Pizza of Waterton — Restaurant in Alberta

I have been coming to Waterton for years and today was my first time going to Pizza of Waterton. The restaurant was quite busy as they had some sort of trivia event going on. Fine, no problem, means the food must be good also. My partner and I stand in line outside at the “wait to be seated” sign for about 15 minutes with no service provided, which again, we understood since it was so busy. At 8:45pm, I call their number to order take out instead of waiting for a seat. They let me know food will be ready in 20 minutes. We go sit at a picnic table nearby and wait. 20 minutes goes by and I go back to the restaurant to pay and hopefully grab our food. There’s a group at the front of the line waiting for service outside the front door so I wait behind them for a minute and a server comes to seat them. I then waited for 5 minutes with no service so I decide to go inside, since it’s now been 26 minutes since i placed my order. I go stand by the front of the bar and a server asks me how they can help, so I let her know I was there to pick up an order. She lets me know it’s going to be 2 more minutes. Okay. So I go sit down at an empty booth to wait for 2 minutes. After 10 minutes, i am still sitting there waiting. My partner comes inside and joins me. It’s now been 38 minutes, and it had been much longer than the 2 minutes it was going to take like she said. So we stand up and look around for a server to ask. There’s a server on their cell phone, and another server talking with a group of people who were clearly their friends visiting the place for some food. A server comes up to us and says “they’re just finishing up your sides, it should be out right away”. Our sides were two small ceasar salads. So we keep waiting. Another 12 minutes goes by, so now we have waited 50 minutes for our food that was supposed to take 20 minutes for pick up. I go up to a different server this time and ask what is going on with our order. She asks the back where our order is, and they don’t know. She asks a male server if he took our order, and he goes to the back and brings it out. Finally. It was probably sitting there the past 10-15 minutes. Funny how it took so long to complete our side ceasar salads when it was just lettuce and croutons in a to-go box with some ceasar dressing in a container on the side. Seems like a 2 minute job, not 12. So we pay and we leave, frustrated at this point that people who sat down to eat after we had ordered to-go were finishing their meals already and leaving when we just got ours an hour later now. Once we are back in our vehicle driving off, I realize that they didn’t give us our drinks we paid for. So we drive back, I go back inside and ask for the 2 drinks we got. They then made them for us, so they weren’t even prepared/ready to be given with our food when we waited for an hour and while I was paying. All in all it was a frustrating experience. We ordered at 8:45pm and didn’t leave there until 10pm. My partner and I have eaten at every other restaurant in Waterton and it’s always been great, but this was not. The only redeeming quality was the food, which was actually great. We both had calzones and they were delicious. The service needs a lot of work. Or at least tell people it’s going to take longer/be a longer wait time for food if that’s what’s...

When we visit Waterton, my family always looks forward to our second (and last) night’s meal at Pizza of Waterton (PoW). Always. You never let us down. Well, um, you kinda’ do. Let me explain.

We have been coming to Waterton for over twenty years. We remember the toggle between the two pizza places. We remember eating in the old house with the front lawn that was the pizza place before it was demolished to make way for that god-awful mixed-use monstrosity (people used to sit on the lawn eating pizza). Yeah. We have been coming here for a while.

But back to PoW. This review is based on what we do, which is get dinner. And it is based on what we get: several pizzas, salads, beer, and non-alcoholic drinks (around 300 before tip when all is said and done with the size of our group). Simple. And you do simple really, really well. We never leave less than pleased with what we ate or drank. For the price (and, keep in mind, we are talking about Waterton prices!?!?), it is a great deal. And the servers are always amazing. Enthusiastic. Quick. Awesome.

So, why the ‘um’? Simple. We visit in the summer. And summers in Waterton aren’t getting cooler. So, if you plan to eat at 6:00 or 7:00 you are going to face some challenges. If you eat outside, the covering provided barely covers two of the tables. And, if you eat inside, you are treated to a double or triple dose of the same problem: a dining room that faces windows, with no shades, limited ventilation, while a piping hot oven makes pizzas!!!

You could fix both of these ‘um’ issues easily. Buy bigger awnings for outside (and/or a sunshade that filters in light from the street, since that isn’t exactly a scenic vista). Buy some shades, or a screen door, so that some air flows through the interior dining room.

Seriously, every time a server—some of whom have actually been sweating and commenting on the heat as they walk up to tables, and also apologizing to those indoors-- walked outside to bring food to a table (esp. our last visit), several tables sighed with relief and stopped fanning themselves with the menus! And I watched several people outside using menus as a sun-blocker. Again, I mean, it would be sooooo easy to fix this problem, esp. since you are a seasonal restaurant that is obviously aware that you are going to have a lot of great days . . . and more and more that are not so great.

On service and food, you are five stars. Simple. But you have to rectify the heat issue. How do I know? I am a sun averse person. Don’t like it at all. So, my initial thought was that I was being a doink and should shut up. But several people in my annual group are sun worshiping outdoorsy people. This last visit, while rivulets of sweat were pouring down my face, one of them turned to me and said: “This place is too * hot!!!” And another of them actually went outside to cool off before I did!?!?

Come on, make some adjustments. Heck, launch a GoFundMe campaign. I will be the first to donate!

Love your food. Can’t wait to experience it again. Just want to enjoy it more while I...

Since this is the same business I will be sharing on both sites so that others can see how I was treated as a customer.

I went in there to order takeout at 805. I got told at Pearls Cafe that I could not order food there and that I had to go to Pizza of Waterton which is an attached building and the same company. I quickly went to the grocery store, beside it quick before heading to the pizza place to order food and when I got to the restaurant 5 min later they told me to go into the cafe to order takeout because they don't do takeout orders. I had said that I was told to come here by the barista in the joined cafe and they told me that the barista was mistaken. I go into the Cafe and I say that they told me to come to the cafe to order takeout. She said to me, "Well who told you that?" I said the person in the restaurant and she said who what's their name? I said I didn't know their name and she asked me if they were ghosts. I said no and she seemed pissed and slapped down a menu in front of me. As I ordered and also ordered coffee she slapped down the coffee cups as well on the counter and once I paid she said our interaction was done. I was extremely confused. I asked her where I would pick up the takeout and she said she will bring it to the table. Over 30 minutes go by no food so I told her I had to leave for our ferry. Let's just say she could care less. 45.00 plus a tip -- no food. This is no good. To be honest, it seemed like no one in either establishment even though they are joined cared. They just wanted to pass me off to one another and not be anyone's problem.

No food, no apology, no refund.

We were going to have pizza tonight from their joined pizza place. We will be going somewhere else and Everytime we return, we will not be eating here.

-- Maybe she was just in a bad mood but we couldn't eat in, we had our dog, otherwise I would have sat in the restaurant and not bothered her because this was our only option.

The restaurant itself had two tables in it as well so they were not busy.

If I could have given a zero, I would have. I am in the hospitality industry and this was not nice. I would also like to add we ordered smashed avocado toast and a regular breakfast. The side is...