Cheongju pizza with garlic dip: sun-dried shrimp half at Cheese Wave

Yesterday after work, my boyfriend and I went out for pizza at Cheese Wave Cheongju Terminal Branch (치즈웨이브 청주터미널점)!

I'd heard Cheese Wave is run by the son of one of my mom's friends

and I'd heard so many times that the pizza there is amazing, so I'd been telling myself I had to go someday haha

There aren't actually that many sit-down pizza specialty restaurants in Cheongju, so having a good-vibe pizza place open up near Gagyeong Terminal made me so happy~~♡

What is Cheese Wave Cheongju Terminal Branch like inside?

Walking into the store, it was bigger than I expected and the whole vibe was clean and tidy. It kind of felt like an American pizza place, and Infinite Challenge (a Korean variety show) was playing inside — the owner must be a fan lol

Soju at a pizza restaurant? The drinks menu at Cheese Wave

Scrolling through the menu, what surprised me most was that they sell soju at a pizza place! And not just one kind — a whole lineup. An owner who understands the pizza-and-soju combo? Sense level: maxed out!! ✧٩(ˊωˋ*)و✧

They also sell draft beer, so if I hadn't driven, I definitely would've had ice-cold draft beer or soju with my pizza ㅜ

Self-serve pickle bar and mobile ordering

On one side there was a self-serve bar with pickles, a water station, plates, forks and knives all neatly set out.

The self-serve bar was decorated with cute little props, so it looked adorable and pretty♡

At Cheese Wave Cheongju Terminal Branch you can order menu items from your phone right at the table. Usually it's a QR code scan, but here you just tap your phone close to the sensor and it takes you straight to the order screen!♡ (so cool, so fancy)

The order: sun-dried shrimp and hot pepperoni half-and-half pizza

We ordered the sun-dried shrimp + hot pepperoni half-and-half pizza, added cheese crust, and added garlic dipping sauce~

Every table came with pepperoncino, parmesan cheese, hot sauce and tomato ketchup as standard, so you could dress the pizza however you liked

I grabbed pickles from the self-serve bar first, and they seemed like handmade pickles. Crunchy texture, sweet-and-sour flavor that really got my appetite going ( ˘༥˘ )♡ I kept snacking on them even before the pizza arrived

Consoling myself for not being able to drink draft beer with a zero-sugar cola instead! Poured it into a glass and

watched my boyfriend fiddle around making a heart shape out of a wet wipe while we waited haha♡

The half-and-half pizza finally showed up and the visual alone was no joke (˘͈ᵕ ˘͈♡) Toppings and cheese piled high on a thin crust — there's no way this could taste bad just looking at it!

First I plated a slice and tried cutting it politely with a fork and knife (╯°□°）╯︵ 🍴🔪 but the second I tasted it I threw the fork and knife aside and picked it up with my hands haha pizza's just gotta be eaten by hand

The dough wasn't thick so it didn't feel heavy, the toppings were piled generously on top, and the cheese wasn't too much or too little — just right so it never got tiring!

I'm a big hot sauce person, so I piled on parmesan cheese and then went hard on the hot sauce too!

Dipping that into the garlic sauce we ordered separately — seriously, the most no-fail combo ever♡

How was the cheese crust edge?

The cheese-crust edge we added! Even the crust edge here wasn't thick. Maybe because of that, it didn't get hard even after cooling down! The thin dough wrapped around the cheese so the very edge stayed chewy and savory all the way through. Even people who normally leave the edges behind because the dough's too thick could probably finish Cheese Wave's crust happily ദ്ദി

What the sun-dried shrimp pizza tastes like

I liked that the sun-dried shrimp pizza wasn't overly seasoned overall. Biting into the sweet-and-tangy sun-dried tomatoes here and there, then getting a mouthful of plump shrimp — the combination of ingredients really worked well together

What the hot pepperoni pizza tastes like

The hot pepperoni pizza had just the right amount of spice, true to its name! Every time you bit into the pepper toppings especially, that spicy flavor really popped and it was so good. Pepperoni pizza is kind of the most basic option there is, but since the dough and cheese themselves are delicious, the pepperoni pizza ended up being fully delicious too. The two flavors were so different in appeal that I was really glad we ordered half-and-half ദ്ദി♡

Is Cheese Wave a good date spot near Connect Hyundai Cheongju and the terminal?

Cheese Wave Gagyeong Branch, a Cheongju pizza spot where you can enjoy generous toppings and cheese from start to finish! In a spacious, atmospheric restaurant you can try two pizza flavors in one half-and-half pie, and since they also sell soju and draft beer, it seems like a great spot for a date or a get-together with friends

If you're looking for somewhere to eat near the terminal, or hunting for a good restaurant near Connect Hyundai Cheongju, I recommend Cheese Wave Cheongju Terminal Branch. Next time I want to come without my car and properly enjoy pizza with draft beer or soju (❁´◡`❁)

Just a heads-up — every Tuesday is their regular closed day! And they're open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, so it's a good spot to swing by for a soju too ♡