Lil Z's Pizza — Restaurant in Ottawa

We dined in for a late lunch on May 22nd. We saw people taking out pizza from this place and it was rated pretty high on Google, so we decided to try it out.

Firstly, we were a bit taken aback by the pricing since the menu pictures which were uploaded were cheaper than the current prices. It was already pricy, but since it was highly rated, we decided to try it out anyway. We ordered the cheesy garlic bread and the hot fire pizza. Being vegetarians, we requested the spicy soppressata be replaced by veggie alternatives on 2 halves of the pizza. Since the meat topping being replaced, it's the same quantity as what would have been put on the pizza anyways, and in general meat toppings are expected to be more expensive than the veggie alternatives, so we didn't expect to be charged for it (and neither were we told that we would be).

The garlic bread had a thick slab of cheese topped with seasoning and was warm at best with the cheese was already kind of hard and not stringy. The bread did not taste fresh, had no crunch on the outside and felt sunk on the inside, the cheese was excessive, and there was no garlic flavour either. Pricing this at $14 did not feel justified.

The hot fire pizza was a bit better. The cheese was still pretty excessive, but the honey glazed sesame crust was enjoyable as it provided a flavour contrast to the rest of the pizza which was supposed to be hot.

The nasty part of our experience was during and after our payment. We were charged $4 (2 per topping) for REPLACING the meat toppings for the whole pizza with 2 veggie toppings on each half. From labour point of view, it's the same effort to spread toppings. From materials point of view, we opted out of 1 (meat for the whole pizza) and opted in to 1 (2 veggie for 2 halves). We were shocked that we were actually being charged (without warning) for being vegetarians.

Fine, it was what it was and I didn't feel like it was worth ruining our day. The bill was already $46 (which itself is high) and honestly didn't feel like tipping, but I tipped to round it off to $50.

While I paid the bill, my wife had gone to wash her hands. While I waited right in front for my wife to come back, I witness the person who served me point to our table, shake his head several times, and tell another person that we tipped so less. The other person also loudly commented "That's so less!" so I can see and hear. I understand from their perspective that they don't know about our dissatisfaction in the meal and the pricing (we didn't want to ruin their day), but it is UNACCEPTABLE and RUDE to make us feel bad with such passive aggressive behaviour.

To the gentleman who served us: if you felt bad about the tip, why didn't you come talk to us privately? Why did you have to embarrass us with your visible head shakes and audible complaints to your fellow co-worker? If you wanted to share your dissatisfaction, why didn't you at least wait till we were gone? There are several reasons why people might not tip or tip less (they don't believe in the tipping culture, they already exceeded their budget, they didn't like the food, they didn't like the service, etc.). It is not your place to publicize your judgement when you don't know these things, especially when you don't put the effort into finding out why things happened the way it did.

Rest assured, it was an appalling experience which scarred us and we will not be revisiting or recommending anyone...

4 stars for the food, decent cocktails, had the Mojito and the Margazita. 1 star missing for the service from your waitress. First off, my husband and I came in at 4pm this past Saturday. There was one other group on an otherwise empty patio. The sign says let inside know that you're here, it does not say wait to be seated. So I sat down. My husband went in, came back then went in to the washroom. Your waitress came out to the patio, and before greeting or saying hi, said you're supposed to come in and let us know, i said my husband did go in, and I dont know what happened. She was snarky and annoyed, said well the kitchen didn't tell us and they shouldn't do that. So I said again, OK I don't know? In my head - Like should we leave? You literally have 3 customers. I don't appreciate being made to feel unwelcome right off the bat. If that is your policy, perhaps have your sign say let us know you're here before you sit? I decided not to address the initial attitude, I'd been wanting to try Lil Z's and could ignore that, huge pet peeve though... She brought out the food, didn't come back, I wanted a beverage so I waved down someone else after my husband offered to go in to ask. We were basically done, asked her for a takeout box, she asked if she can cash us out so she can go restock. Maybe management isn't hiring enough staff between lunch and dinner so your wait staff aren't attentive and impatient with customers. Her attitude was probably due to that, but that's not my problem, snarky is very unappetizing. Someone appearing to be the owner was around, I complimented him on the food but didn't mention our waitress. They don't seem to be responsive to reviews here, so here...

We had a craving for pizza while in Ottawa on a family road trip and came across Lil Z's while walking around Byward Market. Looked it up and saw that it had a great rating so we checked it out and were happy to learn that the rating was very well deserved! We arrived just after the lunch crowd had passed through and the atmosphere was perfect for our large family including a toddler. Our server Patrick was so friendly and helpful with the menu - as there were so many options that looked good to us, we wanted to try so many of them! Before the food even came, our crew was already mentioning that Patrick was so nice that Lil Z's deserved many stars.

Patrick provide us with dips, including a very spicy chilli oil which proved to be more than one of us could handle (despite their bravado) and Patrick quickly brought them a glass of milk. The food was very delicious, and unique with signature pizzas that I don't think we'll ever find anywhere else and also wouldn't have thought of on our own. The Neapolitan thin crust style is perfect, and their caesar salad is legit -- with real strips of bacon as well as plenty of shaved parmesan and tasty homemade croutons.

We'll be back for sure the next time...