my quick scanners, though:
- Cheese Pizza NY Style (4/5): This was just decent pizza. I'm not sure if it was pulled early, or what — but I was extremely hyped for this, and it didn't hit the mark for me. Very thin, but almost needed to bite and pull it instead of getting a nice crunch bite.
- Specialty Pizza (5/5): I think if the review was based entirely on the specialty pizzas it would have been much closer to a 5/5. Both our speciality slices were extremely good AND there were so many other specialty slices that we still wanted to try.
If you like Sicilian style slices (which I do), and/or specialty style slice (especially on Sicilian style); this might just be your favorite spot.
Katie and I are definitely going to go back and give it another go for the NY style cheese as well, though!
Vibes: 3.5/5
The vibes were fine, but nothing special.
I like the branding, but unfortunately that isn't enough to give it a 5/5.
Here's how I rank vibes:
- The Physical Location (Where it is on a map)
- Hospitality/Service
- The Interior/Space
By The Chef has a great location in Dixieland, Lakeland — right next to (semi-attached) to The Wine Garden next-door.
It's not right in a downtown, but the location could still grab the Vibes a 5/5 if everything else was great.
The interior was nice. Nothing mind-blowing, but nice.
The service was decent, but I wouldn't say it was great.
At one point, with still a handful of people eating, the only person working the front left to go get food from next-door (I think maybe Bright Ice which is by The Wine Garden); and left everyone unattended.
I'm sure there was someone in the back, but there was no way for use to ask for a box to go, so we sat there waiting to figure out what was going on — until he eventually came back eating something.
I suppose he could have at least mentioned he was stepping out. Not sure.
By The Chef has also been having some staffing issues in general, and are closed Monday and Tuesday (which has made it really hard for us to make it in); which'll push it down slightly as well.
No control over the interior/space they're at (usually breweries, but that doesn't mean it's always a 5/5) brings it down a notch.
And, the physical location (where it is; Winter Haven, Bartow, Lakeland, etc.) won't always be in a downtown or amazing spot; so that ticks it down a little as well.
Overall it's in a great spot and is nice inside, but it has a little work to do on the hospitality/service side, and hours.
Value: 4.5/5
The food was great, and not marked up just because of the hype.
Even for Sicilian (thick-bread) style pizza, you can still grab a full pie of speciality for under $30, and a NY style for $20 or so.
Really the only thing I have to take a half a point off of was for the Vibes.
The food was still amazing, even if I'm not scoring the NY style a 5/5.
If you're grabbing takeout, then the value is a 5/5.
If you're dining in, it still might be a 5/5 (depending on who is working that day, I suppose); but for not I am giving it a 4.5/5 to keep it fair.
Overall: 4/5
Overall I'm giving By The Chef Pizza a solid 4/5.
Katie and I are definitely going to go back and try more speciality slices (there were so many we wanted to try); and give the NY style another shot as well.
It's still a spot we're excited to go back to, even if the ONE time we were there the NY style didn't rank the BEST in Polk (speciality was FIRE, though).
Would I bring my visiting family there?
Yes.
I think we have spots closer to us that we might go to first — but I'd definitely go for specialty/Sicilian style AND to get their take on what locals thinks is the best NY style in all of Polk County.
Here’s how I’d sum up By The Chef Pizza:
You need to go try some of the speciality slices.
The OG Roni (Sicilian pepperoni) and the Tie Die were both extremely good, and there were so many other specialty slices we still want to try.
If you’re a fan of Sicilian style pizza, this might just be your favorite spot in Polk.
The NY style cheese slice is worth trying, but go in with fair expectations.
Ours was very thin and more of a bite-and-pull than a nice crunch, so we’re giving it another shot before we make a final call.
Prices are fair, even with all the hype.
You can grab a full specialty pie for under $30 and a NY style pie for around $20.
Takeout is the move if you want a guaranteed 5/5 value.
Dine-in service can depend on who’s working that day.
Plan ahead, because they’re closed Monday and Tuesday.
You’ll find them in Dixieland, Lakeland, right next to The Wine Garden.
Between the Sicilian specialty slices, the fair prices, and a spot locals can’t stop talking about, it’s 100% worth the trip. Just start with the specialty.
Before You Go....
Hey!
I want to know what you think of By The Chef Pizza.
Leave a comment below.
The more you share, the better, but anything is appreciated.
Each comment helps The Best Of Polk articles and eventually, the yearly awards!
Have a place you want me to try?
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