Rizzo's Pizzeria & Kitchen — Restaurant in Wellington

I appreciate that WOAP can put a lot of pressure on restaurants but my experience at Rizzo’s was particularly shambolic. I suppose some of the blame was on me as I didn’t book a table but I’ve generally found that when I’m dining alone a booking isn’t always necessary. Entering the front door, it wasn’t clear what the seating policy was - there was no Wait to be seated sign so I approached the POS station by the kitchen and asked for a table for one. The staff explained that they were fully booked inside so there was only outside seating available, which was fine by me despite the chilly temperature and the lack of any type of heating. There was just one wobbly table by the toilets - not the most appealing dining location but I’ll take it over nothing. The wait staff informed me (twice) that there would be a 45min to hour wait for food - again, fine by me. I paid for the WOAP Phoenix burger and settled in for the wait. Surprisingly, my burger came out in about five minutes. I think the staff were surprised as well as there was no cutlery on the table. Cutting into the burger I suspect that this plate was left over from a previous order - the chicken was barely warm and the bottom bun was soggy with juices from the salsa. The cheese had solidified into a chewy mess. The anemic “smashed” “roast” potatoes tasted like standard boiled potatoes smothered in ash. Thankfully I was ignored by the staff after receiving my tardy cutlery so I didn’t have to give a fake answer to the standard “how is everything?” question. Everything was not good, not good at all. To add insult to injury, from my cold outside table I had a clear view of an inside table for two that remained empty throughout my entire dining time. Needless to say, this was the worst experience I’ve had during the 2022...

Such an incredibly disappointing night. We booked for a birthday dinner. We had a table booked for 7, we arrived 5 mins before our booking and there were people sitting at our table. We sat down and 10 mins later the waitress looking after our section came over to see if we wanted to order drinks - we hadn’t even been given menus. When we did we ordered food and drinks and were told it would be a 30 min wait not 20 mins. Absolutely fine, there were a couple other bookings there. A person on our table asked if they had a certain drink and was told she would find out. 30 mins later we got our drinks, no food and the question never got answered so a drink didn’t turn up for him. An hour later we got 2 of our entrees and then 15 mins later 2 meals got brought out and then 10 mins later the rest were brought out and they forgot my dinner. Brought it out within 5 mins and basically had a double portion compared to another persons normal amount who had the same meal. As an apology they offered us a family sized dessert, one dessert for the entire table. A $21 dessert off our $300 tab. It was an overall really disappointing as 6 out of the 7 of us have been multiple times and have had great experiences. As someone who has worked in hospo I understand the pressure of the hospo life and also understand that there a circumstances that could have happened behind the scenes. After tonight I definitely won’t be going back anytime soon and I hope that no one has the...

Never a good look when the person paying doesnt get a main.

I accept sometimes people make mistakes, but rather than owning up to it, they scrambled and tried to make my main in unnaturally quick time. By the time by guests were half way through their mains, I recieved my uncooked main and a mumbled apoligy as the waitress abandoned the table not to be seen again.

The staff had cooked 2 chicken burgers where the table had ordered one, and one lamb dish where we had ordered 2. Had they have explained the stuff up and apoligised, I probably would have settled for the burger.

I needed to go to the servary to get service where the responce was a sheepish grin and "oh you didn't want it rear". (there is a difference between rear and raw, mine was raw)

I then needed to request to speak to the manager, who then waited until my meal was cooked before coming out. By this time my guests were almost finished their mains, and I had to choose between them watching me eat or go without. The manager advised me that my main wouldn't be on the bill either way, and assumed that was the end of it.

Of course when I go to pay the bill, there are 2 lamb dishes on it and 2 chicken burgers... Still no apology, return business...