Benny Tesoro's Pizza 

Benny Tesoro's is a pizza shop right off the bypass on Route 64 heading towards Manteo. It is located at 7531 S Virginia Dare Trail. They are part of a chain of pizza restaurants called Benny's with tesoro coming from the Italian word treasure. Benny's is open from 11-9, Sunday-Thursday. Then 11-10, Friday and Saturday. You can order pizza by the slice at Benny's or get one of their famous 28" pizzas.

Benny Tesoro's offers dine-in, takeout, and delivery for their enormous pizzas. If you eat there, they have a small dining room. We decided to get takeout through DoorDash. All I did was place a pickup order on the DoorDash app, which was ready in 20-30 minutes. Delivery is also an option through DoorDash if you do not want to pick up the pizza. The pizzas we ordered were so big, however, that we had a hard time getting them through the front door and into our car! 

The Food:

28" Half Cheese & Sausage

The first item we ordered at Benny's was a 28" half cheese & sausage pizza. They used good dough and sauce for the pizza which made it sweet. I also liked the cheese which was provolone. I thought it was unique that they sliced the sausage instead of adding bite-sized chunks. 

Other than the taste of the pizza which was great, the elephant in the room was the size of the pizza. Benny Tesoro's only sells 28" whole pizzas. They say these pizzas are four times bigger than traditional 14" large pizzas. Each piece of this pizza is roughly 2-4 normal slices of pizza. 

28" Half Cheese & Pepperoni

We also ordered a 28" half cheese & pepperoni pizza. The pepperoni was good and tasted similar to the sausage. This was the more popular of the two pizzas and we had less of this one left over when we finished eating. 

Pizza compared to paper plate 

Slice barely fits on regular paper plate 

We ordered two of the 28" pizzas thinking everyone would be able to eat two slices since we had 8 people and each pizza is cut into 8 slices. However, we quickly found it difficult to even eat one piece! Eventually, the first pizza was gone but we were left with about 7 slices of the second pizza after everything was combined in one box. So I would say one person can comfortably eat only one slice and anything more will make you very full. 

Oversized Pizza Box

The pizza box itself was also huge! You can see on the top where all the other Benny's locations are. It seems like they are popular in beach towns and the southeast. I had a hard time carrying the pizza boxes out of the store. They barely fit through the doorway getting out and did not fit normally into our car. We had to lay the seats down and put it in through the trunk. When I got back to our place, the pizza began to sag in the middle of the box due to how heavy it was. 

Service:

I ordered the pizza on DoorDash and picked it up within 30 minutes. When I got to the restaurant, the staff let us know it would be another 10 minutes for our enormous pizzas to be done. They also said there was a brewery next door so we could get a beer while we waited. Once we got the pizzas, we asked for a few containers of hot pepper flakes and they were happy to provide them. 

Atmosphere:

Deck 

The outside of Benny's is really cool. You can eat on the outside deck which faces the sound. There are plenty of picnic tables where you can eat your pizza. When we got there, the bar next door was hosting a trivia game with people sitting on the deck. 

Oceanview

Counter 

The inside has two different areas. When you enter the main door it takes you into the pickup and order area. Here you can order your pizza and grab a bag of chips and ice cream in the freezer. I like how they have many bay windows that look right onto the deck and the bay. 

The second part in the back is a small dining area. It has a handful of tables that have brightly colored turquoise chairs. I thought the mural on the wall was cool and it made the room feel more alive and vibrant. There were a few people here eating a slice, but no one had a whole pizza.

Dining Room

Rating: Good |⭐⭐⭐⭐✩|

Benny Tesoro's Pizza is a great stop if you are in the Outer Banks and want a cool dining experience. I think most pizza places in the Outer Banks are mediocre at best and serve subpar slices. However, the ingredients Benny Tesoro uses are definitely better. The cheese in particular tasted like mostly provolone which is usually more costly. I also liked the dough, sauce, and toppings. Benny's also cooks the pizza slightly less and it is more doughy. Some people like their pizza well, done and others like it more doughy. If you want your pizza cooked more, I am sure they can probably do that. 

Benny Tesoro's also provides a great atmosphere inside and out. The spectacular views of the ocean while you eat on the deck are great. If you want to eat inside, the dining room is clean and colorful. I personally liked the takeout experience. The pizza was done in short order after I arrived. I thought the staff was super friendly and helpful while we were there. Finally, the price of the two half-topping pizzas was $42 each. This does seem expensive for a pizza but these pizzas are 4 times larger than standard 14" pizzas by weight and toppings. We found that one pizza was easily able to feed 8 people so the cost per person to eat here is actually low. I also was able to use a $15 coupon from DoorDash which made this an even better deal. Overall, I would recommend giving Benny Tesoro's Pizza a try if you are in OBX and want to try something different.