Fiamme Pizza — Restaurant in Arizona

Edit: The Owner writes: "A little disappointed we offered to remake this for you and refunded you the entire bill 81 dollars for 1 pizza and you still chose to leave a bad review.. honest mistake and tried to make it right Robert"

My response: As I recall, we ordered two pizzas and a chicken salad at around 5:30. We were told it would be about an hour. I waited the hour and drove over to pick it up. I was left standing in the doorway for over 20 minutes (probably closer to 30 by the time I actually walked out with my food) asking every few minutes for an update and being repeatedly ignored. Finally, someone realized that the pizzas had been ready for some time but there was no chicken for the chicken salad. I will point out that whoever was on "expo" was struggling badly. I literally watched pizzas getting pulled from the oven and then being stacked atop each other. When your employees went to box them, the cheese would stick to the metal tray above and tear off of the pizza. That did not seem to matter.

By the time I left and got back home (I live five minutes away) I was confronted with two cold pizzas, including the one I took photos of. So when I called and you offered to let me 'bring it back in' and you would 'remake it' I felt it was a non-starter, as I had already spent a little under two hours waiting for two pizzas and a salad and was...underwhelmed with what I had paid for. I told you that you could refund the ONE pizza, or I could call my credit card company and request a charge-back. I would say that your offer to refund the inedible pizza was, in that light, less than magnanimous. I don't know if you subsequently decided to refund the whole order, but that wasn't what we had discussed on the phone when I wrote this post.

I'm not trying to tell you how to run your business, but this doesn't come from a place of unrealistic expectations. I spent my undergrad years managing a much larger restaurant, having to expo, having to supervise, dealing with hundreds of orders in a short period. I've had to comp food that didn't meet expectations. I get it.

But to be "disappointed" with my review in light of you refunding my meal is a bit absurd. There were at least ten other people queuing in that doorway next to me and we all saw what was going on. If you had told me when I ordered that the food was going to take substantially longer, or be of a lower quality because of a rush - I would have understood. You may not have had my business that night... but I wouldn't have a negative feeling toward your establishment and you wouldn't be dealing with a negative review. Acting like I'm being unreasonable is a bit silly. I paid substantially more than I would have for the same product at pretty much any other pizzeria in town. It took longer, and was poorly executed. You offering to refund an inedible pizza isn't charity. I didn't need $81.00 back, I wanted a decent meal and reasonable service.

Note: I also left the poor review before you refunded anything so...details matter.

Original: Plan to wait a good 20 minutes after your scheduled pick up time, even for small orders. Then you get pizza that’s both burned and undercooked and they didn’t even cut it. Oh, and there’s a giant hole in it and it’s cold. There are huge sections where there is no crust. Tried to put it in the oven when I got home five minutes later and found that the half that wasn't cooked disintegrated no matter how gentle we were. I'm never...

I hate to go full Karen like this as I should have better things to do like ride bikes, drink beer, or grade papers. However, my experience with Fiamme this past Saturday has left me with no other ethical choice except to waste some time on the keyboard and let people know the risks associated with ordering at said establishment and where else to go for some good pizza.

Timeline of a terrible ordering experience:

4:52 PM Pizza order put in and confirmed through Door Dash for a pick up time between 5:25-5:30.

5:20 Show up to pick up pizza and the hostess says there is no order under that name

5:22 Return with phone to show her the order and she realizes a ticket was never made

5:22 - 6:05 Waste 45 minutes waiting on the pizza and constantly having to check if it is done, because the system for pick-up is terrible.

6:05 Ask hostess about the pizza, she asks the cooks, they say they don’t have a ticket for the pizza they disagree on what was said and not said

6:30 I walk out with pizza after having to ask if that is my pizza sitting on a table with my name on it, that I had been waiting for, for an hour and half in the parking lot.

The sad part is, the order was still not made correctly.

I have had good pizza from Fiamme. This was not it. Truthfully, even if the pizza was made on time, I probably would never have returned if these were the first pizzas I had ever had from them. They were made carelessly and did not include the toppings paid for.

I would suggest Annello, Pizza Luna, Scordatos, or Time Market as alternatives with better customer service and equal or better pizza. I will wait this one out a little bit to see if things change...

I have been going to Fiame for years now and have been a loyal customer since they opened. It pains me to write this review but due to lack of consistency I have been left no choice. I shouldn't feel like I’m playing the lottery each time I place my order. Being good sometimes, especially a minority of the time, is just not good enough. From picking up cold orders, to large orders that are the size of small orders, I’m left feeling more burned than the the food comes out, which is often pretty burnt.

I have been coming here so long that I can give a few tips for those that want the best quality and consistency: If at all possible, place your order when Scott is present. Whether he is there making the Pizza himself or there managing, the pizza will come out great, actually perfect. And if it doesnt, he will make sure it gets fixed. Scott is the owner and he runs a tight ship when he is there. He clearly takes pride in his business and loves the work he does. It’s a shame that some employees tarnish this by not holding the same standard in his absence. If you are placing an order, DO NOT place it online or over the phone. About 7/10 times, such orders will not be made to the proper standard: coming out, cold, burnt, smaller than what you ordered, or missing something. Dine in, or if time permits, walk in, place your order, wait for it, and inspect it. About 8/10 times it will come out right, and if it doesnt, the staff will happily fix it. If you have to call in an order, then DO NOT order during peak times 6-8pm, especially on Friday and Saturday. The only exception is if...