Leopard Pizza — Restaurant in Western Mature Area

Good pizza, ok cocktails, bad service, terrible attitude.

TL;DR: If you go as a party of two, lie and say you're a party of four.

My partner and I went to Leopard last night, December 20. We live in the area, and have been there a few times before. The pizza is good, not mind blowing, but it's good. Last night, however, left a rather poor taste in my mouth.

I'll say this, it was busy. However, we arrived and put our name in for a booth. We were told it would be a 20 minute wait. We ordered drinks. We were told we could not sit at the bar while we waited for a table as they don't like moving people... Odd, in my experience, but ok. Instead, we stood in a crowded entrance, generally feeling in the way while we sipped our drinks. After we arrived three parties of four came into the restaurant and put their names on the list, also asking for booths. All three parties of four were seated before my partner and me. When one of the other parties mentioned that we were here first, the server informed them that we could wait for a booth for two. Not once did someone come to speak with us about other parties being seated before us. Not once were we told that we were standing around waiting for a specific type of booth. Instead, other than the tactlessly loud comment made to the other patrons, the head server pointedly ignored us. This head server also spent a great deal of time criticizing and calling down her colleague (the bartender) within earshot of everyone waiting at the front door. We paid for our drinks and left after waiting for more than 20 minutes.

Now, maybe it was just us. We had an opportunity to sit and be served at the bar, or could have joined another party at a high-top table. We were out for a date, and wanted a more private setting to talk. The high-top and bar did not meet our criteria. AITA? I don't think so. There was one other couple that did opt for the high-top after us. After 10 minutes of being ignored, they left the restaurant. I watched them leave while the three parties of four were sat, and served.

This is the hospitality industry, yet this was one of the least hospitable interactions I have had. It is the holidays, it is busy, but that does not excuse the behavior we experienced and witnessed last night. To be clear, my review is not based on others being seated before us, I can understand the business case to be made in this situation. My review is based on a complete lack of communication, and plain and simple rudeness. A simple conversation could have...

Salty pizza, a disjointed menu and a dining setup that had us swatting flies.

A friend recommended we check out Leopard Pizza so we decided to give it a try. I found it odd that a pizzeria would offer a Middle Eastern style mezze platter (hummus, baba ganoush, etc.) as an appetizer but given the limited options, we opted for that as a starter. It came with olive tapenade, fresh cucumbers and fresh cherry tomatoes. The hummus was not great but we did enjoy the baba ganoush. The platter was in severe need of a side of hot bread (pita or something of the like).

We ordered the Carne pizza and the Greek pizza. The Carne was salty - it lacked balance and for that reason was hard to eat without the ranch dipping sauce. The Greek pizza was still on the saltier side but better than the Carne. The pizza dough was good although a tad too burnt in some places underneath.

Perhaps if the weather allowed for us to sit on the patio, our experience would have been different. We sat inside and we were swatting flies consistently throughout our meal. I understand the front door was left open but I do question how and why so many flies were flying about inside. It made for a poor experience - my overall impression of Leopard Pizza would surely have been better had we gotten takeout although I'm not sure I could have overlooked how salty the pizzas were.

There are some great pizzerias in Edmonton and this is not one of them. I'd highly recommend going...

Leopard pizza is serving up beautiful creations with slow fermented sourdough and amazing toppings. They also bake everything in their hand made brick oven through a pizza process called Leopard-ing where pizzas come out with spotted crusts around the outer ring like a leopard.

The pizzas we ordered were quite good. The only issue which prevented us from giving a full five stars on food was that one pizza was burnt to a crisp around the outer ring so it was really inedible. The other was cooked ok.

The vibe of the space is very hip and modern in the West Block where a number of great establishments have set up shop in a new development where Stony Plain Road and 104 Avenue come together.

The service, as well, just fell shy of five stars. Service, we found, was not very friendly here. I've seen similar comments down below. I'm not sure if this is the vibe they are trying to create or not. It doesn't really work for us. It wouldn't take much effort to be a little more engaging or helpful upon entry.

Otherwise, it's a solid four stars. We'll be back for sure and perhaps some of the items above will be addressed. 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Update: Returned and the food and service were amazing! Greatly improved. I thank Leopard for inviting me to return and demonstrate how they improved.

5...