Luigi's Pizzeria Olivedale — Restaurant in Gauteng

26 July 2023 When we moved into Randburg in 1999, Luigi's Pizzeria was in Boskruin centre, as well as in All Saints Centre, Olivedale. We visited the Boskruin restaurant a few times to enjoy your yum Halloumi starter and pizzas. Met the owner Alec there on a few occasions. Never been to the Olivedale branch.

Beginning of 2023 the Boskruin branch closed down. For our 31st anniversary on the 25th July, we decided to visit Luigi's at Olivedale. Wow, it is a huge restaurant!!!!!! As you enter there are high 'bar tables' to sit at ... an upstairs area with comfy couches, quite a few tables as well as murals painted on the walls. Downstairs is a big area with a Jetmaster - and on the outside separated from the downstairs with glass, another big seating area - also for smokers. With a few Jetmasters as well.

Just before 7pm and the place was buzzing! We chose an inside table, close but not too close to the roaring Jetmaster! The menu .... this must be 1 of the few restaurants with a limited menu - LOVED IT!!!!! There are a few starters, a few salads, pizzas, pastas, desserts and kid's menu. How refreshing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Started with a decaf coffee for hubby and a cappu for me. Ordered the chicken livers starter to share with Mozzarella focaccia. Delicious!!!! That chicken liver sauce ....

Got surprised with a slice of Lemon Cheesecake to share. I normally don't indulge in desserts, but this cheesecake was light, lemony and fluffy. Hein then sprinkled some of the Parmesan powder onto the cheesecake .... it was delicious!!!!!

Hein chose the Luigi's special pizza (topside mince, fresh tomato, onion and chilli) - it was delicious. (I stole some of the crusts.) My choice was the Spinach cannelloni - ordered the regular (3 tubes) and it arrived hot, cheesy and bubbly. Was just yum!!!!!!!

This place is a must visit! The vibe is cosy (with the fireplaces and heaters) and the food is...

I was sad when I arrived home with my pizza only to realise that we were not given garlic and chilli with our takeaways.. The pizza is lovely, but for a garlic and chili lover like me it was rather bland and as I had witnessed each takeaway go out with garlic and extras I didn't think I needed to ask for it. :( We also sat waiting for our pizzas while they were on the pass and multiple waiters checked it, saw it wasn't for their customers and just left it. I see tons of regulars coming and going and greeting the staff and great vibes so I imagine it must be a really lovely place, but as this was our first time getting pizza I will admit we were not left with the best first impression. We also tipped our waiter very well considering it was a takeaway meal, so I was disappointed that it felt like he just forgot about us the moment he received his tip, while we watched waiter after waiter check our pizzas, not knowing if they were for us or what, and not even try and ask who it belongs to or call out an order number or anything like that. I think this place is definitely worthy of five stars, but due to not informing me I needed to order extra garlic ect I have deducted one star, and due to the staff not working as a team and just leaving my pizzas on the pass I have deducted another star as I believe these are things that shouldnt need to be mentioned by the customer. A big part of me also feels like of I were a regular customer I would get special service and all the extras without needing to ask, but since this hasn't been a good first impression how do I justify going back and even becoming a regular? I dunno, I was very hungry and this place didn't really meet my expectations. Perhaps I was hangry. I may visit again and have a better experience, if so I'll be sure to change...

I don’t usually write bad reviews, as I understand how tough times can be for businesses, especially in the food service industry. HOWEVER, I feel this experience warrants an exception.

I ordered a beef lasagna, expecting exactly just that: beef mince. Instead, what I got was a blend of beef and soya mince… the distinctive taste and texture made it impossible to miss. To make matters worse, there was an actual stone (bloody boulder, more like it) hidden in the lasagna, which confirmed my suspicion. Clearly, the soya mince hadn’t even been cleaned of stones. This is not only dishonest but dangerous. I’m allergic to soya, so this “filler” could have been a serious health risk. And even if I was mistaken regarding the filler and I wasn’t allergic to said filler, the chance of cracking or damaging a tooth on a stone is unacceptable. Charging full price for beef while serving this deceptive, careless substitute is shocking.

To add insult to injury, the tiramisu was no better and tasted like expired cough syrup. Truly unpleasant. Where is the honesty and integrity? If I wanted this level of disappointment, I could’ve just ordered fast food from any fast food chain…at least then, the worst I would risk would be a stray hair in their “secret sauce”.

Suffice to say the food went into the bin, and I hate throwing food away knowing there are people starving out...