Pago's Pizzeria and Italian Cuisine — Restaurant in Arizona

I was pleasantly surprised and elated to think I would have the opportunity to write this review, and I’ll tell you why.

The last time I ordered food from this restaurant was in 2012; NINE YEARS AGO! The reason I didn’t order food from “Pago’s Pizzeria and Italian Cuisine” for so many years was that I consistently had a unsatisfactory experience with the pizza, time and time again, never having one enjoyable memory of the pizza served at this establishment back in 2012 and before.

However, that all changed when I decided to give this restaurant another chance on Monday, January 11, 2021 at around 11:30 AM out of pure laziness to drive to my usual pizza spot, Domino’s Pizza, in West Sedona. Goodness gracious was I glad I was lazy that day. My order consisted of a 14 inch white pizza, “Sicilian Style crust” and a three cheese calzone accompanying a marinara sauce side, To-go container.

To say I was satisfied with my experience at this restaurant would be an understatement. Every aspect of my experience was delightful, from ordering to actually eating the food. The younger gentleman working on Mondays was patient and respectful that is seldom seen at other restaurants nowadays; an unfortunate rarity from my personal experience.

Secondly, it is very common for many restaurants to offer pathetic, flavorless side sauces with their orders nowadays. I have had far too many watery or otherwise flavorless marinara sauces in my life. Nonetheless, Pago’s made the right decision to not be like “every other pizza place” and degrade the quality of their marinara sauce. The sauce was warm, cascading with tomato and spice flavor, followed by an utterly perfect texture of being thick, but not sustaining levels of coagulation which make it impossible to dip breadsticks into, for example.

Finally, the three cheese calzone and white pizza were seriously just outstanding. A good pizza must always have tasty, fluffy bread as a base and Pago’s has some of the best bread I have ever had on a pizza period. If I was grading pizza on bread alone, Pago’s would be the best I have ever had. The whole pizza and calzone demonstrated fresh, articulate flavor with the cheese (especially the ricotta), bread, oils and sauces! I don’t know if their pizza and calzones are always this fresh and flavorful, but if they’re are, then they have some truly talented and hard-working chefs in the kitchen.

Overall, I had a very enjoyable experience that shattered my expectations immensely when contrasted to the abysmal disappointment I had experienced nine years prior. This place is way better than Rotten Johnny’s and Dominos! I will be a Pago’s customer for many more years to come if they keep up the great work! Thank you...

Portion size is dramatically smaller. Bowl of soup is a cup. Antipasta salad does not include salami or pepperoni, just salad mix from the grocery store. One olive. All prices have increased by one or two dollars regardless of item. The salmon tasted terrible. The ravioli sauce was watered down. What has happened to the once good quality food? I didn't finish my salmon it was that bad. Waitress was nice. I'm sorry but I can't recommend any dishes. We're local and dine here five to seven times a year, but this might be our last time.

I see someone at Pagos decided to suggest that my review was inaccurate. Great. Tell the customer that they are wrong in their assessment. I've been dining at this restaurant for about a decade. And you are going to tell me I'm wrong. Ok. Tell me what was inaccurate. I ordered a bowl of soup. I was broughtt a cup of soup. What was inaccurate about that? I ordered the salmon dinner. The salmon arrived part of it was good and part was mushy and didn't taste right. What was inaccurate with that statement? The sauce was slightly more viscous than water on the ravioli. Tell me exactly what was inaccurate with that statement. The antipasta salad was greens and no pepperoni or salami. One olive. Could you elaborate what was inaccurate about that statement? The waitress was nice. Was that the inaccurate statement by which you decided to respond with your comment? Back up your statement or go home.

Don't heed constructive comments. Continue being right. And insisting the customer is inaccurate. You won't be missing anything. Folks if you're reading this post, order a pizza, or something they can't mess the size of, but they may reduce the quantity and quality of the toppings, but it's still a pizza. Anything else, and you'll probably regret it. Remember the old saying, you only get one chance to make a...

My Family and I stopped in there on 06/22. The hostess/waitress was in a HORRIBLE mood.... didn't welcome us, didn't even smile at us or say "hello".

We noticed only one table with customers, the rest of the place was empty.

We sat down, ordered our drinks... again the hostess/waitress made us feel like we were "bothering her".

She brought our drinks and asked if we were ready to order. We asked her if we could please have a few more minutes to look at the menu and she literally rolled her eyes and walked away!!!

My Husband, my elderly Daughter and I looked at each other and told each other "why the HELL would we pay for this horrible service with attitude".

When she stopped again to ask if we were to order (for a 2nd time) I told her "we're going to pay for our drinks and leave". We were charged $10 for 2 waters, an ice tea, a kids sprite, and a kids chocolate milk (none of us had touched our drinks at all)!!!!

My husband (at one point) had gone to our vehicle to get something... while the rest of us sat inside... and he could hear an older cook yell at a younger cook to "GET THE F* BACK TO WORK!

No wonder why the place was empty!!!!

The owner should fire the entire crew with bad attitudes and hire new "friendlier, customer oriented" employees.

If the owner doesn't do something soon, this place is gonna go bankrupt!!!

If you don't believe my story, check the reviews out on Yelp. My Daughter was reading all kinds of reviews on Yelp with the same type of review as mine is here.

I REFUSE TO GIVE MY MONEY TO POOR SERVICE RESTAURANTS!!!

We ended up walking across the parking lot to Maria's Mexican Restaurant and received EXCELLENT SERVICE WITH A SMILE and the food was really good there too! and we gave our usual 22% tip to the Mexican Restaurant Waitress for her smile &...