Pizza Garden Metrotown — Restaurant in Burnaby

I recently visited Pizza Garden Metrotown with a friend, drawn by the rave reviews about their pizza. We each ordered two slices, totaling $20. As it was my idea to try this place, I covered the bill. From the first bite, I was delighted by the quality of the pizza – the crust was perfect, the sauce was vibrant and fresh, and the toppings were generous and flavourful.

However, my initial excitement was quickly dampened by a troubling experience. I realized that instead of paying $20 for four slices, I could have gotten eight slices for $30. Hoping for a bit of flexibility, I approached the cashier to see if I could pay an additional $10 to get four more slices. The cashier checked with the store owner/manager, who agreed to the request.

In gratitude, I made a "Namaste" gesture to the owner. A few minutes later, when I went to pay for the additional slices, the owner/manager handled the transaction personally and asked for $15.75 instead of the $10 we had agreed upon. He essentially added a $5.75 tip for the gesture I had made. I was baffled by this unexpected charge but chose to pay it, not wanting to cause a scene in front of my friend.

This experience left a sour taste in my mouth, not because of the pizza, but due to the unethical behavior of the owner/manager. This kind of leadership, where a customer is taken advantage of for showing gratitude, is highly questionable. It reflects poorly on the business and suggests that other unethical practices may be occurring behind the scenes.

While the pizza at Pizza Garden Metrotown is undeniably delicious, such unethical practices do not align with my core values. If you, like me, value principles and integrity, you might want to think twice before supporting this establishment. They had the chance to win a customer for life but instead prioritized short-term gain over...

First thing. Pizza here is just fine, it's not quite as good as the main street location which I used to frequent but it's still good. This review is about what I saw waiting in line during this covid time.

Waiting in line for a slice 6ish on a Friday night, 2 people in front of me and the employee handling cash is on the phone. This line is taking forever but it is Friday. Sign hung on the door states that unless you're 12 masks are mandatory.

Employee on the phone doesn't understand how masks work and it hangs under his nose. Don't worry though employee adjusts his mask placing it at the tip of his nose, not on the bridge so within seconds the mask is back under his nose. On top of this the mask is stretched out or oversized so it's just hanging like a diaper on a chin. In my 8 mins of waiting this employee adjusts his mask roughly 20 times.

Lady in front of me in line has no mask, she is holding a tissue over her face. She begins to order, removes tissue, now no mask, not even the technicality of a mouth covering. Of course the guy who wears his mask under his nose doesn't say anything about it. The man with her has a mask.

One employee mask under nose, customer no mask, sign stating they are mandatory, and no employee doing anything about it. My wait in line is only 8 minutes but my bout with covid was 2 weeks of hell, I decided maybe I didn't want that pizza after all.

I'll come back when...

Had the worst experience with how my online order was handled. Placed an order the evening before on their website, with a pickup time of 5:45 pm. I was looking forward to trying out Pizza Garden for the first time, due to dietary restrictions this place is one of the few with a GF crust (cauliflower crust) in my neighbourhood. It was also for a special occasion.

When it came time for pickup, the staff initially couldn't find my order. Then, they said it was picked up already (not the case). When they finally located my order number, it appeared that it was in one system but did not transfer over to the kitchen, so it hadn't been prepared. The staff did apologize and said they would need about 15 minutes, which I was prepared to wait, but then was told that they didn't have the cauliflower crust. At the end, I cancelled my order and scramble to find another place to takeout dinner on short notice.

It was super disappointing, and I'd be wary ordering online, as there seems to be some issues with orders being lost in the system and not being communicated to their kitchen. They should also be updating their options if they aren't available (or communicating it to customers who've ordered and are expecting the food at a certain time). I still want to try Pizza Garden for their flavors, but will be skeptical in the future based on the...