Review: Tombstone's French Fry Style Crust Pizzas Are The Ultimate Hybrid Comfort Food

Yahoo

15 hours ago

Frozen pizza is the pinnacle of convenient American fare. The products typically promise restaurant-level quality for a fraction of the price, but we all know that this promise is rarely delivered upon. Honestly, most frozen pizzas should be avoided at all costs. The crust is usually too soft and doughy, the toppings are often low-quality and few and far between, and don't even get me started on the rubbery, plastic-tasting cheese. I'm of the belief that these sad frozen pies are often the product of a boring lineup. Most of these issues befall this convenient dinner option because few companies dare to venture past the norm — beyond the standard not-quite-thick but not-super-thin crust, typical toppings, and mediocre cheese.
Enter Tombstone, a major player in America's frozen pizza scene, here to alleviate some of our boring pizza woes with its new French Fry Style Crust Pizzas. These pies are jazzing up the frozen aisle by combining two of the country's favorite foods into one quick and satisfying creation. I got my hands on the two available varieties of Tombstone's new pizzas — Chili Cheese and Loaded Bacon Cheddar — to give them a taste and see what all the comfort food fuss is about. So, let's open our minds and our stomachs and figure out whether french fries and pizza are a worthy combo, or if fries should stick with burgers as their sole companion.
Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.
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Tombstone's new pizzas are designed to be the ultimate bar food. Although they look like any old pizza you'd find in the freezer section of the grocery store, they have one specific element that separates them from the rest: Instead of being made with a wheat crust, the crusts are made from potato-based starch and potato flakes, for a bite that should feel and taste like a pile of crispy french fries loaded with toppings. Since they're made with potato in lieu of wheat, these Franken-foods are suitable for those who follow a gluten-free diet, although they'll likely capture the attention of any and all pub fare fans.
The thin-crust pies come in two distinct varieties intended to bring some bold, unconventional flavor to the dinner table. Loaded Bacon Cheddar is cheese-forward, with melty cheddar sauce and extra shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese on top. The meat is a surprisingly artisanal mixture of bacon and pork belly — not the cheap bacon bits that typically don frozen pizza. The Chili Cheese variety loads the potatoey crust up with hamburger meat and chili cheese sauce, chunky red onion, parsley, and plenty of cheddar and mozzarella, for good measure.
Tombstone makes good on its spooky name by acting as the unofficial pizza for Halloween. To keep with the theme, the brand is unveiling its French Fry Style Crust Pizzas on Friday — erm, that's Fry-Day, according to Tombstone — the 13th of June, 2025. We normally celebrate this day by getting tattoos and watching a classic horror flick, but maybe Tombstone's frozen Franken-food will unlock a new (unexpected) holiday tradition.
Come July, both of the potato-powered pizza flavors can be found at Walmart and other big-box stores and supermarkets around the country. They'll cost about $6.49 a pop, but this price can vary slightly depending on where you snag your 'za from. So, as soon as July hits, keep an eye on your local freezer section for bold packaging with a nostalgic neon, bar-themed aesthetic. These pizzas likely won't be hiding among all the common options — they'll be screaming about extra-cheesy, meaty, french fry-y goodness.
First, I tried the pie with hamburger meat, onions, loads of cheese, and chili cheese sauce. This gluten free 'za contains 15 grams of fat (8 grams of which are saturated fat) 630 milligrams of sodium, 39 grams of carbs, and 9 grams of protein, and 350 calories per one fourth of the pizza. The package recommended cooking it for at least 20 minutes, but I ended up pulling it out about a minute sooner because the edges were starting to turn dark and the cheese was perfectly golden brown. The underside of the pie could have been browner and crispier, even though I skipped the baking sheet and cooked it directly on the oven rack. But if I had left it in any longer, the cheese and edges would have been burned, so I had a bit of pizza conundrum on my hands.
Despite the bottom of the pie being a little too soft for my liking, the crust was still delicious, and not gritty whatsoever, like other GF frozen pizzas often are. The french fry taste was subtle at first but really hit me after a couple bites. The most prominent flavor, however, was the chili cheese sauce. It had just the right amount of peppery spice and a hint of sweetness, although it could have been a little less salty. The meat and onions were plentiful, surprisingly high-quality, and scattered evenly throughout the pizza, adding a bold umami flavor to the slightly sweet, spicy sauce. There was a tiny hint of fresh-tasting parsley, but I would have liked a bit more to help tame some of the saltiness in the meat and sauce and give the pie a more complex flavor.
The Loaded Bacon Cheddar pie — with a bacon and pork belly blend doused in plenty of cheese — was my favorite of the two, but it was a close race. It contains 18 grams of fat (9 grams of which are saturated fat), 780 milligrams of sodium, 38 grams of carbs, 11 grams of protein, and 350 calories per quarter-pizza. The uneven baking issue that I encountered with the Chili Cheese variety also befell this pie, so I pulled it out about a minute before the recommended time of 20 to 22 minutes.
The Loaded Bacon Cheddar pizza had a nostalgic quality that immediately brought to mind TGI Friday's famous loaded potato skins. It didn't have as sharp a flavor as the Chili Cheese — it was more mild and meat-forward, with crunchy bits of pork blending with plenty of mozzarella and cheddar for a rich, satisfying bite. This pie had the perfect amount of meat for enough in each bite, but not so much that the thin crust was weighed down.
The crust (the star of this frozen pizza show) was hearty and a bit oily, but not overly so — just like a pile of hot, crispy, fresh-from-the-fryer fries. The savory potato flavor hit my palate mostly as an aftertaste, pairing perfectly with the melty cheese and indulgent meat. If you scoop up this 'za, grab some fresh herbs to sprinkle on top — this pie could have used a little greenery to add some complexity and herbaceousness.
I really didn't expect the bold punch of potato, french fry-like flavor that I encountered in these pizzas. They look like standard thin-crust frozen pies, but Tombstone really delivered on the potent french fry taste, while keeping the texture firm enough to support substantial toppings. Each bite felt like chowing down on a pile of hand-held, loaded french fry nachos — what's not to love about that? The unconventional toppings make them stand out among typical frozen pies, but they're still rooted enough in the classics to be loved by most pizza fans.
Most frozen gluten-free pizzas are made with cauliflower flour, and although the taste of the cruciferous veggie is usually masked by cheese and toppings, those who don't like cauliflower usually notice the flavor. These Tombstone creations could act as a delicious alternative for those cauliflower-haters among us — because who doesn't love potatoes?
My only qualm with these pies was the uneven cooking, where the edges and cheese browned before the bottom, although I could potentially chalk this up to my oven and not the pie itself. Nevertheless, it might be worth it to employ a clever frozen pizza trick and flash-bake it — just like the pros do at your favorite pizzeria — in order to get the underside of the pie crispy without burning the cheese and edges. But if you're not too picky about your crust texture, Tombstone's potato-inspired pizzas — with their high-quality toppings and intense, nostalgic flavor — will whisk you away to childhood.
Read the original article on Tasting Table.