What's with Wawa pizza? We tried it so you don't have to

After a long day of running around in the sun or killing it at work, you're craving a nice warm pizza, so you pile into the car and drive to your closest ... Wawa?

Wawa introduced the dish earlier this summer as its newest menu option, but does the chain really need to have a stake in the pizza game in South Jersey?

Well, we tried it, so we can answer that question for you.

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Is Wawa pizza good?

The first thing that slaps you in the face when you're handed your white pizza box embellished with Wawa's logo is the smell of garlic. Vampires beware, and garlic lovers rejoice.

The second thing you'll be drawn to is the pool of grease that is already starting to accumulate in the box's corners, turning them grey from the inside out.

Now, don't let that pool fool you; the pizza itself actually had a decent texture and shockingly wasn't soggy.

We tried two 14-inch pies: a plain cheese and a vegetable. Wawa customers, however, can choose to go up to a 16-inch pie with the options to make their own topping combinations or select another signature recipe such as pepperoni, either full or half, sausage and pepperoni, sausage, mushroom or supreme.

Both the cheese and veggie pies had decent cheese pulls, though the former seemed to have been just slightly overdone. As far as cheese, sauce and crust selections go, there was nothing exactly hitting this pizza out of the park.

While the crust was both soft and crispy, the taste of the sauce on the cheese pizza was lost in just how salty the pie was.

The mushrooms, green peppers and red onions on the vegetable pie aided in cutting the saltiness of the pizza, helping to refresh and balance the palate in each bite.

The toppings were generous, with large cuts of the vegetables over the whole pie and no skimping out on the coverage.

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Does Wawa have a place in the South Jersey pizza scene?

Wawa's take on pizza was exactly what you would expect it to be. While the meal wasn't anything to give your local mom-and-pop joint a glimpse of foreclosure, it was a step above certain grocery store freezer aisle brands and elementary school cafeteria offerings.

The pizza was good enough to keep eating it, but truly nothing to write home about. With pizza places on virtually every corner, it's hard to imagine that anyone would ditch their local spot or favorite chain for a new player in the game.

A leg up that Wawa does have, however is the hours of pizza availability. At 24-hour Wawa locations, pizzas are served fresh from 4 p.m. - 3 a.m. This late-night availability makes it the perfect option for college students, night owls and midnight snackers who just can't kill that pizza hankering.

While the touchscreens caution patrons that the fresh pizzas will come with around a 20-minute wait, those who want to grab and go do have the option to submit a mobile order.

Perhaps if partaking in pizza sales pays off, Wawa can opt to capitalize on selling individual, ready-made slices to cater those who like to try a little bit of everything.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Is Wawa pizza worth it? Everything you need to know about the new dish