MOD Pizza — Restaurant in Ammon

If Gordon Ramsey were in town, couldn't make his own pizza and was in a hurry this is where he'd eat.

Skeptical by nature I didn't expect much from a little pizza shack next to a theater, with bare plywood ceilings and Pepsi umbrellas as part of their patio furnishings, it's not what it appears. It would seem my skepticism has been not only banished but absolutely blown away.

For any managers or owners that may read this I suggest only training and or hiring a staff more in tune with their humanity. Owning the skills to mechanically crank out food should be a baseline and business can increase more if the old skill of genuine friendliness is taught.

This post isn't about people however, this post is about Pizza.

The menu is simple; half a dozen pre-made choices but each can be manipulated if desired. The prices don't change even if you decide to load your pie with a bar of Subwayesque accoutrements. I waited for a decent amount of time; it was busy and I may have been impatient as I waited for the particularly selective pair in front of me to choose their toppings. I gazed around and passed judgment on everything: "Crust is too thin" "That guy's pizza looks burnt" I expected to be disappointed, especially because I don't generally prefer pizza to be of the thin crust variety.

I decided to make my own pizza. Large size, white sauce, mozzarella, pesto drizzle, chicken, bacon, artichoke, parmesan sprinkle. I ordered it to go. I was rung up, grabbed a favored Dust Buster Huckleberry Lemonade and waited. They cook the pizza right there while you wait, so I was prepared to wait; and wait I did, for only about three minutes. My pizza was cooked blindingly fast.

Now, this is where everything changed for me. Where my favorite pizza joint became Rîzo's. As I settled into my car and opened the most well designed pizza box I've ever held I only had to take the one bite. Guys, this was the best pizza I'd ever eaten. I don't care if you find me credible, It was dazzling. The secret I believe lies with the smoky flavor somehow nestled into their crust. Pure heaven, cannot explain in words how amazing it was. Go down to Rizo's and try it yourself. It's not like any other pizza in town, at all. If you think Little Caesar's $5 hot n' ready is the best, then this place isn't for you. However, if you want to taste harmony and true flavor, THIS...

We chose this location and establishment because we're familiar with Mod Pizza where we live and the 4.5 star rating sealed the deal. What we were met with was a lot of snark from the girl behind the counter when my husband was communicating his order. He wanted toppings like on one of the pizzas, but in the salad. The girl said she's never heard that done before, but in a way that was unhelpful and demeaning, as if she was rolling her eyes while saying it. Instead of making suggestions or trying to understand what my husband wanted (which to me seemed easy to understand), she glared at us while he was thinking how to reword what he wanted. I hope the owner reviews any potential cameras to read the body language present with both my husband, who was acting as jovial as possible (despite being taken aback) during the interaction while feeling self conscious, just trying to place an order, vs the worker behind the counter. Not sure if she was having an off day or what, but the interaction left my husband anxious.

The workers here look like this is the last place they want to be. The Mod Pizza establishments we've been to have been on par with the smiling faces and customer service customarily found at Chick fil A. Not sure why this location is so dreary, but we will not be coming back next time we're in town.

On top of the lack of pleasant service, the pizza took a while to make (we had nearly finished our mega salad before the mad dog pizza was ready) and the ice tea machine was broken, so I couldn't have my choice of drink. The drink counter surface was also quite messy and sticky. Not a...

5 Reasons I Won't Be Back: Too loud - could not hear staff and staff could not hear me (Sneeze guard between us was quite high and came to about my eyebrows + music was very loud along with all the other customers there). Staff looked like teenagers (but Chic Fil A seems to make it work); w/ many of them looking lost and standing around. No smooth flow (no employees in an assembly line or even customers taken in order) Employee blew directly next to my pizza to remove flour to write something on the parchment paper my pizza was laying on. On the menu was a gluten-free option, but I believe the way the gluten pizzas were handled and the amount of flour laying around the work surface, they could possibly make someone very sick who may have wanted/needed that gf option. Cashier stared at us w/ a smile expecting us to read back everything we had purchased to ring us up (Just before us, a man came back to her to let her know he had paid for the wrong size pizza, and cashier said,"uhhhh..." And had no idea what to do until the adult man who was obviously in charge of the whole operation stopped what he was doing to come over and do her job for her). The pizzas themselves were fine & reasonably priced, and the place was clean and furniture and other details were nice about the place, but to me, the bad far outweigh the good. In my humble opinion, issues like these (regarding staff and proper food handling rules) need to be taken care of BEFORE opening an establishment --ESPECIALLY a restaurant. All of these issues make me think that this business does not run very...