10/10 experience! Such great pizza, fresh ingredients, the staff were incredible! We came in on a weeknight and it was a 20 minute wait or so and well worth it. Worth every penny & a nice inside atmosphere. read more

1 Star Very disappointing experience. We came in on Saturday to enjoy some pizza after seeing so many good reviews, but unfortunately our experience was the complete opposite. The guy helping us was rude and seemed bothered when we asked questions. He didn't want to explain anything or provide good customer service. We simply asked for a pizza half pepperoni and half sausage, and the whole interaction made us feel like we were an inconvenience. Good food is important, but customer service matters just as much. Unfortunately, based on how we were treated, I would not recommend this place and will not be returning. read more

There's nothing special about this pizza. The majority of people don't really have a clue what good pizza really is. I always order a whole pie because I want your pizza fresh out of the oven. Was it worth tdrive, I guess so, because I need to find out. Would I come here again? No. read more

By The Chef Pizza - NY Pepperoni, slice of the thick crust - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

I went in on Thursday around 2:15p. I ordered 2 slices. One mushroom and one OG. Both were very good on focaccia. The mushroom was good, but the OG had more flavor which I liked. If you're used to ordering water, only available is bottled. So you're forced to buy a drink. That and the 3% upcharge for credit card could be fixed. This was my 2nd visit and the slices were $8 last time when they first opened. They are now more reasonable at $5.50 for NY style and $6 for others. I would recommend a the ingredients are great quality. Music was playing and the tables were clean. Nice ambiance. read more

By The Chef Pizza - Mushroom slice - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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By the Chef Pizza is hands down the best pizza in Florida!! This is real NY pizza not some interpretation of NY style pizza. Delicious pizza, convenient location, and friendly people. This is my pizza joint! read more

By The Chef Pizza - Knicks in 5 lol!!! - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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Small Spot, The Food is always on point and very consistent, Best Pizza in Lakeland In my opinion and the service is great, they took their time to ensure it was fresh and the set up is perfect so you can see what you're getting. read more

best pizza by the slice in town. have been to this location multiple times and have been impressed with all their pizza options. read more

By The Chef Pizza - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

By the Chef Pizza is amazing! Fresh toppings, great flavor and perfectly baked crust.

Placed an online order through their site, using their preferred (as referenced on their site) delivery method, powered by Toast. Toast farms those deliveries out to various companies like Uber Eats or Doordash. The problem originated when the store gave the driver the incorrect box. The store was aware and contacted me directly. The person I spoke with had to keep calling me back so they could speak with the owner. After the 3 callback, I was told that my money will be refunded and that was it. I was left with a box of food that I wasn't certain was someone's leftovers or what. It was 3 different types of pizza but only a slice of each. Crying shame. Was really hoping to have found a new spot for great pizza, but with an owner who is OK with this "low" level of customer satisfaction, we'll spend our money elsewhere. read more

I was hungry after work on a weeknight. I drove into the parking lot, walked into this simple carryout place, ordered a margherita pizza, and waited 20 minutes. When I got back home I ate the best thin crust pizza I had had since leaving the New York area before the turn of the century. Wow! read more

Well by the..chef, this place is good! This space on Florida Ave has had trouble keeping a business, but By The Chef seems like it's here to stay. They offer both thick square more deep-dish style pizza, and regular thin triangle slices. The square pies were sitting out at the front bar and they had a handful of different flavors, some unique and some traditional. We tried the buffalo chicken, margherita, and mushroom. We truly enjoyed them all but the margherita stole the show for sure. It was so simply delicious. I also love the way they've set up the inside. It's not the easiest space to work with but it's so cute- reminiscent of New York famous pizza shops with its own unique spin and almost an anime feel. read more

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You cannot pick your own toppings on the pizza because of the dough, I was told, which at first seemed a bit pretentious to me, but overall, decent selection. If you like deep dish, there's a variety of flavors and we thought it was adequate. We tried some of the experimental unnamed rectangular pizzas which had a good crisp crust. The NY pizza is definitely kind of good- tried the mushroom pizza. It was tasty, for sure. The crust is thick and chewy... The style of the store is on the creative side. Impressive that it was all the chef's idea! Wasn't too sure what to do with the oils. I read how others enjoyed the red pepper oil and the honey one. Bottles weren't labeled. The service was as expected. The ambiance was interesting. There were no drinks for little ones (like toddler and below) so bring your own juice and milk, but they do have the high chairs. It was okay though unsure if we will return. Some people might really like it better than I did. It's UNIQUE. read more

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I have been a snow bird from Pennsylvania for 16 years years. This was The Best Pizza I have had in Florida. Just like the pizzas up north, I am used to. Nice restaurant pleasant staff. Great selections of pizzas. I talk to the owner and he was from the same city in Pennsylvania I am from. Stop by this place and have the best pizza I have found in Florida. read more

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Great spot located in Dixieland near Downtown Lakeland! We ordered chef's specialty, "It's Spicy" (buffalo chicken), and the Shroom (added balsamic vinegar). Pizza is served by the slice and on focaccia bread. They also have classic NY style cheese pizza! Great service, pop-art urban vibe, right next to Wine bar and ice cream shop. Will definitely be back! read more

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We got there right at 12pm on Sunday when they opened so we had the place to ourselves. The pizza was of course fresh. I had a regular NY style cheese...let me tell you the sauce was amazing on that pizza ,thin crust and perfect. Right amount of sauce to cheese ratio. I also had the margarita pizza, that dough was so airy and the crispy edges were amazing. It was so light tasting. My husband had the pepperoni, for me it was too salty..too much pepperoni, (I know can there ever be too much??) but my husband loved it. He also had the everything one had sausage, onions, peppers, basil and he loved it as well. We also tried an iced tea that was very good. Definitely going back!!! Great hours , 12-8 closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Sundays 12-6 read more

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Recently visited and got a couple of slices. Thhe pizza is served on a focaccia bread and priced very reasonably. The OG was our favorite for sure. We liked others, but found that it could get a bit greasy. read more

The food and service here is insane. With a calm relaxing atmosphere, the smell of fresh pizza, and stellar Florida made tea this is the number one place to get pizza in Lakeland! PS. Add some honey and chili oil for that extra pop to any of their pizzas. read more

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Crust is light, thick and crispy all at the same time. Combinations of cheeses and toppings are fabulous and different taking the pizza to a new level. By the slice or an entire pie - your choice and if you crave a New York style pizza their's is extra large, thin & foldable! Stop and meet Chef Peter read more

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Would probably be a great pizza place if they answered the phone!!! Called 5 times and they didn't pick up once

I really wanted to like By The Chef Pizza but I left extremely disappointed. I visit yesterday evening (Friday Night) for dinner, about an hour before closing. They only had two options for by the slice orders: The O.G. and The Roni Cup. The O.G. is basically a cheese pizza and The Roni is basically a pepperoni pizza. Even though I was a little disappointed they didn't have some of their more creative options available, I ordered one of each because they both sounded delicious. I started with the O.G. My first bite was pretty nice: airy thick crust, aromatic basil, a flavorful tomato sauce and gooey cheese. Then, my bites started getting closer to the crust. The crust was severely burnt. Not a light char but like eating charcoal burnt. All the flavors that I was enjoying in the slice were completely overpowered. The Roni Cup was worse. Not only was the crust burnt worse on this slice but all the pepperonis were burn and had the same charcoalness as the crust. Needless to say this slice had no flavor. I much prefer Jets Pizza for this style of pizza over what I ate here. By The Chef Pizza seemed to have some promise and I hope they figure out how to improve the quality of their slices. read more

By The Chef Pizza - The Roni Cup - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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By The Chef pizza is by far one of the best pizzas that me and my partner have had since i've been down from New York. With a wonderfully cooked crust and a light tasting tomato sauce all of our pizza prerequisites were met with their NY Slice. I ordered the roni cup focaccia slice which despite being covered in pepperoni didn't result in a greasy slice at all which is always nice to see; the dough was also incredibly airy throughout the center with a perfect crisp on the end crust, it is a must try! My partner in crime ordered the OG and also loved the perfectly crunchy and airy dough and described it as "fantabulous!" The staff were also extremely nice and talked us through their menu showcasing their incredible knowledge on their menu. The wait was also fairly quick especially with how busy they were at the time. If you're ever in Lakeland and want to try an amazing slice that perfectly integrates everything you want in a pizza come to By The Chef! read more

By The Chef Pizza - NY Slice & OG - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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I had a decent first experience after many tries and turn aways for various opening issues. I came in the late mid day with 3 of the foccaccia pizzas cold on display at $6 each. The two I wanted to try were sold out. I selected two others and the Chef shared how best to reheat at home. They reheated easily and had golden crust bottoms (I'd worried as I'd seen many way toooo black bottoms and charred edges or tops.) Both were wonderfully flavorful and could be my favorites over the two I hoped for. He said to get the full choices I should come at 12 or 5 or order a custom for myself. He was giving out discount tokens for the wine bar next door for people to go their and wait for their pizzas, a nice touch. They make NY style thin crusts with the same six toppings as well. The biggest bear is the parking situation for this location. A gravel lot off the alley, that is relatively far (a block). It's not good for unstable walkers. The ambiance is "pizza place-like", casual (and small building). I'm glad I tried it, more complicated to access than I personally like, but delicious. I'm still a far bigger Chicago or Ohio style pizza preference person to become a regular. read more

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We were excited to try By The Chef Pizza, wondering if it was gonna be like a couple of the other really good pizzerias in town! Our excitement dwindled fast. The restaurant was packed- there were people at tables, in line and waiting for to-go and pick orders (They opened late that day due to staffing issues )... There was no menu. There is no website with a menu. All we could find was a few Facebook posts- no where could we find an accurate and current menu. We know there must've been somewhere to view their options, as people were walking in to pick up to-go orders, but we never found it. We actually left initially, and then walked back in, deciding to give it a go. There were 5, half-gone pizzas behind a piece of small glass. Thinking that was all we had to choose from, we ordered a total of 4 slices: pepperoni and cheese, margherita, elote (think Mexican corn pizza) and caccio e Pepe (5 cheeses and cracked pepper). They grabbed our slices and took them to the back to reheat them. In the meantime, we tried to find a place to sit. Chaos. The restaurant was dirty- like BAD; chairs, tables and floors were covered in spilled food and drinks--Of course- because they were short-staffed! Maybe it would have been better for them to only be open for take out, instead of having eat-in dining that night? We used a napkin to clean a table enough to sit at. 3 of the 4 pizza slices were focaccia crusts, so they were thick and slightly greasy. The margherita was the thinnest crust and had the most flavor. The elote pizza tasted like a sauceless piece of focaccia with a can of corn dumped on it. The caccio e Pepe didn't really taste like anything and the pepperoni had very few, small, circular pepperoni slices on it. Sub-par at best. Let's take about the 'amazing, locally-made in Polk county' tea they sold. Disgusting. Not tea- just a concoction of high fructose corn syrup, artificial colorings and flavor in an overpriced, plastic bottle. Just stick with soda- it was the healthier option. I don't think we'll be back. I do hope their staffing gets better and they are given a chance to find their groove. We were expecting more. But the fact is, there are way better places in Lakeland to get a slice of pizza. read more

Best pizza in Lakeland.! I've tried all the flavors, but have to say my faves are the Spicy (buffalo chicken) and the sausage and spinach (name?). And you must grab a slice of NY style cheese while you're there. Pizza heats up wonderfully if you get it to go too! read more

Yooo hands down best pizza by the slice spot on the south side and it's abouttt timeeeeee I had the pepperoni the spinach and sausage and the meatball and they all tasted different in their own way down to the crust I'm talking right across from Cobb and penn I was sketch at first but consider me a regular now read more

By The Chef Pizza - Spinach and sausage pepperoni and the meatball pizza wanted to try the shroom definitely getting the next time - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

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Chef Peter, the owner of this wonderful restaurant, always greats us with a smile and he is always friendly. This is a hidden gem in Lakeland that is mainly frequented by those that live in this area. His customer service is very friendly and he goes above and beyond to make sure customers feel welcomed, appreciated and valued. The pizza is delicious and I love the fact that you can get it by the slice so that I can try different ones without having to buy multiple pizzas. read more

By The Chef Pizza - The pizzas that he has on a regular basis. - Pizza Near Me - Lakeland, Florida

My husband and I tried Chef Pizza today and it was amazing! We tried 4 different kinds of pizzas and all were amazing! The honey on the pepperoni was the icing on the cake, or pizza lol. The owner is very nice and was patient and explained all the different pizzas to us. The dough / crust was so good and light and fluffy. The restaurant had plenty of seating and was very clean. Loved the music. We can't wait to go back again soon. You gotta try it!!! read more

The employees are very intentional about their description of their pizza! They have passion about it for sure. Creative flavors that all work well!! I had the cacio e pepe it had so many cheese flavors and so much taste! I wanted to try all the slices!! So I will be back, maybe everyday like the other patrons!! The other customers couldn't say enough about how incredible the pizza was and the quality!!! In my opinion, pizza is ALL about the quality of ingredients and this place has all the quality!!! The crunch on the bottom of the focaccia base for "by the slice" is perfectly hot and crunchy!!! Seating was plentiful even during the lunch rush, air conditioning was on full blast!! Steady flow managed well. How it works: Tell them which slice you want, pay for it, they put the slice in the oven, they call you by name to pickup! Easy! read more

Go in there and get the "It's Saucy " slice. 10/10 Best lil pizzeria in town. This spot is just what Dixieland was needing. read more

Hands down, one of the best pizza spots I've tried! The crust alone is worth the visit--perfectly crisp with just the right amount of chew. I tried the Cacio e Pepe pizza and was blown away. It's truly a standout--I haven't had one this good anywhere else. The flavor balance is spot on. The Roni Cup pepperoni pizza was also amazing--those crispy little pepperoni cups pack a punch. This place is definitely a hit. Highly recommend! read more

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Amazing pizza service is great owner is fantastic! Place is clean! Try it you'll love it!

Recently tried "By The Chef" after a couple recommendations from friends. This is some of the best pizza I've ever had. Which is saying something as I'm partial to the traditional NY slice. The ingredients are fresh and the staff is friendly and personable. The owner was especially welcoming which I appreciate. Very chill and comfortable vibe from the place all around. Would absolutely recommend. read more

The whole family enjoyed every pizza we tried. We definitely all are sure that this is our new favorite pizza spot. The flavors are out of this world. The employees know their stuff and can answer any question that you might have. My suggestion would be to look at the menu on the website ahead of time so you can see all of the ingredients before hand to be ready to order. You order what you want at the counter, they take it to the oven, and then call you when it's ready. Relatively quick process. The restaurant was a cute place filled with art and photos of New York (as pictured). The only drinks they have are bottled or canned (not a problem just some people prefer fountain). The sweet tea they had was amazing! My favorite was the shroom with a balsamic drizzle (employee recommendation). They had 3 high chairs so perfect for families with small children. I did overhear (maybe the owner) state they do their ordering on Sunday's. So at times they can sell out of items again make sure to check the website prior to going to see what they have available. We will be back - you can call us regulars! read more

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This some of most delicious pizza I have ever eaten. I come from a pizza city and I don't like thick pizzas. These pizzas have such incredible flavors and textures. Slightly crispy and similar to a Detroit style. The dough is phenomenal. I have had 4 slices. One sausage with carmelized onions and red peppers. The sausage is like back home. OG which is like the best Margherita only the cheese is buttery and the sauce perfect. I have had their pepperoni and one piece fantastic and the other okay. Finally cacio e pepe which is a white pizza. I received this piece right out of the oven. Wow I have only had one white pizza better. The place in Connecticut Pepe's. I always get 2 slices when 1 is truly enough. Wonderful staff are enthusiastic and friendly! I give chef Pete and his staff 6 stars. I need to try ny thin cheese and pepperoni. This not like the pizza chains. This something very special. Keep up the amazing job read more

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As soon as you walk in you are greeted immediately; welcoming staff. No menu quite yet but have a show case of specialty pizzas to choose from. I chose the chicken parm pizza slice- which was full of flavor and delicious also ordered a large NY style pie. It was so hot and fresh! I can't wait for new flavors. read more

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Don't mind the negative review about the service and hours. I pulled up on a Friday night around 7. Chef Pete came out to the car to let me know that they had to close early due to selling out. But he also explained that they are still in soft opening phase. He was very kind, apologetic, and offered a free slice on my next visit. We went back the next day around lunch. The pizza was delicious! My wife, daughter and son-in-law all agreed that it was some of the best we've had in Lakeland. We will definitely be back and look forward to their "official" opening. read more

Today was the first time I visited this spot and the pizza is outstanding Chef Pete is very social and he explains everything about what his pizza is about. My wife and I got there early on Saturday about 10 minutes before they open and glad I did. I would recommend this place hands down. I was amazed by the crowd of people that showed up and the atmosphere was great. This place will be my go to place for pizza for sure thank you Chef Pete. read more

The chef has changed the way I view Pizza. It's rare to have pizza made with such high quality ingredients, passion and care. That what makes the difference for By the Chef. From the classics to the more unique pizza everything I had there was truly top notch. One of my favorites was the mushroom pizza so try it whenever you can. read more

Pizza is great. Crust is Lighter than it looks and has great crunch. Pepperoni slice was great but I'd like a little more cheese. Spicy slice was best buff chix pizza I've ever had. I don't normally like it but theirs looked great and it was. Potato slice was interesting but should come w side of marinara and lose bacon. Maybe add onion and pepper. Og cheese slice was also very good but needs a little more sauce. Can't wait for this place to develop. Definitely needs to add salads. read more

Pizza is brick oven cooked adds a wonderful taste to all the different types of pizza. They have wonderful New York style pizza. And the staff is very friendly. read more