Pizzaria Dona Branca — Restaurant in Caldas da Rainha

Some restaurants get the food right but fail at customer service. This is the place. You can see my reviews and know I like to spread kindness. In this case I feel as though I need to spread truth.

As a returning customer, I took my favorite people visiting me from California to impress them with good pizza in a cool old Portuguese house in Caldas. And the customer service here was so bad, I’ll never go back. There is plenty of good pizza in the area.

They had only a few tables full today, a cold and rainy summer day. They take our order, bring our drinks and salads and forget about us for a long time. After we realize that the customers sitting next to us who arrived long after we did, got there pizzas, we discussed among ourselves that we were hungry and the wait is long and the customers next to us got their food. We ask the server if our food is coming, and he says soon. Soon was a long time so we went to ask the kitchen. Finally, after the other customers ate and left, we got our pizzas. They were good. But for the price of the punishment we got when we paid, we won’t return.

The “manager” scolded us for making the other customers feel uncomfortable by discussing among ourselves how they got their food before we did. I think where this thing took the wrong turn is that was not necessary for us to be told while we were paying how we made others feel uncomfortable while sitting there hungry waiting for our food.

No pizza in this world is good enough to have to be scolded while paying. So if you’re hungry, this is not be the...

Update, 18.11 14:45

Dear Management,

you do not pick up the service, or quality even, but continuing blaming the customer for their expectation.

The review was written right after the visit, so we leave it to everyones interpretation, based on the words and articulation, if I was drunk after half of a Gin Tonic, as you are trying to indicate this.

Instead of taking criticism you are blaming your customers. Your electronic cash did not work in addition and I was shouted at, by your waitress, after explaining three times that I cannot get money from an ATM, because I just have my card on my mobile and not physically with me. Which never has been a problem until now.

Interesting approach and interesting... who might have answered here.

This was an alright pizza, which is fair enough.

More interesting is the attitude of the service and the rude behavior. We were there with a group of 8. The first 2 Pizzas did arrive after 20 minutes for the rest of the guys it did not. My complaint, that we all wanted to have a meal together was not taken seriously, this is not the Portuguese way. OK.

I have never experienced a reaction of staff like that, and I hope I will never again. First and last time there and I cannot recommend this place at all. I am a big fan of attitude, but in a charming way, but not looking down on...

We are slightly obsessed about great wood fired pizza places in our family. We have a personal list of "the best of the best", and I'm happy to say that Dona Branca is now on it.

So, what's to like about this place? It's has a wood fired oven. Check. It has two great pizzaioli, who make a damned good pizza crust. It has an excellent menu, some of them with unusual toppings - we tried the buffula and marmalade, which perhaps sounds weird, but it was brilliant. It has a charming courtyard, where most of the seating is located. (There is indoor seating too, upstairs.) There's a small team of waiters, and they are fabulous. They are attentive, friendly, and speak perfect English. (Necessary for us, as our Portuguese is rudimentary.) The owner of the place also has a wonderful house on the far side of the courtyard that's used as a bar. It's only open some evenings, but the staff showed it to us and it is gorgeous. It's one of the nicest houses we've seen in Portugal.

We didn't have a reservation, but we were there early enough that that wasn't a problem and the staff squeezed us in. You may want to reserve though, especially if you come later.

Four...