Fiamma Pizza — Restaurant in Bellingham

EDIT: Previously my review was below and was listed as five stars. However, I have come to learn that Fiamma's owners do not pay tips out to their employees, nor do they pay employees' for their overtime. I am keeping my old review up so the owners are aware of how their actions lead to consequences, from their customers. They've lost a customer of over 20+ years because they decided that wage theft is more important to them then accountability.

For those reading this - the article is available on The Bellingham Herald's website and is titled "Federal investigation finds Bellingham restaurants owe workers $82K for OT, tip violations".

Fiamma Pizza, which I've affectionately known as "La Fiamma" throughout my life, truly stands out as one of Bellingham's best-kept secrets (locals know to frequent this delightful spot!). The service is outstanding, the food bursts with flavor, and the prices are simply unbeatable.

Last week, I indulged in their Rainy Day Special twice a day. The freshly made artisan focaccia bread paired with a grilled cheese and their homemade tomato soup (which, as they claim, surpasses Campbell's!) is nothing short of amazing! And all for just $11! You won't find a better deal or value anywhere else in Bellingham.

For over 20 years, their rosemary lemonade has been a personal favorite. I've observed that many restaurants in Bellingham tend to compromise on either quality or price over time. However, La Fiamma defies this trend—maintaining affordable prices, generous portions, and consistently high quality.

The customer service here is exceptional. They remember me and make me feel valued, ensuring that my visits are appreciated. I highly recommend signing up for their Toast Tab rewards program, as I've been able to accumulate points towards a free meal—I'm saving up for a square pie! It's wonderful that they offer this, providing an additional financial benefit alongside their already fantastic prices.

They craft all of their salad dressings from scratch, and the quality is evident. Their valley ranch is so exceptional that my friends jokingly suggested a game where they would take shots of alcohol while I enjoyed shots of the sudden valley ranch! It’s absolutely divine!!

If you're a Canadian in search of a tasty dining spot that won't empty your wallet—especially considering the high cost of food in Canada—this is the place to be. To enjoy a more relaxed experience, aim to arrive before 5 PM, as the dinner rush can lead to long waits, even on weekdays. And I must say, as a fellow Canadian, La Fiamma could easily rival Cactus Club or...

I ate here once like 15 years ago. The food and customer service were wonderful. I guess it's gone downhill.

2/13 my fiance and I decided to do V-Day early because we can't be together 2/14. I worked until 7, so he called to ask if their outdoor seating would be open. I'm immunocompromised and couldn't eat indoors. They said yes.

So, he made the hour long drive to meet me there. I got there first; there was a guy closing up the patio. I asked if it was still open, he said no. I asked if we could just use one of the tables; he inquired and then said no. I calmly explained that we'd called ahead to confirm and then had driven an hour. He said, "yeah, sorry. You're welcome to eat inside."

I explained that I couldn't because getting sick would mean hospitalization for me. His only response was, "yeah, I'm sorry." No negotiating, no empathy, no attempt to make it right. Nada, zilch.

Fine. I walked away. But about that time, my partner was late and our phone service was down (I learned later that it was an outtage) so I didn't really know what to do. It doesn't sound relevant, but it is. I couldn't get calls or texts to go through, he wasn't anywhere in sight and I'm just standing in a dark parking lot by myself. I didn't want to leave and have him show up and not be able to get hold of me.

I was already upset about the seating because it was the first time in three years we were trying to eat out in public and the pointless trip to La Fiamma meant other restaurants were already closed.

Fighting back my emotions, I went inside and explained that I was having problems with my phone. I asked if I could borrow their phone to call my date since, you know, they refused to seat us as promised. The girl said, "no I'm sorry, we don't let customers use our phone." I explained my situation again, thinking she didn't get it. "Sorry, that's just our policy. " I asked if there was a pay phone or other phone I could use and she just said she didn't know.

No empathy. No concern. No help. They wasted our time and screwed up our night and refused to fix it. I will never eat there again and will now make sure I tell people about this. Thanks for the terrible...

I’ve been frustrated with my ongoing experience here and I think this might be my last time. There is no consistency or quality control. Sometimes the pizza is great and other times it is burnt or overcooked. For the price point I expect much better.

The service does not help either. At checkout they prompt you to tip starting at 20 percent even on takeout, when no one looks at you, you cannot sit anywhere, and there is no real service being provided.

When I first started coming here a medium cheese pizza was 10 dollars and felt like a steal. Now it is 19.50 for the same thing with somehow worse service and worse quality control.

What finally pushed me over the edge was today’s delivery. Their website advertises delivery which made me think they had in-house drivers. Nowhere did it say it was through DoorDash. I waited over an hour only to find out it was DoorDash all along. The driver took multiple orders so what should have been a 10 minute trip turned into 35 minutes. My pizza arrived completely cold. Because it was ordered through a third-party portal there was no way to request a refund or get the issue resolved. To top it all off the pizza was supposed to be half cheese and half pepperoni and it showed up as plain cheese. No way to fix it, no way to get help. Really cute.

If you are charging gourmet prices you should be offering gourmet service. Passing customers off to DoorDash without disclosing it and leaving them with cold, incorrect food and no way to get their money back is unacceptable. At this point I am more impressed by Domino’s...